World 100km - 1990

 

Ive finally found my Hero - Chapter Nine

 

Chapter Nine

"The 1990 Race"

"The Legend Wins Again!"

 

    1990 was to see the eighth running of the Westfield Sydney to Melbourne UltraMarathon. Legends and Aussie Folklore had been created in previous years.

            63 year old potato farmer, Cliff Young won the event in the first year. That stopped the nation whilst all of Australia followed his footsteps. In the second year, the race was run from Melbourne to Sydney and won by Lawnmower man, Geoff Molloy.

            In 1985, Greek Ultra God entered the race for the first time and blitzed the field. The question wasn't, "Would Kouros win?", but by how much would he win. In 1986, Kouros was injured which opened the door for Yugoslav, Dusan Mravlje to win. He consumed a few beers on the way. Tragedy was to strike the race this year when race leader, Geoff Kirkman was run over and a motorist was tragically killed.

            1987 saw a route change. The race meandered it's way to Canberra, through Cooma and Bombala and along the Princess Highway to Melbourne. The race was now longer and safer. Yiannis Kouros was in the race again and ended up winning once again. The race in 1988 was a Bicentennial event and it exceeded all expectations. Kouros was to win his third event, but several Aussie stars were born. Mansell, Standeven and Smith were to leave their mark in the Ultra world in the next few years.

            1989 saw the most exciting finish to the event. David Standeven finished half an hour ahead of Kouros. Standeven was dead on his feet and Kouros looked as though he could turn around and run back to Sydney. Kouros was awarded the race on corrected time. He had started twelve hours behind the rest of the field! Kevin Mansell finished in third place and was finally given the recognition as the elite athlete that he is.

            Kouros, Standeven and Mansell were to all beat the six day mark for 1000km. George Littlewood was the last runner to achieve this. That happened 100 years ago! Graeme Woods, after finishing forth, was disqualified after the race for taking non-prescribed drugs.

            What drama would happen in 1990? Would Kouros win? Would another Australian runner come forth and push him to the wire? Would Westfield generate enough publicity to keep the average Australian focused on the race and go shopping at their local Westfield Shopping Centre? It was going to be hard for them to maintain their focus and energy. They needed a new runner with a new story to come forth and push Kouros to the wire!

 

 

It wasn't long after the completion of the 89 Westfield that runners were entering events and getting themselves ready for the 1990 event. Peter Gray entered the 50 mile track race in Melbourne in June 89 and finished 6^th in a time of just under seven and a half hours. Peter then went and backed up this result with 303km at the Queensland 48 hour race two weeks later. Sandra Barwick ran 144.82 km in a 24 hour race on the same weekend, but this was below her usual high standard.

            A fifty mile race was held in South Australia in July 89. David Standeven finished this race in first place and Peter Gray backed up with another consistent fifth. Graham Stenner finished sixth.

            August 89 saw the running of the first international Hi-Tec Challenge 24 hour race at Olympic Park in Melbourne. It was a truly International race with competitors from the United Kingdom and New Zealand lining up on the Starting Block. Bryan Smith who ran an incredible 254.5km won the race. Second was Eleanor Adams with 240km.

            Third, forth and fifth were David Standeven, John Breit and Pat Macke. They ran between 238km and 224km respectively. It was probably the best 24-hour race ever seen in this country when you consider the depth of talent. It was another eight years when Australia saw the Yiannis Kouros smash the 300km barrier in Adelaide. Second place was 100km behind him.

            12^th August saw the start of the 1000-mile race in Sydney. It was between Ultra running legend, Tony Rafferty, Pat Farmer and Dave Taylor. All ex-Westfield stalwarts. Pat Farmer issued the challenge to Tony Rafferty in the hope of beating the champion and establishing his own reputation. Tony Rafferty ended up winning easily and breaking the World record.

            The Adelaide 24 hour race was held in Oct 89. This was won by Mike March from Tasmania who ran 257 km. Second was David Standeven with 256km. If only Mike March could raise the sponsorship and run in the 1990 Westfield!

            The Australian 6 Day race in Colac saw Bryan Smith join the record books when he ran 1002km in six days. He became the forth person to achieve this in history. Two of those were David Standeven and Kevin Mansell in last year's Westfield. Maurice Taylor ended up finishing second with 894km. Eleanor Adams and Sandra Barwick ended up finishing third and forth respectively. It certainly had been a great year for Bryan Smith.

            The 1990 Westfield was due to start on Thursday 17^th May from Westfield Shoppingtown in Liverpool. Liverpool City Council had declared the day as a Festival with street closures and entertainment planned throughout the day and night! There were to be thirty-three runners in the event. These included runners from Australia, USA, Japan, Greece and New Zealand.

 

 

The womens event is to be included in the run again this year and has three women entered. They are Sandra Barwick from New Zealand, Wanda Foley and Georgina McConnell both from Baulkham Hills in NSW. Barwick will start favourite against the two Westfield novices.

 

Sandra Barwick from New Zealand is regarded as one of the best female Ultra Marathoners in the World. She currently holds six world records, one British record, five Australiasian and one New Zealand record. In 1988 she finished seventeenth in a time of 8 days 4 hours and 10 minutes. She has been running over 200km per week in preparation and is hoping to finish in the Top ten this year.

 

Twenty seven year old Michael Bohnke from NSW is having his first run in the Westfield. He has a best 24 hour distance of 159km which was reached at Campbell Town last year. He has just got out of the RAAF and is hoping to move back to Wagga Wagga after the Westfield.

 

Gippsland Ultra Marathon Runner, John Breit was entering the race for the third time. He finished in 1988, completed 700 plus kilometres in 1989 and is confident of a Top ten finish in this year's race. John has a reputation of being a tough uncompromising runner in the 24 hour events and is now ranked 6^th in Australia with a best distance of 238km.

 

John was being managed for this year's event by Traralgon Bodyline fitness Centre Manager, Gary Gillett who helped organise every little detail for John's race. Sponsorship from the Gippsland business community was forthcoming, but John even held pizza nights at the local Pizza Hut to raise extra dollars. John was offered fifty dollars on the night to eat a whole Pizza. John consumed the Pizza and collected the money for Race funds!

Gippsland Journalist, Rhonda Myring, interviewed John Breit a few weeks before the start of the 1990 Westfield. They must have impressed each other because it was shortly after the 90 Westfield that they started dating and a couple of years later they were happily married and have a healthy baby boy.

 

John was asked during the interview "What makes a man run 1000 kilometres ---more than once". His reply was "I have to do it. I need to do well this year. I have to do it and I have to do it well." The subject also got onto how to prepare for the toughest race in the world. John's reply was "You have to be mentally tough; that's what makes an ultra-distance runner".

 

The writer was lucky enough to crew for John Breit in the 1990 Westfield. It was the writer's first experience with the Westfield except for watching it on TV, reading about it in the newspaper and watching the runners run along the Princess Highway at three o clock in the morning. My race story is told during this chapter. It was ten days of my life that I will never forget.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was 1989 and I was posted to Sale in Victoria. I had already run a Marathon. That was now boring! It was time to look further afield for fresh challenges. For years I had marvelled at the runners in the Sydney to Melbourne Ultra Marathon. Cliff Young, Kevin Mansell, Yiannis Kouros - just to name a few! All were living legends in my mind. I decided to start training for an Ultra. I wasn’t sure what I had to do, but I knew lots of running was a good start!

 

            A few months passed by and the Annual Westfield Race was coming through Sale. I was wrapped. I read all the newspaper reports, watched all the TV coverage and got to see about six of the runners coming through Sale. I missed out on seeing the big runners, but the blokes that I saw were all ordinary human beings. Ordinary human beings doing extraordinary things! Some were in their fifties, some were ex drug addicts, but all had their own remarkable story!

 

            Most of my ventures onto the highway were late at night. The first thing that I noticed was the gritty determination etched on the face of each runner. There was no way that they weren’t going to make it over the last two hundred and fifty kilometres to Westfield shopping centre in Melbourne. They would have crawled on broken glass to reach the finish line!

 

There was a Gippsland runner in the field by the name of John Breit. I can’t remember if he made it to Melbourne that year, but he was getting quite a lot of coverage in the local media and I knew that I had to meet him.

 

            Months passed and I was fully committed to training for the Westfield Ultra Marathon. I was running at least one hundred kilometres a week and planning to go in a twelve hour race in Canberra the following January.

 

            I was at work one day, when a Gentleman came to the counter wanting a pass. I asked him for identification and it ended up being one John Breit! I asked him "Are you the John Breit who runs in the Westfield?"

 

            His reply was "Yes, that’s me".

 

            Two cups of coffee later and I had adopted my own coach and Westfield runner! I saw quite a bit of John in the next few months. I think sometimes I would be quite overawed by him, sometimes I would think that he was quite arrogant and most of the time I was wrapped that he was helping me as much as he could. I reasoned to myself that one had to have a certain arrogance and single mindedness, when you were trying to be the top in your sport! He would get me out to all the Fun Runs, go running with me when ever he was in Sale and he would stop for coffee, whenever he came on the Base.

 

            My own training was going OK. I was quite confident that I would complete the twelve hour race in February next year without too much pain. It was just before Christmas, when John asked me to crew for him in next year’s Westfield. As he put it, I would be able to see first hand what I would be up against. I said "Yes" in an instance and worked out the minor details of getting leave later!

 

           

Christmas and New Year came by and left us just as quickly. I had suffered some injuries, but knew that I was ready to go in the twelve-hour race in February. I went up to Canberra, competed in the race and completed seventy three kilometres. I finished thirteenth out of sixteen and was reasonably happy with my efforts.

 

            Two weeks later I decided to run in a 24 hour race in Melbourne. That was foolish! I withdrew from the race after eight hours, after only completing fifty kilometres. Too much too soon! It didn’t dent my Ultra running ambitions, but it made me realise that it was going to take much longer.

 

            After that I recovered and then got myself ready to crew in the Westfield. I got two weeks leave without pay from work and was ready to roll. We had a team meeting a couple of weeks before hand where I met the rest of the crew. The crew chief was Gary(manager of 3TR)and his wife was Alisia. The other crew members were Dick ( the cook), Alex, John’s brother, Mark and the physio, Shirley. They all seemed ok and we discussed what was going to happen.

 

            The big day arrived. I met up with the others at Traralgon and after a night there we all went to Melbourne. The next day, we had to run around and gather the equipment for the race. This included the vans, water, clothing etc. We spent a night in Melbourne, before setting out in convoy the next day.

The road up to Sydney was certainly a lot quicker than what it was going to be on the way back. I think we got there mid afternoon and by the time we got our hotel it was close to Tea time. We had a couple of beers, handed out the race uniforms and discussed how we were going to do things . John was extremely confident and it seemed as though nothing was going to stop us.

 

            The next couple of days were spent with more preparation, more running around and more buying. We were all shown where the race would start from. It was the Westfield Shopping Centre in Liverpool. They already had the stage set up in the main area. Unfortunately we would not be able to see the start of the race, because we had to be waiting down the Highway.

 

            So after more packing of the vehicle, more buying of food etc. We got our uniforms. We all got four T-shirt, one windcheater, one yachting jacket and a hat. Not much, but that is what we had to wear the next seven days. God we were going to be smelly!

 

            Fifty year old Ralph Bristow is an Area Manager from Dapto, NSW and is also having his first run in the Westfield. Bristow only ran in his first Marathon four years ago after having run in ten consecutive "City to Surf" races. Since then he has put in some really impressive ultra performances. This has included a third place in the Australian 6 Day Championship with 702km.

 

Bristow's family were not with him in his early Ultra ambitions but are now backing him one hundred percent. His wife and twenty one year old son, Luke will be part of his crew on his first attempt.

 

Terry Cox Senior is the oldest runner in this year's run at fifty three. He is a Salvation Army Officer who has competed in the last three Westfield's. He has a best result of 8 days 7 hours and 25 minutes which was completed last year. In 1974, Terry raised $90 000 when he ran from Adelaide to Melbourne for the Royal Children's Hospital Appeal.

 

Cox also ran 24 hours on a Treadmill in 74 and clocked up 198.4km. Cox believes that this is still a World record. His family life has been racked with tragedy over the years, but he always maintains a happy outlook and attitude.

 

Terry's son, Terry Cox Junior is running in the Westfield for the second time. He made it to the Cooma cut off point last year but had to withdraw due to exhaustion. Father and son had run the last ten kilometres into Cooma in thirty seven minutes. This would have been enough to stop ninety five percent of the athletes in the world today.

 

Terry Junior is an ex-drug addict who was getting treatment for kidney disease for the first sixteen years of his life. He is only twenty four, but is hopeful of completing the course this year.

 

Ernie Cattle from Holbrook is running in his third Westfield. He is yet to finish due to injuries, but is getting stronger and more experienced as each year goes by. Ernie is an ex - Physcial Training instructor in the Navy and is now working as a Swimming Pool Manager.

Cattle's specialty in the Navy was combat Survival and this year he has an all- Navy crew from the Submarine Squadron at HMAS Platypus. The team motto for the year is "Run Silent Run Deep". Ernie has been running 200km a week in preparation and is confident of finishing.

 

Tony Collins from NSW is back for his third attempt. In 1988 he completed 900km before having to quit with a broken heel. In 1989 he finished in thirteenth spot and this year wants to finish in the top ten. The main reason that Tony runs is to raise money for the child cancer patients at Camperdown Childrens Hospital. He raised $50 000 in 1989 and wants to raise more this year.

 

Twenty five year old Peter Gray is entering the Westfield for the first time. Peter is from Geelong and has been a battler all his life. He had a hit and run accident when he was five and as a result Peter had to be specially educated. Peter competed in sixty two Triathlons (Single day and Multi day events) before entering the world of Ultras. He crewed for Greg Wishart in 1989 and knows that he is now ready to take on the challenge of the world's toughest race.

 

Robert Fickel from Ashcroft in NSW is running in the event for the first time. Robert's training involves running to and from work every day and doing a long run with the Mt Pritchard Joggers every Sunday. Robert ran his first ultra event in 1989 and recently ran fifth in the Aust 6 Day Race at Campbelltown.

 

 

 

He crewed for Cliff Young and Rune Larssen in 1989 and qualified with a solid 205.4km in 24 hours. Robert's family have moved out of the house during the leadup to this event. This has enabled him to work out his own schedule and go running whenever he feels like it. He calls in and visits his family whenever he could during training. That's dedication!

 

Robert Fickel was also part of the Sydney Friday night running group. "I'd get up on Friday morning at 5am go to the market to work and get home about 7pm. I'd change, have something to eat and leave home about 8.30 to meet the others including Kevin Mansell, Maurie Taylor and Pat Farmer. We'd run all night and I'd get home about 5.30 in the morning. Then I'd shower, change, have something to eat and head off to work again and be back home again at 7.30pm".

 

Robert Fickel was fortunate to have the expertise of members of the University of NSW for the race. They provided assistance in the area of nutrition and diet. Robert also had three experienced runners from his club as part of the crew. One of the University members on Robert's crew was Peter Abernathy, a lecturer in the School of sport and leisure studies. He worked closely with Robert before and during the race. The University also used Robert to collect data during the run. This data was in the area of sleep depravation and Fickel's diet.

 

Wanda Foley from NSW is another runner who has entered the event for the first time. She ran her first Marathon in 1985 and the Westfield has been her ultimate ambition ever since. Wanda also runs for the MS Society of NSW. She is hoping that she can be the third Australian woman to complete the Westfield run since it's inception in 1983.

 

Wanda finished forth in the Aust 6 Day Race last year and got a total of 659.5km in the process. Her six day run last year raised $1500 for the charity. In the last six months before the Westfield she ran in two marathons, one 24 hour race, two 12 hour races and one trail run

 

Wanda Foley decided in 1989 to run in the 1990 Westfield. Wanda's story in an inspiration to all Australian women. I received a six page letter from her husband, Mark in 1997. Excerpts are retyped throughout this chapter for everyone to share.

 

Wanda had decided in 1989 to begin preparing for the 1990 race. We began to write to companies seeking sponsorship and to raise money through raffles etc. Of thirty five businesses approached, we received only two offers; Strathfield car Radio provided our CB's and cassette speakers and Amada Medical Supplies provided out First Aid equipment.

 

Closer to the 90 race, City Gym in Sydney gave Wanda a free year's membership to assist in her fitness. The Banana Growers Association provided $ 500, much needed and appreciated. And right a the very last minute, through a chance conversation at a Picnic we were able to receive some major backing from Shell Petroleum. For the rest, we relied on the generous donations of friends and the hard work of the raffle ticket sellers. We were lucky to be members of the Western Districts Joggers Club. This Club has provided many Sydney to Melbourne Competitors and crew and gave Wanda much needed support. One week before the start, Wanda's friend, Pat Farmer arranged for his sponsor, Stacks Sports Equipment, to provide Wanda and her crew with Tracksuits and t-shirts a very nice gesture.

 

Wanda began running in 1984, joining Western District joggers and her ABC Radio work jogging team. She ran four Marathons between 84 and 85 ranging from 3 hrs 52 minutes and 4 hrs 13 minutes. By 1987, she had run 11 marathons in places as varied as Melbourne, Sydney, Hobart, Townsville and Honolulu. A fellow ABC radio team runner, big Chris Stephenson, had talked her into running the 1986 Bathurst 50 mile ultra Marathon - a race she enjoyed immensely and finished in 9hrs 15 mins.

 

…and in 1987 she entered the Sydney Striders 24 hour, which she finished managing 157.5km at her first attempt. In 1988 she ran three marathons, the Six Foot Track Trail race, three 24 hour races breaking 100 miles twice (Coburg and Campbelltown and finally entered the Campbelltown 6 Day Race.

 

This was the first of these events and was held next to Bradbury Oval, organised by John Shaw and Dave Taylor. This was the first of these events and was held next to Bradbury Oval, organised by John Shaw and Dave Taylor. Due to the Fishers Ghost Festival, the oval was being used by a carnival so the 6 Day race was staged on the access road to the ovals and incorporated footpath and a nasty downhill section. This race has since been classified as a 'road race'. Kevin Mansell ran 161km on day one and struggled with a painful knee which he eventually overcame and finished first with 902.5km Wanda was seventh, first lady, with 619km. This six day racing was a new experience for all of us.

 

In the 1989 6 day race at Campbelltown, Wanda was armed with more knowledge and determination. She finished forth behind Dave Taylor, Pat Farmer and Ralph Bristow with 659.5km and was first female beating Georgina McConnell, Val Warren and Lucille Gladwell.

 

So Wanda was primed and ready for her 1990 Sydney to Melbourne attempt. Her good friend, Keith O'Connell, was Crew Manager.

 

One of Wanda's weekly training runs was an overnight effort starting at the Ampol Crossroads at Liverpool. Many of the crew would take turns running with Wanda as we headed through Liverpool, down Woodville Road to Parramatta, into the City via Parramatta Road and back to Ampol Crossroads via Cantebury Road. These overnighters became very popular and were usually held Friday night, and many of us would then head to western Districts for the Saturday morning run afterwards. Others to run with us included Dave Taylor, Bob Fickel, Shaun Scanlon and Keith O Connell - all Westfield competitors.

 

Occasionally our group would bump into Mark Gladwell, Kevin Mansell and Maurice Taylor on their overnight run, which would lead to a bizarre chat and get to gether at around 3am. The value of these runs lay in the chance to practice all the things which might or might not happen during a long race. We always had a following vehicle to provide food, drink and medical supplies.

 

 

 

 

 

What became evident from this training and the Ultra-race circuit was the camaraderie between the runners and crews. Half the reason to travel to races in Adelaide or Melbourne was to catch up with these friends, swap stories, tell whoppers etc and to enjoy the occasion. Everybody suffered the same problems with injuries or sponsorship difficulties but also shared the common goal of getting to the start of the Sydney to Melbourne race.

 

Andrew Law from Tasmania is hoping to be the first Tasmanian to complete the run. Only two Tasmanians have attempted it before and both got slightly over the half way mark. He is inspired by the efforts of Cliff Young and has a best 24 hour distance of 180km. Andrew's work mates stirred him about going in the race. "They told me they'd pass around a hat so everyone could chip in for my bus fare down to Melbourne instead." Said Law at a pre race press conference.

Andrew's wife, Kerri kept a diary during Andrew's Westfield attempt. Excerpts from her diary are reproduced throughout the Chapter.

 

Twenty eight year old Pat Farmer from Eschol Park is already a Westfield Veteran. This is already his forth Westfield with a top ten placing to his credit. Pat recently ran the second fastest 1000 mile time ever when he ran second to Tony Rafferty in a Challenge in August last year. Tony Rafferty beat him by over 30kms. Pat Farmer has a best twenty four hour time of 192km.

 

Mark Gladwell is having his forth start in the Westfield. He has finished his three previous attempts and is confident of making it four in a row. Mark started running in 1984 and has a best 24 hour time of 164km to his credit. Mark's wife, Lucille has taken to training with Mark stating "It's the only time we see each other". ²⁷² She also acts as crew Commander on their regular pilgrimage between Sydney and Melbourne.

 

Greg Wishart from Frankston is having his second start in the Westfield. He finished twelfth last year in a time of eight days and fifty five minutes. His sporting career started in Rowing before moving to Triathlons. He ran in his first Ultra in 1985 and has had excellent results since. These have included running 210.088 kms in the International challenge 24 hour in 1989 and running 721.4km in the 6 Day Race at Colac in 1989. Greg is now running over 200km a week in training and is confident of improving on last year's performance.

 

Shaun Scanlon from NSW is another first timer. Shaun was a champion amateur Boxer in the 60's who missed out on Tokyo Olympic selection due to him fighting in a Pro fight in Newcastle. "I was sprung" he sheepishly admits. Shaun has been in Ultra running since 1989. He has a best twenty four hour distance of 150km and a best Six day distance of 501.86kms to his name. He was training over 500km a week prior to Christmas but has eased down since.

 Ross Parker from West Australia is the "Veteran" of this year's event. He has raced five times for four finishes. Ross is a keen sportsman who excelled in cricket and football before turning his body to Ultra’s in 1984. Ross Parker said, "Westfield has been the biggest part of my running since I started in 1984. It is the one run I continue to look forward to each year and one reason I continue to run"

 Brian Purcell from the USA is competing for the first time. Brian brings great credentials with him. In 1988 he won an unusual event called "Man against Beast" in Arkansas. He beat runners and horses to take the total prizemoney. Brian is also one of the few runners to beat Yiannis Kouros. That occurred in the Western State Run in 1988. Brian is hoping to repeat that performance again in this year's race.

 Peter Quirk is another novice runner in this year's Westfield. Peter is an ex Sydney Swans footballer who set himself the challenge of running in the Westfield after admiring the efforts of the runners in 1983. Peter was hoping to raise money for Rett Syndrome due to his daughter being diagnosed with the disease but was unable to due to the Rett Syndrome Association not being officially registered.

 Rod Martin from Wentworthville is hoping that his second attempt at the Westfield will bring better results than the first time. He completed 564km in 1988 but had to withdraw with ankle tendonitis. He has a best 24 hour distance of 181.387km and is hopeful of a Top ten finish this year.

 Tatsuya Muramatsu from Japan is the third Japanese runner to attempt the Westfield since 1983. He has completed the Spartahlon in a time of 34 hours and 36 minutes and has a best twenty four hour distance of 119.2km. He has also completed various Triathlons, Ironman and Ultra events throughout Japan.

 Kevin Mansell is running in his forth Westfield. He has completed the last three and last year ran himself into the record books when he completed the course in an amazing 5 days 22 hours and fifty nine minutes. Only five runners have broken the six day mark for 1000km. He now believes that he can win the Westfield and after his rapid improvement over the last three years, anything is possible!

 Greg Hillier is also another runner who is running in the Westfield for the first time. He has been training by running 40km a day, is an excellent sportsman and has a best twenty four hour distance of 140km. Greg has also raised over $20 000 by running in various charity races through out country Victoria in the previous two years.

 

Norio Wada is running in the Westfield for the second time. He raced in 1989 and completed 439km before being withdrawn by the Race Doctor. He is confident of improving and finishing the course this year. He has a best 24 hour distance of 228km to his credit.

 Random drug testing had occurred in 1989, but it was decided that all runners would be tested in accordance with IOC and IAAF rulings. This was because of Graeme Woods disqualification last year and the attempt by Westfield to comply with other major athletic events around the world!

 Once again there was going to be cut off points for the race. The runners would have:

24 hours          Marulan           130km

48 hours          Canberra         255km

72 hours          Cooma             370km,

96 hours          465km             Bombala,

120 hours        555km             Cann River,

144 hours        665km             Nowa Nowa,

168 hours        780km             Stratford,

192 hours        900km             Darnum

204hours         Finish              Melbourne!

            The prizemoney for 1990 was to be a total of $50 000. The winner was to receive $ 25 000, second $10 000, third $ 5 000, forth $ 3 000 and fifth to tenth $ 1 000 each.

            Greek Ultra legend, Yiannis Kouros has agreed to an eight hour delayed start this year. Publicity from Westfield went to great pains to inform people that Kouros was running under a delayed start and not a handicap. The winner of the race would be the one that ran the race in the shortest time. Last year Standeven was first across the line by half an hour, but lost the race due to Kouros taking lesser time! Kouros is confident of beating the five day mark and really cementing his name into the History books for all time!

            Once again, Westfield have released glossy advertising brochures to try and entice Australian businesses to support and sponsor the race. For $500,000 businesses could invest in the three week "Scratchathon" retail promotion being held by Westfield. They would also get joint naming rights to the race. For $ 300 000 businesses could obtain exclusive naming rights to the "Scratchathon" or joint naming rights to the Race.

            Businesses could buy their own Corporate team for $ 150 000. This would include 5 Australian runners and 5 Overseas runners. This would give the businesses major Corporate exposure and the opportunity to conduct major promotional activities in association with the event. Businesses could buy a Womens team for $100 000, Yiannis Kouros for $ 30 000, sponsor your own competitor for $10 000, or make a $ 40 000 donation to the National Heart Foundation. This would guarantee the business an international runner and major promotion for the race. After reading some of this literature, it wasn't surprising that some of the major stars were annoyed at the pittiance that they were receiving for their efforts from Westfield.

            The team’s event for the 1990 Westfield will have an International flavour with New Zealand and Japan being represented. The two female Aussies will also field their own team as well. Prizemoney for the winning team will once again be $1000 and a sash for each runner. The best two aggregates from each state will count towards the team event.

            The organisation for this year's Westfield was once again impeccable. Prior to the race, NSW Police issued all competitors with a set of race rules and NSW conditions as set. All officials following the race were issued with a race Official instruction booklet which set out everyone's daily tasks and what to do if there was a problem. Charlie Lynn's Army background was certainly paying dividends because the Westfield system certainly did operate like a well oiled machine.

            A couple of weeks before the start of the 1990 Westfield it seemed as though the partnership between Yiannis Kouros and the Westfield Management was on the rocks. The 34 year old Greek legend is living in Sydney and wasn't even invited to the launch of this year's race. As a result Yiannis held his own Press conference and had a few shots at the Westfield organisers.

            "The race is going down. Every year the publicity gets more but the prizemoney gets less. They don't want to spend money but they like to have more publicity. This year they make the race cheaper. They don't invite all the good international runners. The prizemoney this year is less - $ 20 000 - but it is nothing because I am not able to run like this every few weeks. I do this race once a year. For me to be what I am I have done 18 years training with no job. This is just the result, so the money is nothing." Kouros also expressed his displeasure at the handicapping system that had been forced onto him by the Westfield management.

            Yiannis Kouros also explained that he would be spending the next two weeks at a retreat in the Blue Mountains. This would be to prepare his body and mind for the job in front of him. "It's because I can think positive that I can forget about the pain and problems and keep going. You need your body but mostly you use your mind"

            Yiannis Kouros is now living in Australia but his mind is still back in Greece. "Greece is a country of spirit and our people gave most of their lives to fighting. When I'm running I think of the Greek fighters and it helps me. I think I have a link with the past. Twice in my life I went to two places in Greece that I have been before and both the places felt familiar to me like I have been there before. I walked down the street and I knew where I was. It is very strange"

 

 

Yiannis Kouros returned from the Blue Mountains a couple of days before the start of the race. He was still upset over the reduction in prizemoney and the handicapping system but was determined to put it behind him until the completion of the race. " I want to focus all my energy on the race, I don't want to think about other things now. It's not that the story has finished. It's just that I have to concentrate on the race first".

            The race started to the tune of Chariots of Fire and the runners were off. By evening time, Bryan Smith led the runners as they ran though rain towards Goulburn. Maurice Taylor was second position and Kiwi, Don Mitchell was third with Victorian John Breit running comfortably in forth.

            Ernie Cattle had been the early leader in the race but had fallen foul with a stomach upset and was now struggling in fifth. Sandra Barwick was the leading female runner and was in tenth position. The field was already stretched across a 40km spread and it wasn't even twelve hours into the race.

            The first casualty in the race was Victorian Greg Hillier. He was forced to withdraw with exhaustion and hypothermia after completing 175km.

            Yiannis Kouros started the race eight hours after all the other competitors. More than 5000 people turned up to see Kouros start and he was blessed by a Greek Orthodox Priest before he started. He lifted his baby daughter onto the stage for one last kiss before heading out of the Shopping Centre into the cold night. Westfield Race Director, Charlie Lynn was rapped at the turnout and said "He's the spirit of the event, there's an aura about him. He really has turned this sort of thing into an art form".

 First Day on the road with John Breit:

The big day finally dawned and we had our assigned tasks. I was going to be driving the rear vehicle, taking food out to John and running with him when necessary. Gary dropped John down to the start and we all waited five kilometres up the road. The race started about half past ten and it was about twenty minutes later when the first of the runners came running up the road.

            What a sight! The circus had started! It was only a minute or so later when John came past and our lead van tucked in behind him. I followed in the second van shortly behind that. Apart from the runners, we had also been swamped by media vans and helicopters. What a spectacle! Runners, Vans, media crew and helicopters proceeding up the highway. There were also spectators lining the streets. It felt great just being a crew member!

            We made our way up the Highway and the circus began to stretch out. John was running with a Kiwi runner and their back up van was directly behind ours. During the first couple of hours the highway was stretching over quite a few rivers, with quite spectacular drops to the riverbeds. I thought that they would make spectacular bungy drops and started to trash the Kiwis behind us on the CB radio. They took it in good humour, but reminded me about the underarm bowling incident. The CB was quiet for the next couple of hours!

            At the forty two kilometre mark, Westfield had a big banner erected over the road. It read "Congratulations from Westfield, One marathon completed, twenty five to go". Quite an eerie feeling when one realised the awesome task, that was now in front of John. Oh well it was our job to get him there!

            The day continued and soon evening and night was upon us. John wasn’t having anyone run with him at this stage, we would only have to run drinks and food up to him. We were taking him drinks every twenty minutes and a snack every half an hour. It was going to be vitally important to keep the sustenance up to him.

            The first qualifying stage was at Picton, which was a truck stop about ninety km out of Sydney. I think that we reached it with about six hours to spare. Any runners that didn’t make it to a qualifying spot in time were automatically out of the race. It was fair enough because they did have to try and get it finished in a reasonable time. The crew members were working a roster of six hours on, three hours off. During the race I felt a bit bad taking three hours off, when John was plodding down the road, but it was vital that you took your breaks when allocated.

            It was around 6pm on the second day of the race when Yiannis Kouros became the leader. At the beginning of the day he was in 22^nd position. Kouros had overtaken second place Peter Gray on the other side of Canberra and soon had his sights focused on Bryan Smith. It was around 4.45pm when race leader, Bryan Smith took a break and was unbothered when Kouros overtook him 4km south of Canberra. During that break, Bryan Smith ended up with two stiches in his head when he stood up in the bath of his Motel room and lost his balance. This cost him a couple of hours running but he is once again running solidly in second position.. Peter Quirk was forth and John Breit was maintaining his solid run in fifth.

            Kouros had overtaken them all 245km into the race. The first two days of the race was to see the runners suffer from the extremely cold weather. Thankfully the weather started to improve for the second half of the race.

Day Two of my Westfield experience:

John kept running through the night and was placed in the top ten. He had his first massage break in Goulburn and was feeling good. It was between Goulburn and Canberra, where I did my first bit of running. Crewmembers were allowed to run with their runner on the proviso that it was to guide the runner only, but it also gave the runner a psychological boost because he had to someone to talk to.

            It was during that morning that we got overtaken by one, Mr Yiannis Kouros. He had started eight hours behind the field and he had caught us already. We knew that he was coming because we could hear this Greek music, blaring five hundred metres behind us. Sure enough, he was soon overtaking John. Kouros is definitely the best ultra distance runner that ever lived. Some say that it is his perfect running style and others say that it his mind being so perfectly in tune. I think that it is a combination of both areas.

            Kouros overtook us and the day continued. John kept running well. It was soon calculated that we would be running through Canberra during peak hour night time traffic. I took on the job of guiding John through the city. He was going to stop at a hotel the other end of the city for a three hour break. That would include a massage and a sleep. He would only be in the state of sleep known as Rapid eye movement sleep, but it would be enough to keep pushing him. It was quite remarkable to see how the human body could survive without so little sleep!

            I started running with John about ten kilometres out of the city. I had a reflective vest on and had read the map one hundred times in the last two hours. We got into the city ok and John decided that he needed to relieve himself. His brother, Mark jumped out of the van and we proceeded to guide John into the first Hotel on Northbourne Avenue. It must have looked quite funny to the patrons going into the posh restaurant to see three cold sweaty runners, run into their Hotel. A couple of minutes later, John was back on the road and we were meandering through the city.

            Half an hour later, we had got through the city and we stopped at a hotel. Time for Massage and sleep break. Down went the witches hat and in we went. Every time a Westfield runner, left the run, he had to put a witches hat on the road. I guess it helped prevent cheating!

            Well three hours later, we were back on the road again. I ran with John for another hour. The hill out of Canberra towards Cooma was enormous. It seemed to take for ever. I eventually escaped to the sanctity of the caravan for a couple of hours sleep. John kept running through the night and maintained his position in the Top ten.

            Yiannis Kouros passed through the NSW township of Bombala at 8pm on the night of 19^th May 90. His nearest rivals were still at least three to four hours behind him. There are four Aussie runners in the top six. They were Maurice Taylor, Peter Quirk, Bryan Smith and Peter Gray. Brian Purcell from the USA was also in the top six.

            Tasmanian, Andrew Law was doing well when he arrived in Canberra. It was the 253 km mark and his wife, Kerri had the following to say: Stopped for 3 and a half hours ( Canberra International Hotel) - Ray went in and told them that Andrew was on his way and if at all possible would they provide us with a room - the y obliged of course - at no expense (isn't he a charmer). Andrew has 2 hours solid sleep, 1 and a half hours massage and a spa.

            Westfield legend, Cliff Young wasn't entered in the race this year but was being used as the Official Motivator for the runners. This was obviously working as only two runners had pulled out so far. When Shaun Scanlon looked like missing the 130km cut off, Cliff was there to toe him to the line. When Wanda Foley looked liked pulling out after two days of the race, Cliff was to reassure her with a few kind words. "The conditions are terrible this year. There was rain and hailstones and all sorts of things. I really felt for them last night when I curled up in my nice warm bed." Said Cliff whilst talking about his newfound job on the race.

 

Top ten race positions at 0600 hrs 20 May 90:

Yiannis Kouros           520km

Bryan Smith               476km

Peter Quirk                  472km

Brian Purcell               468km

Maurice Taylor            451km

Peter Gray                   445km

John Breit                    419km

Don Mitchell               416km

Mark Gladwell            408km

Andrew Law               407km

 

It was at this stage of the race that Andrew Law was beginning to suffer with the cold: Stopped for 2 hours - this included sleep/run down and change of clothing and socks. At this stage it was snowing and it was bitterly cold. 40km's out of Bombala the snow set on Andrew whilst he was running and vision was very poor ( approximately 100 metres) wrote Kerri in the race diary.

            Sandra Barwick was leading the women's race with 406km. Georgina McConnell was fifty six kms behind her with 350km. Peter Quirk and Maurice Taylor from NSW were leading the teams event with 923km.

Day Three of my Westfield experience:

The next day dawned and we found ourselves enjoying the bitterly cold high plains. It was round about this time, when John started his hobby for the race which was collecting hubcaps. He would point to a hubcap by the side of the road and one of us would jump out and pick it up. Next stop and the hubcap would be tied onto the back of the van. By the end of the race we had picked up at least twenty different hubcaps. One came from an Official car, that was promptly returned at the end of the race!

            The day brought more running, more stops, more driving , more hubcaps. Some of it did get a bit monotonous, but we were all focused towards a common goal. Day soon became evening and we were approaching the outskirts of Cooma. What a cold place! We stopped there for an hour or so, whilst John had another massage. The night before I thought the hill out of Canberra was steep. It was nothing compared with the mountain out of Cooma!

            The hours kept ebbing by as John kept running and we kept backing him up to the hilt. The crewmembers had divided into two teams by now. There was Mark, Gary, his wife and the physio in the front van. Myself, Alex and Dick were in the back van. John ran well through the night and by morning, we were on the outskirts of Bombala. It was nine o clock when we ran into Bombala and had another couple of hours break.

            It was in Bombala, where I upset the local Greek population. I had been sent to the local milk bar to buy some toasted sandwiches for everyone. One of the owners started saying how good Yiannis Kouros was. So I replied with a statement that Yiannis wasn’t that good and he will be beaten some day. The Greek guy replied with a statement that "Don’t let my mother hear you say that she comes from the same village as Yiannis". I felt about six inches tall!. For the record, I do believe that Yiannis is the greatest Ultra runner in this era and it is a long time before he will be beaten.

            The weather during this years race was absolutely terrible with Race director conceding that the weather was the worst in the history of the race with everyone, including Yiannis Kouros sufferring.

            It's sheer hell out here" said Kevin Mansell, who was in 13^th spot and was the first to run into a snow storm, 60kph hour winds near Nimmitabel.

            "In the morning when I crossed the border I was jumping for joy, singing , dancing, now this weather is getting me down again. It's the worst weather we've had on this race. Last year it was cloudy but dry and the year before that it was sunny" said Yiannis Kouros at the 548km mark of the race.

            Cooma, Bombala, Lakes Entrance and Orbost are all towns on the Westfield route. The Westfield has been a big bonus for these towns in the last few years. It has been an event coming to town and it has meant extra dollars for these towns as the race passes through. Cliff Young was guest of honour at a Sportsman's dinner at Cooma on the Friday night of the race. The next morning he ran through the township with 60 of the Primary School children and the Queen of Cooma, Shirley Pusswald.

            At 6pm on the 21^st May 90 the top ten placings were:

 

1.         Yiannis Kouros                       755km

2.         Bryan Smith                            697km

3.         Brian Purcell                           696km

4.         Maurice Taylor                        659km

5.         Peter Quirk                              655km

6.         John Breit                                631km

7.         Don Mitchell                           628km

8.         Andrew Law                           611km

9.         Peter Gray                               598km

10.       Mark Gladwell                        596km

            The leading female was still Sandra Barwick who had 581km. The Victorian team of Bryan Smith and John Breit were leading the teams Championship.

            Andrew Law’s diary entries for the 459.5km and 597km:

At 9.49p, on 20/5 we passed the Victorian Border. All the crew ran with Andrew ( beside two drivers) and cheered and celebrated with Andrew. He thought it was no big deal a she still had to run 500 more. So that was that!

            Cliff Young ran with Andrew. Young children from Cabbage Tree Creek primary school cheered and clapped Andrew along. It was great. We were unindated with Muesli bars so that's what we gave the kids.

            Brian Purcell was catching up on Kouros at a great rate of knots and only had a gap of 40kms. The cold mountain air had been a benefit to Purcell, as he drew on his trail running experience back in the States. Purcell moved from sixth to second within twenty four hours.

            Purcell's crew are playing it very cautious with the race and have refused to let their runner be quizzed on Kouros's progress. "We don't want him to worry about where Kouros is because Brian is running his own race and Kouros isn't in it" said Purcell's crew manager. Purcell is one of the handful of men alive to have beaten Yiannis Kouros in an Ultra Race. This was in the Western States 100 mile race a couple of years ago.

Brian Purcell was very confident when interviewed by reporters and said "I'm running to plan and taking one and a half hour breaks every twelve hours. I'm moving right along and doing so much better than I expected. I think I am a good mountain runner and the more adverse the conditions, the more I like mountain running."

            Yiannis Kouros proved yesterday that perhaps he was mortal after all. He was interviewed by reporters as he was trudging along the road towards Melbourne and was quoted as saying "There is something wrong with it, I don’t know. I don't feel so optimistic".

 

His manager, Theo Premetis tried to explain this laps in Kouros's mental concentration when he said "On the forth day he slows down because he can't see the goal that he has set for himself to realise. He is at the point where he is unsure if the goal is realistic or not. And as always, his body has suffered a lot of pain".

More of my Westfield experience:

Back to the story, John kept running, collecting hubcaps, getting massages, eating, drinking and making his way down the highway.

            It was early the next day when John hit Gippsland. He had a break at Nowa Nowa early in the morning and then started to go for it. I think the biggest boost for John was when he ran through Lakes Entrance and saw about four different runners having a break in different Motels. John was so wrapped to be passing them, that his heart motored into action and he seemed to get a kick bigger than Phar Lap. Or was it the Blues Brothers playing on the speakers.

I kept doing my bit by driving, sleeping, running etc., etc., etc. Another day passed and we were on the outskirts of Sale. It was night time and I had given them strict instructions to wake me up.

            Sale was my home town and I was going to run through Sale with John. Unfortunately it was three o clock in the morning and the only person awake was my flatmate and workmate, Mossy. Mossy had driven five kilometres out of Sale and was waiting for us on the highway. They got me out of bed and I joined John and Mossy on the road.. Mossy ran with us for two kilometres and then ran back to his Patrol vehicle. We ran through Sale. It was deathly quiet and the streets were dead. But it was still great and I felt proud to be out there on the road. We stopped on the other side of town whilst John had another massage break.

            Purcell has got a four kilometre break on Bryan Smith, whose main aim is to be first Australian across the line. He is looking fairly comfortable and has a fifty kilometre break on Maurice Taylor. Following Taylor is Peter Quirk and John Breit in fifth and sixth place respectively.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A very unofficial story going the rounds was than a young boy in Bombala approached an official for a T-shirt. The official said "Yes", but he would want something in return. The official was offered the young boy's 19 year old sister. The official is not saying what is reply was, to the more than generous offer.

            There have now been three withdrawals in the race. They are Ernie Cattle, Greg Hillier and Shaun Scanlon. Sandra Barwick is in thirteenth place and still winning the women's race. Georgina McConnell is catching her and has moved up ten places to be in fifteenth place. The other female runner, Wanda Foley is struggling in third last place.

 The top ten placings at 0600 hrs 22 May were:

1.         Yiannis Kouros           807km

2.         Bryan Smith                765km

3.         Brian Purcell               764km

4.         Maurice Taylor            725km

5.         Peter Quirk                  720km

6.         Don Mitchell               691km

7.         John Breit                    680km

8.         Peter Gray                   672km

9.         Andrew Law               671km

10.       Kevin Mansell             652km

 

Kouros started to suffer in the last couple of hundred kilometres. A race was going on behind him for second place, but the Greek was oblivious to all of this. Yiannis Kouros was asked on the last morning of the race on what he was looking forward to on completing the race. "I'm looking forward to completing the remaining 130km without injury. Then I'm looking forward to sleeping for 12 hours."

Even more of my Westfield experience:

            Night time soon became day and John’s pace picked up dramatically. He was in his home area as well. I forget to mention his parents. They had followed us from Cooma and were providing tremendous moral support for everyone. Mrs Breit was even taking all the washing and doing it in her hotel rooms. Thank Christ, we weren’t going to smell our way to Melbourne.

 

Back to Gippsland. As I said John’s pace had picked up dramatically. People were coming out onto the road to see John. He was the local boy and was definitely in the Top Ten. John motored through Traralgon, Morwell and his hometown of Moe. It was soon night time and we were on the outskirts of Warragul. It was about nine-o clock at night when we reached the final qualifying stage. We decided to get hold of a few toilet rolls and we all went up ahead of him. He had his own little run through which John thought was excellent. It boosted his morale and it boosted our morale.

Andrew Law was about fifty kilometres behind Breit going through Gippsland but was starting to struggle as these excerpts from his diary shows:

 - Andrew veered off the road and made a crutch for support. This was modified by the crew to make it more comfortable for him. He struggled on for 2kms.

742.3   Stopped - Mark Gladwell came into the van realising Andrew was having problems. He suggested that we put his feet straight into ice water. It seemed cruel but after three hours of constantly putting his feet into ice water for ten minutes at a time the swelling had gone down considerably and believe it or not Andrew was able to keep running. This camaraderie between runners was fantastic, it's such a great sport. This run certainly brings out the best and the worst in the runners.

Blister started on left heel. Heel wearing off shoe. Overall Andrew had seven blisters and these only occurred when it was raining fairly heavily and the wet socks rubbing on his feet caused discomfort - blisters.

Early morning jogger ran 5km with Andrew. Whilst talking with him we found out that his brother coaches North Hobart football team in Tassie. It's definitely a small world.

Kouros only had ten kilometres to go when he had to stop. It seemed as though he was gone. He kept going but had to rest again with only four kilometres left. He then heard that Bryan Smith was only fifteen kilometres behind him. Was it going to be a repeat of last year’s race? This was enough to get Kouros running again. It wasn't too long before he was crossing the Finishing Line and thanking all of his Greek supporters. His time was 5 days, 23 hours and 55 minutes.

            Kouros suffered a bout of flu during the race and over the last three kilometres, the world champion was in agony. At one stage, he was totally delirious and lost his balance. He fell back onto his support vehicle.

            Wanda Foley ended up pulling out of the race at the 702km. It was a truly remarkable effort. This is her race story:

            Right from the start, the weather turned nasty with consistent rain right through the first day. Wanda covered 147km on day one, and had minor stomach problems. On day two she reached Canberra and finished the day with 127km. From here the weather got worse. Rain now turned to sleet as we headed for the high country. Approaching Cooma, the air temperature was -5 celsius but the wind chill factor was much colder. Wanda began to be blown off the road by the fierce cross winds and we had a crew member on the side of the road to catch her and prevent her falling each time this happened. This continued for hours until we reached Cooma, and by now we were having trouble keeping Wanda's energy levels up. She was wearing: long tights, long sleeved silk shirt, long sleeved t-shirt, sloppy joe, silk balaclava, gloves, beanie and a gore tex running suit - and still felt the cold.

            Some of the road sections between Bombala and Cann River had black ice which was an added hazard for runners and crew. By now Wanda had developed shinsplints as a result of the long sections of walking (unexpectedly) - these shinsplints were obviously painful, swelling like tennis balls on the front of Wanda's shins. We iced these regularly, including making Wanda sit with her legs in an esky of ice during her rest breaks in the van, a particularly cruel thing to do given the severe cold weather but it was necessary and it relieved the swelling enough to be able to then strap the shins.

            We kept this up and actually began to get the injury under control as we did with the blisters and swollen toe problems. Unfortunately this stress was having an effect on Wanda's stomach and she became regularly ill. No amount of re-hydration or food was enough to get this under control and she was reduced to mainly walking, eventually leading to the race doctor convincing her to withdraw from the race, citing exhaustion, south of Lakes Entrance, completing 702km.

            It was disappointing for Wanda Foley not to complete the race, but she completed 702km which is equivalent to seventeen and a half Marathons. Definitely a gutsy effort and one full of praise for her determination.

            Kouros dedicated his win to the Greek community and apologised for not arriving a day earlier as he had promised. "I am sorry I didn't come yesterday. I am very happy, not disappointed. I have achieved my goal of coming to Melbourne as soon as possible. Even with so many problems with my body, I beat my body."

            On receiving the winner's cheque Kouros criticised the Westfield management for cutting the prizemoney by $5000 and said that he would not enter the race again unless the prizemoney was increased. He also spoke with reporters from the Doncaster Templestowe News shortly after the race and was very critical of where the race was heading.

            He claims that himself and the other 31 runners were being used to raise company revenue for Westfield."I don't like to see people making money from sport. These people like to see us in pain. We are running because we believe in it. It's like a god for us. Even if they pay me $50 000 or $ 100 000, I'm not pleased because they use us and the sport to make money. It's not an athletic spirit. It's a commercial race and the people participating should be rewarded."

 

 

 

He said that $ 20 000 first prizemoney was terrible, being as the race generated more publicity than the Adelaide Grand Prix and Bathurst 1000

            The executive director of the run, Mr Chris Bates was asked about the comments by Yiannis Kouros. He said the runner had "bitten the hand that feeds him".

            Chris Bates also said "I have never twisted anyone's arm to enter the event and I will promise that in the future he won't be forced to enter. I won't be sponsoring Kouros next year, so I will have some more money for prizes. He can do his own sponsorship sourcing.".

            Yiannis Kouros was also asked on what his secret of success was. He explained that running was a form of meditation "If you don't use your mind, you stop everywhere your body stops. You must find the right combination of both.".

            Bryan Smith and Peter Quirk ended up coming second and third.

The home stretch:

Night time passed and I think it was about six o clock in the morning when I was back out running with John. We were watching the sun come up and we were watching Melbourne come up in front of us. John was so happy because he knew that he was going to make it and finish well. The only problem was that one of the female Kiwi runners was finishing well. She was catching up. Our crew chief, Gary came out and said a few words to John. John was soon picking up the pace again. I think Gary appealed to John’s sexist side!

            Well we were soon running through Melbourne. The crowds and traffic had picked up even more. There was quite a few times that we were all out there guiding John through the traffic. One never realises how dangerous traffic can be, until you have to guide one runner over highways, roundabouts, train tracks and tram tracks. It was dangerous but we were getting our runner closer and closer to his goal.

            Before we knew it, the finishing line was within a kilometre. A couple of officials were there to meet us and took care of our vans. We followed twenty metres behind John, as he powered towards the finishing line and it was great! There was a couple of hundred people waiting. (The finishing line was at one of the car parks in the big Westfield shopping centre in Melbourne).

            John was now down to his last one hundred metres and the roar was deafening. I don’t know how John was feeling, but I felt a bloody big tingle going up and down my spine. If this is how it was going to be as a crew member, I was definitely coming back as a runner. John finished and we followed him a couple of seconds later. His parents were there and there was a fair bit of emotion being spilled between him, his parents and us the crew.

 

            We tried to party after that. Westfield put on a few beers, but everyone was too stuffed to enjoy it fully. We ended up putting John to bed at nine o clock that night. We had to carry the guy because he was that stuffed. I think the rest of us were in bed half an hour later!

            What did I get out of the run? I saw the commitment that was going to be needed. I saw how organised and professional the crew had to be. I saw the best way for food and drink to be organised. Unfortunately the Westfield died a couple of years later due to one reason or another.

            Any person that can run a marathon has achieved something extremely special. To attempt or run twenty six marathons in a row. Words in the English dictionary cannot describe what they have achieved!

            In 1997 I was to complete my first twenty four hour race at Coburg. It was the scene of my earlier demise seven years previous. I ran 103.5km and John was part of my crew. He was glad to repay the favour of seven years earlier and he helped to give me the stimulus to rekindle my Ultra running career. Westfield Champion, Kevin Mansell was in the same race in 97. He sprinted around the track to congratulate me when I brought up my 100km. That kind of comradeship between World champion and Novice is rarely found on any Sportsfield today. I was on top of the world that day. In the words of Kevin in 1987 "I finally found my hero in life and it was me!".

            Sandra Barwick was the first woman home. She finished in the Top ten and beat the women's 1000km record at the same time by four hours and twenty minutes. She also bettered her own Westfield result by over 24 hours. "One of the reasons I run is to promote ultra running for women. I hope they won't be frightened off by it and will come back." Said Sandra shortly after finishing.

            After Sandra Barwick finished, Federal MP, Michael Lavarch came forth and said that women would continue to be a side show in Australian sport. "The coverage of the race gives the public the impression that there are no female competitors. It is no wonder then the first placed woman will receive less than one sixth of the prizemoney awarded to the male winner." Lavarch said this was most surprising being as that Westfield relies heavily on women for the success of their shopping centres.

            Maurice Taylor ended up in forth place. He said " I found the right mental approach necessary in a race like this. You must train yourself in mental strategy. For example there were times I wanted to go to the toilet but said to myself I should wait for another kilometres or two, or the next sign post. Little things like this make you mentally tougher. When I reached the finish line, I had the satisfaction of knowing I had achieved something. I had beaten my body and mind, and taken 12 hours 20 minutes off my previous best time."

 

 

 

 

Twenty five year old Geelong runner, Peter Gray became the youngest runner to finish the race when he crossed the line seventh. His time was seven days, eighteen hours and two minutes. In the first couple of days he was second. It was only the icy Snowy Mountains that would get the better of him.

            Before getting into Ultras , Peter had completed 62 Triathlons including the South Australian Six day Triathlons. "I'm happy I'm the youngest person to run 1000kms. I had real bad flu, but I still did it". Said Peter shortly after finishing. Over the next eight years, Peter was to become one of the best UltraMarathoners in Australia by completing over 100 ultras and 100 marathons. His finest moment was to come in 1997 when he won the Colac 6 Day race.

            Andrew Law was to finish the race and was ecstatic with his efforts:

 30kms to go and we were escorted by a Race Official into Doncaster shopping centre. Mind you we had to stop at all traffic lights. If Andrew had been in the top ten they would have stopped traffic. So stopping and starting evert five minutes was extremely difficult.

1006    It was a great thrill to cross the finish line - andrew was absolutely thrilled that he had done what he had set out to do. That was to be the first Tasmanian to complete the run. He finished the run in a time of 8 days and eight minute exactly.

Meanwhile, ex-RAAF runner, Michael Bohnke was near the rear of the field. His spirits soared yesterday, when he received news that he had gained employment with a computer company in Wagga Wagga. Michael started off very strongly in the race, but had more than a few injuries to contend with over the last few days. These include a twisted and bruised ankle.

Bohnke is determined to make it to the finish. He has had special moments on the way. These included sharing muesli bars with schoolchildren at Cabbage Tree Creek and getting cheered in the streets of Lakes Entrance as he battled along the road.

            Eduardo Vega was to the last runner to cross the finishing line when he crossed the forty seven minutes after the official closing time. His only physical reward was a Certificate of achievement and a cold beer but he was still a winner. In last year's race he only managed 147km before getting injured, but this year he kept going and completed the distance. In the words of Eduardo "Finishing this race was all I wanted to achieve this year".

            The eighth Westfield run had been run and won. Yiannis Kouros had won the race in appalling conditions. Every other runner that completed the course were champions as well. Westfield were continuing to look after their runners one hundred percent, but it was still a media exercise and their main purpose was to promote the shopping centre and increase revenue.

 

 

 

Cracks were starting to appear with runners expressing their opinions on the relatively low prizemoney. What would 1991 bring? Would a new champion come forth to challenge Kouros and renew media interest? Would Westfield do something different to try and create renewed interest in the eyes of the public? Would Westfield give the runners extra prizemoney ?

 

Westfield FINISHERS 1990

PLACE	NAME	TIME
1	YIANNIS KOUROS	5D 23H 55M
2	Bryan Smith	6d 9h 45m
3	Peter Quirk	6d 11h 40m
4	Maurice Taylor	6d 18h 40m
5	Don Mitchell	6d 21h 27m
6	Brian Purcell	7d 3h 20m
7	John Breit	7d 4h 6m
8	Sandra Barwick	7d 4h 46m
9	Kevin Mansell	7d 12h 52m
10	Tony Collins	7d 14h 59m
11	Peter Gray	7d 18h 2m
12	Andrew Law	8d 8m
13	Mark Gladwell	8d 3h 6m
14	Robert Fickel	8d 6h 59m
15	John Lewis	8d 8h 59m
16	Rod Martin	8d 9h 33m
17	Ross Parker	8d 10h 1m
18	Pat Farmer	8d 10h 27m
19	Michael Bohnke	8d 10h 48m
20	Eduardo Vega	8d 12h 47m