The Solo Race

Estefanía Unzu Ripoll arrived in Australia a few days before the race, with the singular aim of establishing a new Spanish women’s 100km record. Most Australians have not heard of Estefanía, and that’s forgiveable, since she has only been running for 2 years. Anyone who was fortunate to be at this race will find that fact incredible, and will certainly never forget her astonishing performance. A first lap of 20:14 was a clear announcement of intent – this would either be a “shooting star” of short-lived brilliance, or an offering of amazing daring, dauntless courage, invincible cheerfulness, soaring self-belief and sheer athletic capacity. Her race turned out to be the latter: all of it and more.

A well-established social media and television ‘star’ in Spain prior to taking up running (known as Verdelis with 1.6 million followers on Instagram and 2.1 million on YouTube), running several successful business ventures and most significantly, bringing up 8 children with husband Artiz, Estefanía brings an innate grace and exuberant personality to her newest ‘career’ of running. Her race appeared an act of utter self-offering and conviction, pouring her whole being and vitality into her performance. Even with your eyes closed, you knew it was Estefanía running by as you felt this shimmering ecstatic aura swishing past.

The reward for Estefanía: a new Spanish National record of 7:47:46. Yet all who were privileged to witness this race, were equally rewarded, uplifted, inspired and thrilled to be offered this glimpse of the marvellous possibilities we each harbour deep within. Thank you, Estefanía!!

As if Pam Muston needed to do anything more to confirm her status as an absolute colossus of women’s sport in Australia: on the morning of the race, Pam broke her toe (yes, we’ve seen the X-rays!) At this juncture, most sensible people would reassess their participation in an event which necessitates 100 kilometres of incessant bludgeoning of said toe… Nevertheless, Pam was required to complete a 100km race to qualify for this year’s Coast to Kosciuszko [note to organisers: if 9 finishes of this gruelling event does not qualify someone of Pam’s stature to start her 10th edition of the race, then what are you thinking??] Believing she would have to drop out due to the intense pain of the first lap, 65 years young, Pam duly pushed, cajoled, hobbled and wobbled her way through all 20 laps to complete the race as the oldest finisher in 13:14:13. Pam, we bow to your warrior spirit, radiant as the blazing sun. Accepting her trophy, Pam wore the brightest smile of all.

Victoria’s Cheryl Symons led home a strong contingent in the F50-59s, winning with 11:34:08, from fellow Cheryl, Cheryl Kiernan’s 12:02:58 and Moss Vale friend Camilla Arch in 12:54:08. Indeed, 6 of the 13 female finishers have passed their 50th summer, confirming that in ultra-running as in life, experience and wisdom are invaluable assets.

Photos often reveal insights into how athletes are travelling in a race. Glancing through the photo gallery, it is noticeable that Lindsay Hamilton was smiling from the start. Although her race was challenging on a physical level (Lindsay ‘lost her lunch’ on several occasions, including at the finish line), her positive, cheerful mindset and outlook carried her through and above all obstacles, to a 3rd place finish which, to her own surprise, earned her the title of AUTRA  National 100km Champion, as the first Australian to finish in 10:46:34 (a native Glaswegian having become an Aussie citizen just last April). Following Lindsay in the AUTRA Championships were NSW’s impressive Natasha Jacobs with 11:01:16 and Australian 24-hour rep Alicia Herron, out for a long training run of 11:04:52. Special mention also to 20-year old Canberran Maia Nagy, who finished her first 100km race, still smiling after 13:16:59. Congratulations!

Up ahead of the women’s field, New Zealand’s Carol Robertson was having a solid crack at the NZ F45-49 record. Running with an easy, light style allied with calm, focused strength, the heat of the early laps was sapping of the energy, and while she maintained tremendous consistency throughout the night, the record proved elusive, though a fleet finish time of 8:42:07 would have been good enough to win this race on many another occasion.

With some of the early front-runners pushing rather too hard through the heat of the late afternoon, the field started to thin out, by which time the extraordinarily consistent pace of Dominic Bosher came to the fore. From this point on, the only real competition for Dominic came from Estefanía, who certainly ‘kept him honest’ as she narrowed the gap at one point to only 30 seconds in the later laps. Dominic is one of those runners whose style seems relaxed and almost effortless, belying what must be an enormous inner effort behind the outer appearance. Dominic’s winning time of 7:45:30 was well clear of his nearest rivals, yet still a UK citizen, Dominic was not eligible for the title of AUTRA National Champion.

This crown was taken by Canberra’s own Chris Hatherly, whose 8:28:51 was notable for saving his fastest lap till last – you try running a 5km circuit of 22:18 after 8.5 hours slogging through the night! Next home was Tom Allen’s 8:38:27, fitting reward for a runner of calm strength, consistency and authenticity. Michael Griffin was 3rd placed in the AUTRA National Championships with 9:21:09.

John Pearson was 1st among the M50-59s with his 9:48:16, from Andrew Donaldson’s 9:54:27 and Andrew Dempster with 10:51:26.

Teams of 2

The Teams of 2 (T2) race saw several approaches to the question: how to ration the laps? Some runners chose to each run 50km straight, some alternated laps throughout, a few ran 25km blocks, while others mixed up the legs according to their feeling through the night.

The outstanding T2 Team of the Year was the pairing of Grant McKay and Jeff Grey (“Faster Fossils”) who proved that fossils can indeed be faster, taking line honours from all contenders with their fine showing of 7:28:03, despite the ‘handicap’ of representing the Over 50s category. Fastest Open Team (under 50) was “Nedds Milk Enthusiasts” (Ben Gisik and Hugh McKenzie) whose time of 7:40:08 included the fastest lap split for a T2 runner by Hugh McKenzie, saving his best till the very final lap of the race with a gut-busting 19:20. “Scrambled Legs” (Mark Brookes and Roger Golding, who alternated laps) took the award for most popular team name, as well as 2nd place Open team with 7:54:44, from “M&M” (Michael Robinson and Mitch Poulos) with 8:56:50; while “The Pace Cadets” (Robin Fieldhouse and Craig Dawson) took 2nd place in the Open All Over 50s with 9:03:40.

The All-Female team award was won for the second year running by “Jordassie”, the pairing of Jordan Anderson and Cassie Cohen in 9:37:52.

“this is a 3 chatime run” (Yichang Lin and Eamonn Barrett, an alternating pair) took out the Mixed T2 category in 8:39:07; while “Spaghettis” (Stephen Graham and Debbie Maher, who each ran 50km straight) won the Mixed All Over 50 with 12:31:57.

Teams of 3-10

The Teams of 3-10 (T10) saw “Kudos Running Crew Canberra” (Richard Jones, Maddy Simson, Jackson Enright, Carol Lander, Kael Hulin, Francis Wong, Matthew van Arkel, Brendan Hancox and Lili Mooney) staging a concerted effort to break the Open course record, ultimately eclipsing the winning time from last year by 2 minutes with their finish in 6:49:39. They were followed in the Open category by “They will run and not grow weary” (Simeon Hearnshaw, Johnny Steenhof, Benjamin Mansell, Richard Dantas, Taylor Johnson, Ken Mansell and Andrew Carson), who clocked 7:05:04 for 2nd place, with “Unwinners” (Tim Shea, Jed Simpson and Jason Taylor) completing the podium for 3rd in 7:20:08.

“Elevated by Birrigai” (Kevin Zhang, Craig Homann, Isla Pawson, Marlo Perry, Simon Heinicke, Alison Darcy, Kristie Broadhead, Greg Axell, David McKeown and Jack Crowe) took home the major prize in the Mixed T10, with a solid return of 8:22:38. 2nd place was claimed by “Joyful Runners” (Michelle Mathieson, Nick Karpetis, Angus McLure, Jackson, Cassie and Steve Michaux, Benjamin and Jay Hawkins, with Jo Lane) in 8:28:12. “Chaffing the Dream” (Bridie Harders, Rebecca Gee, Danielle Kuhn, Nikkie Campbell, Roxie Stewart, Cath Lumley, Claire Aubrey, Jane Pepper and Allison Hill) took the 3rd prize with 8:39:32.

“Pioneer All Girls” (Kylie Laverty, Sue Paulus, Amy Ellison, Brooke Wood, Mary Russell, Jen Anderson, Rebecca Peisley, Rachel Colbert, Jackie Leuthi and Erin Murphy) won the All-Female T10 with 10:01:30 on the clock, and despite having no competition in their category, still came within touching distance of the course record.