4 Dec 03
Well the last month has been busy, but life is
slowly getting back to normal. Cliff's Memorial Service in Colac was
well attended. May have been a bit long, but guess that a lot had to
be covered. Our duty now is to remember Cliff the runner, Cliff the
Bushman and Cliff the Gentleman.
The Australian 6-day race was fantastic.
Graeme Watts became the first Australian to win in 5 years. My prediction
is that Graeme will go onto bigger and better things over the next few
years. He has had a brilliant year also capturing the Australian
48hr Championship. The 6-day race was brilliant with the lapscoring
and food van being some of the many plusses coming from the Event.
It was also good to see Peter Hoskinson from Tasmania finishing third and
David Billett finishing in his first attempt. Well done Guys.
I hear the Australian 100km team sufferred in the
heat, humidity and pollution of Taiwan. Bad luck Guys and hope it goes
well next time. I hear though that the New Zealand team and Managers
were really well prepared and handled the conditions well!
Me - here I come Coburg 24hr on 17th/18th April and
then see after that! Stay tuned!
8 Nov 03
As we all know, Australian Ultra
running legend, Cliff Young passed away at age 81 on the 2nd Nov 03.
He spent the last part of his life with his adopted family, The
Powers. I would like to thank Helen and her daughters, Bridgette and
Paula for the love and care that they gave Cliff in the last part of his
life. For more information about Cliff and his achievements go to www.ultraoz.50megs.com/cliffyoung.html
Well the World 100km happens next
weekend in Taiwan. Good luck to the the Australian Team. I gather there
have been some changes to the makeup including the withdrawal of Yiannis
Kouros, but nothing official has come from the AURA President. Good
luck in particular to Warren Holst and Arun Bhardwaij who Ive both been
helping over the last few months!
The
Australian 6-Day Race starts at Colac on the 16th of November. The
Memorial Square is being renamed the "Cliff Young Memorial Running
Track" for the Event. Organisers are hoping to permanently
rename the Event "Cliff Young Australian 6-day race". I
hope this eventuates as Cliff deserves to be remembered.
12 September 03
Thanks to everyone that is slowly migrating back to my Web site.
If anyone has any ideas for future content please email me with the
ideas.
Went and helped Graham Ives with the Hobsons Hobble last weekend.
There were 4 runners lined up for the 55km option and a dozen
runners/walkers for the 21km option. It
was an ideal day for running with Max Carson winning his second
“Hobsons” event. Good to also catch up with Kevin Cassidy. Stay
tuned everyone for Kevin’s journalistic report of this Event!
Speaking of Kevin Cassidy – thanks for producing another fine UltraMag.
Here is a copy of an email I sent out to the “Ultraoz” group
the other day.
Congratulations to Kevin Cassidy for producing
another fine Ultramag. Its also good to see the extra incentives that AURA
have been able to introduce.
Two
articles really caught my eye whilst reading last night. The first one was
the fine article by Fred Brooks about the fine history of the Sri Chinmoy
24hr and the second one was the listing of those that have run 200km in
24hrs and gained membership of the AURA 200 Club.
One fact was very evident
though. Except for David Standeven and Mick Francis who are already
established in the Ultra Elite no new runners have ran 200km in 24hrs
since 1999. Once could possibly say the reason is due to the dwindling
numbers in the sport and there being no elite race for Ultra athletes to
aim for anymore. Reasons aside - I believe there are half a dozen ultra runners
in Australia capable with the right preparation to add their names to the
"200" Club. Suggestion for AURA - why not give extra points for
those that do break the 200km mark towards the Points Trophy...
Basically Guys- the 200km is
there, it can be broken, go for it, You are just as capable as the runners
of the 80's and 90's. So here's hoping for some Top results to be achieved
at the Sri Chinmoy 24hr or the Coburg 24hr next April! Let's reverse
the trend! (worrying)
This
will be on my Web Site at ultraoz.50megs.com. Kev C - Please print in the
Next Ultramag.
Good news from the Australian 6-day race.
It looks as though copies of “Ive Finally found my Hero” will
be for sale at the race. For
those that don’t know – this is the story of the Now defunct Westfield
Run and written by yours truly. The
6-Day Committee are trying to get the book printed for nothing and all
monies raised from sales will go to the Race.
If you ask nicely at the Event – you may even get your copy
signed!
Also if anyone is able to help crew during the 6-day race this year for
the whole event or just one or two days, please contact me at ultraoz@iprimus.com.au
There are a few runners that are looking for crew.
It’s sad to hear that Cliff Young has been back in
hospital recently – I believe he will be back home soon! Lets all give
strength for Cliff and remember his great achievements over the years.
Heard an interesting idea over night about mental fine tuning for ultras
– playing one or two hours of computer games per day.
I can see the potential!
I have about 50 more Ultra photos ready to scan into
the photo page – stay tuned over the next few weeks.
16 August 03
Hi and Welcome to the Rebirth of My Web site.
Hopefully I can provide information that will keep bringing people back
and serve as an extra service for the Ultra Community once again!
Its still going to contain the Virtual Australia race, links (with
some new ones in the sports psychology/motivation area), Excerpts from my
book on the Old Westfield Run and quotes sporting and non-sporting,
stories of my old performances, photos (30 so far), Extras, this page and
a training page in the future. Not
sure where the page will end up, but have only used 13% so far so
there’s plenty of room for growth!
Congratulations to all those who made the Australian
100km team and the Reserves. I can see a “Changing of the Guard”
in the 100km ranks in the next couple of years with the older established
runners having to work hard to maintain their place due to the wealth of
talent knocking on the door. Please
consider though that not all the team are getting their fares paid to
Taiwan, so if you know one of them and can help them out, please do.
Good to see that the Australian
6-day race is looking forward to having another successful year. Sad
news about Drew Kettle getting diagnosed with cancer – but Drew is a
battler and wont take it lying down. I’m
crewing for American Ultra stalwart Andy Lovy who is coming over for his
second Colac race. Should be
good fun!
Congratulations to all the AURA Executive for the successful changes that
they have implemented in the last 12 months.
I know that some of the changes had been suggested during the
period of change of a couple of years ago, good to see that there up and
running now!
Well done Arun Kumar for furthering your PB once again during the
Copenhagen 6-day race to 520km! Arun has done three six-day races in the
past 8 months and should be congratulated on his efforts.
Well done also to Jesper Olsen for putting on a successful race and
putting results in a timely fashion on the web. Jesper is also starting
his World Run next year. I’ll be
looking forward to meeting you in a year or so Jesper.
I’ve recently joined a New World body which is the Association
of Road Running Statisticians. They
will be working to promote the sport of road running around the globe.
When I have news or comment on an issue I will add to this page.
Web site created by Phil
Essam. For more information phone Phil on 0407830263
