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10
Days in November
This short story tells the time of my involvement in the Australian
6-day race this year. an experience which I class as one of the best in
my life. It might not follow chronologically, but it records my
thoughts on different things that happened during the event!
It was early on Friday 14th November when I got out of bed early to go
to Melbourne Airport and pick up George Audley. George is a 67 year old
Ultra runner from West Australia who has earnt a Top 5 place in the
Westfield, ran across Australia in the Trans Aust race only 2 years
prior and got no recognition and has run at the Australian 6-day race
over 10 times. A true champion of the sport.
Thoughts
on the drive to the airport drifted back to Cliff Young's Memorial
Service on Wednesday and the times I had been on the track with Cliff.
I feel honoured to have shared those times!
Well
I eventually found George at Virgin Blue instead of Qantas and conveyed
him back home! We talked the race and running and a few cups of tea
before returning to the airport to pick up Andy Lovy from America.
For those that dont' know Andy, he is a Vietnam Veteran who has done
over 170 Ultras. He is also a Medical Doctor and an allround Top Bloke (
that's an Aussie complement Andy!)
Andy eventually got through
Customs and we returned home after having some of America's number 1
export (McDonalds) on the way home. We then got organised at
home that afternoon before putting on a Traditional Aussie BBQ that
night for our guests. We were also joined that night by South African
runner, Brian Collings and his wife Laura. Brian got lost trying to find
us, but eventually found his way! Apparently my instructions were wrong!
Well everyone was soon getting on well and talking the universal subject
that we all know! Ultra running! Also enjoyed the South African
beer that Brian brought along.
Next day we loaded up the car and was heading for Colac shortly after
midday!(including wife and daughter) Soon found our way to Memorial
Square and caught with old friends and acquaintinces. Ultra running is
like an extended happy family who might not see each other all the time,
but we keep the friendship going no matter what! It didnt take
long to have the tent set up. Andy and I talked tactics and discussed
the layout of his clothes etc. We discussed the plan and the importance
of drinks/food little and often. A lso
variety of drinks and food as ultra runners taste buds soon disappear
into space once they are competing! I was also going to be helping
George Audley when I could during the Event. George was going for
a 6-day Age record during the Event and certainly had the credentials to
do it!
That night we all headed to the Arts Centre for a Reception put on by
the Colac Otway Shire and the 6-day race committee. The reception was
very well done and was certianly an improvement on last years.
Conversation was aplenty and more stories were swopped about happenings of the past year and hopes for the race. It was that evening when I
first noticed how fit an Athlete Graeme Watts from Queensland was!
If anyone was going to trouble Kourcerek from Czech
Republic it was him That night Bill and Bev Sutcliffe
put us up in their caravan for the night. Thanks people!
The next day dawned and Memorial Square resembled a miniature city.
Workmen were everywhere, all the tents were in place, fencing was being
erected, the food demountable was in place and it was taking shape!
More preparations with Andy and we were soon ready to go.
I also had a second job for the race. I was going to be looking
after Internet publicity and Melbourne publicity for the race. In
hindsight - no one should have two jobs for an Ultra event of this
magnitude! Fairly hard to be in 2 places at once. The
internet publicity was going to involve faxing the results to Kevin
Tiller on a twice daily basis and he would update www.colac.ultraoz.com
Shortly before the start I was at the Admin building when I gathered
from Bill Sutcliffe that he was hoping for more updates during the
event. I very quickly made my web site available to the Gents from
the Colac PC Users Group and left them to figure things out! They
ended up doing a Great job during the Event and I hope that the 6-day
race committee do register their own domain and establish a proper web
site for the race. With supervision from the Committee the Gents
from the Colac PC Users Group would be ideal to maintain and
update the site. The site would be a Global drawcard and
communications portal for the Event and doesn't need to be
expensive. It is the only thing missing now to make
the Event a true world class event.
1130 came around and all the runners were ready for the pre race
ceremonies. The Powers Twins ran a lap of honour for Cliff Young before
the start and some helium ballons were released into the air! I
certainly had a tear in my eye. The tribute was simple but
effective.
The race was soon underway as the runners started circulating the track. After the start I presented a copy of the Westfield Book to Helen and the Twins. It was signed by all the runners and committee for this years race. To describe every moment of the next 6 days would be boring to even the most hardened Ultra nut and this is where the story will digress into a series of thoughts about differrent areas of the race.
The leaders soon settled themselves out and the Top 3 became Kourcerek,
Watts and Hoskinson. Audley and Tiims were threatening though and were
ready to pounce if one of the leaders should falter. Andy started
off well and was running pretty close to his plan for the Event which
was good! It was sometime during the Sunday that an older Gent by
the name of Don introduced himself to me. Don was from Camperdown
and was a Marathon Walker about 20 plus years ago. Don was
fascinated by the whole race and wanted to be involved for the rest of
the week. Don was soon signed up as the day shift crew for Andy
and George for the rest of the week. Belinda and Laura left about
6pm that night and I was all on my own for crewing!
Andy ran fairly well to his plan for most of the week. Up to about
Thursday morning I felt that 460km was very gettable for the race and
hopefully we would get as close as possible to his target of 480km by
the end! I was surviving on about 4 hours sleep a day! 2 hours
sleep the first day and then 4 hours the rest of the week! I would stick
around each morning until Don arrived and Andy had reached the goal for
the day of 65km! (65km is what was required to survive the cutoff)
I would then disapear for sleep in one of the spare caravans which was
very much appreciated! (usually woke to the music starting after
lunchtime)
I
noticed a few differrent types of crewing at Colac. There
were those runners that didnt have any crew. They were usually
those that had lots of experience and were quite content to look
after themselves. There were those runners that had one crew. They
would usually make up lots of drinks and food in advance and the runner
could choose what he wanted when he came past. And there were runners
that had a proper crew of 2 or more people for the whole race. It
is interesting that all three placegetters for the race had a good crew
behind them who worked to a plan for the whole race. I think
crewing is a vital part of multi-day racing and any runner of any
ability would benefit from having a good crew for the race.
Personally I found that working by myself in a crewing situation I
wasnt able to record what Andy was eating and drinking, werent able to
keep the tent as clean as I would have liked and it was hard to get
the runners clothes dry when it did rain!
I also found that my usually sharp maths mind disappeared by day 3 and
lap calculations became harder and harder! I was mortified on
thursday morning when my calculations to bring up 65km were 9 laps out!
Fortunately we picked up the mistake whilst Andy was
still on the track and he took it in his stride to do another 9 laps!
This leads me on to one of the big pluses of this year's race. The
demountable food kitchen that was open 24hours a day for runners and
crew. Nothing was too hard for the staff who always had a smile on
their face. Even when there was a run on Vegemite sandwich
requests! It definitely made crewing a bit easier when you didnt
have to make up your own meals for the runners. Also kept the crew
well fed at the same time! I believe that the food and drinks were all
donated by the local
community. Congratulations Colac, please keep this going for
future years.
Unfortunately 2003 wasn't to be George Audley's year. He sufferred
from stomach problems for the first 2 days and ended up withdrawing.
It was a sad moment when George called for me from the tent and
asked for the referee! This was George's first withdrawel in ten
years and must be commended for pushing as long as he could! Im
sure we havent seen the last of George at Colac or other Ultra races
around Australia.
It was about Day three of the race when it became obvious that Kourcerek
wasnt going to run 1000km and he wasn't going to be a certainty to win.
He was carrying a leg injury of some sort and Graeme Watts was hanging
20/30km off him ready to pounce when the time came! By about day
4, Watts did pounce when Kourcerek took an extended break and was never
too look back!
Another great plus for the race this year was the new lapscoring system.
The old traditional lapscoring method had been done away with and it was
all computerised. Everyone loved it. It was accurate and reliable.
The system still involves people to input the numbers as they come
through, but there are checks and balances in the system which soon
picked up on any mistake. Malcolm Mathews from Melbourne should be
commended for his system and I hope that he can produce a windows
version of the program that could be used by ultra races around the
world.
I think my most emotional moments of the race were the few hours before
Andy passed the 65km for each day. On the Wednesday and Thursday
morning he passed the mark with 3 hours to spare, but the time frame
would have been closer if he hadnt of worked after midnight each night!
Andy was acquiring quite a fan club during the race. They were from
other crews, a local family with young kids, scorers and committee
members. Must have been his wit and gentle good humour! I also
think that people were impressed by the dogged determination that he
showed throughout the race., with constant references to Andy having a
heart bigger than Phar Lap. Andy would also help any of the
runners who had any medical problems at all! He would have lost half an
hour a day due to his willingness to help others - but this did not
enter into Andy's mind as a problem.
It was Thursday morning when things started to go astray for Andy. He
had qualified for Day 5 but it had been a gutsy effort which took a lot
out of him. When Don and George came in that morning, I told them to
give him a 2 hour break (his first since Sunday) and just keep the miles
ticking over! I then went to bed for 4 hours! Came out just
after 12 to have my bi-daily shower at the local squash club and get
some supplies to be greeted with the sad news from Don that Andy was
really struggling. I got Don to replenish the supplies and I
started feeding Andy the drinks and food lap by lap. Andy
complained of a back problem and there was also a leg problem at the
same time( I learnt all the medical terms during the week - but will
speak in laymans terms for this article). I could see that the back was
playing up as he was stooping forward quite extremely!
The next few hours were a blur. We tried massage, we tried taping the
back, we tried a support in his back to keep him straight. A couple of
the runners and one of the massage therapists were telling me to get him
out the race for his own good. It was heart wrenching to watch the
agony that he was going through. Andy and I discussed that he
would try and keep it going till midnight and if the miles required were
getting to much for the next 12 hours it would be time to call it a day.
I remember early evening Jen (Medical student from the USA who was at
the race doing research and had studied under Andy) exchanged some words
and Andy took off like a shot. It was a last ditch, do or die
effort and I did mutter under my breath that if Andy collapsed on the
track, Jen could do the honours of picking him up! (with a few words
added) I did discuss this with Andy and Jen later on and did
realise that there werent any major safety issues involved!
Andy kept on going for a couple more hours, but was getting slower and
slower. Think there were a couple more massages in there.(Even whilst
Andy was in pain he was able to get everyone arounnd him laughing with
his subtle and not so subtle humour - I will never look at a chicken the
same way again!) I was joined by my wife and daughter who arrived
back from Melbourne for the rest of the race. It was great to see
them, provided new smiling faces for Andy to talk to and an emotional
shoulder for me! It was about 11.00pm when Andy decided that he
would have half an hour off the track! This was out of the blue
for him and thats when I had a gut feeling that it was over. Andy
came back on the track at 11.30pm and wanted to do three laps and see
how the back was. I was down the bottom of the track when he came
round and realised that he was too stooped, too slow and it just wasnt
going to happen. I said to him " i dont know if your going to
hate me, but Im taking you off, thats it". He replied that he didnt
hate me and agreed that it was it! We then walked to the finish line and
Belinda passed me the quilt as we came past. It was a sad
moment, but Andy had done his best. I think everyone at the track
that night was touched and inspired by his gutsy effort that night!
We then got Andy back to the tent whilst the Night Ref got hold of a
motel for the Night for Andy. He definitely needed a shower and a
proper bed for the night! After getting him to his Motel room, I
joined my wife back at the track, released the emotion via a few tears
and headed to bed for the night!
Friday morning came around and I wandered onto the track about 7am.
Tidied up the tent and packed away the food. After the emotion and
work of the last couple of days, everything including the race seemed
rather flat and I did find it hard to be involved. But was able to
wander around during the day and gradually talk to more of the crews at
the race. I went and picked up Andy later on that morning and he
stayed at the track helping people when he could(even if we was moving
very slow himself). The placegetters were fairly well decided by
that time. It was great to see that Peter Hoskinson was going to
finish his first 6-day race, get a place and prove his detractors wrong.
John Timms withdrew on Friday morning with bad blisters which was a
surprise to everyone at the race. Belinda and I decided to get a
Motel room that night as well as a treat. We also joined Andy. Jen
and Dana (other Medical student) for Tea which was great.
Saturday came around and there was only 6 hours left of the race. I was
able to speak to some reporters from Queensland and Tasmania, who
promised to cover Graeme Watt's and Peter Hoskinson's success in their
local papers. another gutsy effort during the week was 78 year old
Stan Miskin who completed the 6 days. It wasnt an Age record, but a very
gutsy effort on Stan's part. Stan was looked after during the week
by his devoted wife who tended to all his needs. The gun went off
at midday and it was all over. The race had a new Aussie winner,
multi day racing in Australia has two new stars on the horizon in Peter
Hoskinson and David Billett from South Australia who finished his
first multi day race and the race itself had grown immensely in the past
12 months( which looks good for the next 18 years).
The
prize ceremony was conducted very well and didnt drag on like previous
years. Elvira Janosi won the Cliff Young Award. This was for
competing so soon after the personal family tragedy that she
endured and Brian Collings won the Bryan Smith Award for the
fairplay, goodwill and sportsmanship that he displayed during the week.
That afternoon, we packed the car and headed back to Melbourne after
being at the BBQ for a short time. I had to go away with work the
next day for a week, so it was up to Belinda to get Andy to the Airport
next day.( I believe a sumptous Chinese meal and chocalate icecream was
consumed that night once I was gone! Thanks Andy for giving me the
opportunity to crew for you. It was a great learning curve, but there's
no need to send that Anatomy and Physiology Exam! Thanks Don and
George for your great help during the week and thanks to everyone at
Colac for your help and friendship during the week. Thanks to
the Colac committee for putting on a great event!
I believe that 24 hour/multi day racing does have a big
future in this country. We do only have three 24 hour track
runs and one 48 hour run. Perhaps we need an enterprising sports
club to put on another 48 hour race somewhere in the country!
Here's to the next few years and what it's going to bring for me and my
achievements!
Phil Essam
It is not
the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man
stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The
credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena;whose face is
marred by dust and sweat and blood; who errs and comes short again and
again
. . . who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the least knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat. (Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt) 
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