There are so many layers, aspects, dimensions, tangents, flavours and nuances of an ultra-marathon that elevate this genre of human endeavour above and beyond the merely athletic, the merely scholastic, the merely artistic. The ultra-marathon is an outer journey-adventure and inner exploration-discovery; a battle of Self against our many unruly selves; a struggle through teeming darkness; a symphonic union of body-stamina, vital-endurance, mind-creativity, heart-power and soul-glory; a flaming arrow of vision-faith arcing into and illumining the Unknown; a consummate revelation-dance of our innate infinite Will, calling forth our most sincere inner cries, and flowering with our most genuine outer smiles.
The 10th edition of the Sri Chinmoy Canberra Trail 100 doubled as the AURA National Long Trail Championships for 2023, with AURA trophies presented to the top 3 female and male solo finishers. This race was born as a celebration of the natural beauty of Canberra, on the occasion of its centenary in 2013, and Canberra celebrated this 10th birthday by donning its very best weather and couture: tracks softened by Winter’s rain, now artfully firmed by a smiling sun; foliage waving its early-Springtime happy optimism; a cool morning nurturing the early stages while midday’s gleaming blue sky was all beneficence, yet to unpack its Summer force; a soft sunset’s kindness a blessing of encouragement; and silent sentinel stars faithfully delivering each nighttime traveller to the Finish.
The winner’s list is rightly a paean of victory and chronicle of high achievement. Yet scan the results further down, all the way – each name unlocks a story of triumph that is so much more than a set of numbers configuring a placing and finishing time. The numbers do not reveal the ardour, drama, sometimes even trauma that brought each name to the starting line, let alone the finish. They do not reveal the hurdles surmounted along the way: the turned ankles, churned stomachs, burned ambitions, and wholly-earned satisfaction of each and every warrior-explorer-dreamer-lover-poet-singer-runner. An event of this magnitude takes 18 hours of one extraordinary day: yet the lessons, achievements and conquests of this day will continue to expand and unfurl like fragrant incense in our hearts and beings, and beyond, for a long time to come.
Any selection of stories to highlight will be random and insufficient: let us confine ourselves to a mention of the new course record-holders:
* Pam Muston gets first mention, because if anyone embodies the soul of this race, Pam is she. The only person to have completed its every edition (including its unofficial running in 2021), Pam has won the women’s race outright, and owns the Female 50-59 and Female 60-69 records. Not content to rest on her laurels, Pam executed the perfect race strategy to lower her F60-69 record from 2020, by 7 minutes to an amazing 13:17:31, and set new best times for the 2nd and 4th legs en route. Despite her years of triumphs in numberless events, no-one exuded such sheer joy in her achievement. Pam – you are Inspiration personified.
* Allie Corripio’s ultra-running career has been relatively modest to this point, yet right from the start it was clear to all that Allie was running the perfect race: calm, focussed and beautifully paced, biding her time early and storming home. Her reward was a stunning result – 4th outright and new Women’s Course Record 10:42:34, setting a formidable benchmark for women to aspire to in future years, and claiming our awed admiration. Allie also set new records for the 2nd and 4th legs along the way.
* Andrew Tully set an incredible record last year in the Men’s 50-59 category of 11:47:47, which most of us thought might stand for quite a while – most of us, that is, except Andrew himself, who threw himself onto the trails today with a clear intent to re-write his own legacy. His 6th-outright achievement of 10:53:17, scything 53 minutes of his own record, was a wondrous achievement, with new records for legs 2, 3 and 4 for good measure.
* A most honoured mention goes also to outright race winner, Sydney’s Warren Rolfe, who led almost the whole way, running with purpose, strength and conviction to record a most impressive victory in 9:47:28. Warren also claimed a new solo record for the 2nd leg.
* Every other finisher has all our hearts’ admiration, appreciation, applause and gratitude for your superlative self-offering.
RELAY TEAMS
Mixed team dominated the race, taking the top 3 placings outright, with “Team Telford and Friends (& Tim)” claiming line honours in 8:04:12, from “Better than Burny” (8:1838) and “Sparrows 1” (9:00:39).
Among the All-Female teams, “Running4FETA” took the main prize in 9:29:48. from 2nd placed “No Phobias” (10:06:26) and “Chatnsnax” in 11:58:17.
The All-Male teams division was won by “I Pink Therefore I am” in a time of 9:20:16, with “Brindabella Bovinae” 2nd in 9:30:11, from 3rd placed “Jones & Ding Running Things” in 9:57:08.
Our gratitude to all helpers and volunteers for their incredible selfless service throughout an immensely long day and night.
