Pedestrian News - July 1854

 

World Pedestrian Walker reaches Gilgandra - 1915

 

48hr race- Jan 1882

 

6 day report - 1879

 

Walking around the World report - 1909

 

6 Foot track results -1991

 

Australian 6 Day Rankings - 1991

 

Bryan Smith Eulogy

 by Tony Collins

TRANSCRIPT OF THE EULOGY READ BY TONY COLLINS AT THE FUNERAL FOR THE LATE

BRYAN SMITH

 

Janet has asked me to say a few words about Bryan on behalf of the  ultramarathon runners. When she asked me I was very moved. I was also very  humbled at having to find the appropriate words to adequately describe this brilliantly talented athlete. In the twelve or thirteen years I knew Bryan, I was aware he was a devoted, caring and concerned father of his sons, a loving husband and partner to Janet, and latterly became an excited grandfather,  but on the road or the track, he was a champion, the likes of  which we will probably never see again.

 

His unflagging energy, his fierce determination to run further and faster, his unbeatable competitiveness meant that it was a rare occasion when he didn't win. We all raced against him - there would not be many runners who, on seeing Bryan's name on the list of competitors, didn't mentally downgrade their expected finish result by one position. I lost count of the number of times he beat me. But we all had the chance to win when we were standing on the start line  - Bryan didn't win because his name was Bryan Smith - but because he was the most talented and  put in more effort than the rest of the field.  He earned his trophies every single  time. I don't intend to list his triumphs here today because they are so numerous and deserve to be researched and fully listed, perhaps in AURA.    I'm sure that he must have had a warehouse to store all his trophies, so that would be a good place to begin.  And  he was always the perfect gentleman, never gloating over his wins, always ready to listen or to help others. A quiet achiever and a great ambassador for our sport.

 

He rarely suffered injuries, only 'a bit' of an injury - 'got a bit of a sore knee' or a 'bit of a sore back'.  One time, about five or six days into a 1000 mile track race in Queensland, he was suffering severe muscle spasms in the right side of his back, causing him to run with an extreme lean to the right. This was because of the stress of running on an almost circular track, which also had a very hard-packed granite surface. At the same time a Spaniard, Alfredo Urea, had a similar injury, but to the left side of his back. So Bryan was running like….. and Alfredo was running like….., and when Bryan passed Alfredo, they looked like tweedledum and tweedledee. As Bryan passed  our camp we told him of this and he laughed and said with characteristic understatement   'yes, I've got a bit of a back problem'. The next lap he made the hilarious observation that it was ok while he was overtaking Alfredo, but if he slowed down and Alfredo tried to overtake him, they risked smashing their heads together!  Alfredo eventually pulled out of the race.  Bryan continued, and finished second, breaking the previous world record for 1000 Miles by many hours.

 

Another aspect of Bryan's running career is not widely known. He was a talented masseur and an excellent crew manager, with a good head for tactics and strategy. I had the extreme good fortune to have Bryan (and Janet) crew for me for the 19-day Sydney to Melbourne and back, as well as a total of 16 other days in major races. He loved to ice any injuries - sore feet - put them in ice, sore calves or knees - pack them in ice, sore quads - more ice, groin strain - yes, you guessed it - freeze everything down!! And mostly it worked. It certainly stopped me from whinging about the problems. It was during these times I learned about his compassion - understanding when not to push his runner, and about his subtle, quiet humour.  One day, after clocking up what was for me a high total, we were chatting as he massaged, and he was congratulating me on the day's achievement.  I said to him 'you would have done much more' and he replied with great understatement 'a little'. We laughed because we both knew he would have run the socks off me if he were in the race.  In fact it was a standing joke between us during the 90's that I would plead with him not to enter  certain races, in order to give me a chance.

 

Recently I saw a poem which, in essence, said we should not waste our lives waiting. We wait till school ends, till a job comes, till we are married, till we have kids, till they grow up, till they overcome their problems and so on. And John Lennon sang ' Life is what happens while we're busy making other plans'. I believe Bryan lived his life fully. I don't know how many

times runners have said, during the course of a race, ' I'm only using this race as training for ……….some other race. Bryan never did that. Every race was ' what was happening to him at that time'   while the rest of us were 'busy making other plans'. Another accomplished runner, Pat Farmer, who has himself suffered a personal tragedy, has come to realise that it is the

quality of life, not the length of it that matters. Bryan lived a life in which he strived and achieved and excelled. His life had great quality. But Bryan has left us far too soon. There can be no question about that, so I think that longevity also matters.

 

The loss of Bryan is a great loss to our sport, and we will all sorely miss him. If we have victories in the races he liked to be in, they will be hollow ones. We are saddened by his death. But Bryan never pulled out of a race, or avoided a challenge. Let us not allow his death to prevent us enjoying our sport. The race must go on - Bryan would always say that. So wherever you are, Bryan, may you be flying along, your feet not touching the ground, a gentle breeze at your back and may you cruise endlessly and effortlessly for eternity.

 

Goodbye my friend,  Goodbye from all of us.

Cliff Young Races

 Not a complete list, but gives you an idea.  I shall update with more, when I sort out my information.

Date	Event	Location	Placing	Result
1981	Colac 1000	Colac	Finished
1983	Westfield Run	Sydney to Melb	1st	5d 15h 4m
1984	Westfield Run	Sydney to Melb	Finished
1985	Westfield Run	Sydney to Melb	Withdrew
1986	Westfield Run	Sydney to Melb	Withdrew
15 Feb 86	VVACI 24hr Track Race	Box Hill, Vic	6th	126.2km
28 Jun 86	VMC 50 mile track Race	Box Hill, Vic	13th	6h 51m 39s
24 Aug 86	CHASE 50 mile Road Race	Ballarat, Vic	8th	6h 33m 46s
9 Nov 86	Sri Chinmoy 24hr Track race	Adelaide	1st	235km
1 Mar 87	VVACI 24hr Track race	Box Hill, Vic	8th	197.115km
26 Mar 87	Westfield Run	Sydney to Melb	16th	9d 13h 17m
30 May 87	Sydney Striders 24hr Track race	Hensley, NSW	4th	196.867km
5 Sep 87	QMRRC 24hr Track race	Queensland University	6th	185.811km
3 Oct 87	Sri Chinmoy 24hr Track race	Adelaide	34th	100.182km
16 Nov 87	Australian 6 Day	Colac	12th	632km
13 Feb 88	VVACI 24hr Track run	Coburg	12th	179.081km
28 May 88	Sydney Striders 24hr Track race	Hensley, NSW	4th	196.281km
14 Nov 88	Australian 6-Day Race	Colac	14th	670.400km
Nov 88	Sri Chinmoy 24hr Track Race	Adelaide	9th	175.33km
11 Dec 88	CHASE 50 mile Road race	Ballarat, vic	22nd	8.43.54s
25 Feb 89	VVACI 24hr track run	Coburg	26th	157.875km
May 89	Westfield Run	Sydney to Melbourne	withdrew	451km
19 Aug 89	HiTec 24hr Track race	Melbourne	15th	173.768km
Oct 89	Sri Chinmoy 24hr Track race	Adelaide	8th	175.834km

DATE	EVENT	LOCATION	PLACING	RESULT
Nov 89	Australian 6-Day Race	Colac	11th	664km
3 Feb 90	International 24hr Championship	Milton Keynes, UK	29th	167.136km
10 Mar 90	VVACI 24hr Track Race	Coburg	17th	164.509km
8 Apr 90	Toto's 100km track race	Melbourne	11th	10.12.07
4 Aug 90	Toto's 24 hr track race	Melbourne	11th	108.400km
27 Oct 90	Sri Chinmoy 24hr Track Race	Adelaide	7th	148.427km
1 Sep 90	Sydney Striders 24hr track race	Hensley	8th	178.76km
18 Nov 90	Campbelltown 6 Day Track race	NSW	10th	648.503km
26 Jan 91	Wyong 24hr track race	NSW	13th	134.545km
23 Feb 91	VVACI 24hr track race	Coburg	12th	165.231km
3 Nov 91	Australian 6 day race	Colac	10th	590.00km
1 Sep 91	Caboolture 24hr Track race	Queensland	5th	154.269km
28 Sep 91	Sri Chinmoy 24hr Track Race	Adelaide	13th	157.100km
22 Feb 92	VVACI 24hr track run	Coburg	14th	153.85km
22 May 92	Queensland 24hr Track Race	Brisbane	2nd	158.617km
Sep 92	Nanango-Sth Burnett 330km Footrace	Queensland	5th	44.11.28s
21 Sep 92	24hr Race	Caboolture	6th	140.800km
15 Oct 92	Geraldton-Perth 434km	WA	DNF	367km
Nov 92	Australian 6-day race	Colac	7th	653.600km
23 Jan 93	Toukley 12hr Race	Toukley	8th	91.334km
27 Feb 93	VVACI 24hr Track run	Coburg	3rd	171.650km
13 Mar 93	Tamworth 24hr track run	Tamworth, NSW	7th	155.258km
5 Jun 93	Queensland 24hr Track Race	Queensland	8th	130.452km
Sep 93	Sth Burnett 330km footrace	Queensland	9th	48.10.52s

DATE	EVENT	LOCATION	PLACING	RESULT
16 Oct 93	Sri Chinmoy 24hr Track Race	Adelaide	8th	148.47km
Nov 93	Australian 6-day race	Colac	7th	609.6km
22 Jan 94	Toukley 12hr race	Toukley	14th	88.429km
29 Jan 94	Liverpool City 24hr	Liverpool, NSW	6th	147.00km
26 Mar 94	Vita Health South coast 24hr	Wollongong, NSW	11th	145.74km
17 Apr 94	VVACI 24hr Track Race	Coburg	5th	153.055km
3 June 94	Queensland 24hr Track race	Brisbane	6th	135.47km
1 Oct 94	Liverpool 24hr track race	Liverpool	11th	150.54km
Nov 94	Australian 6 Day	Colac	10th	596km
Nov 94	Sri Chinmoy 24hr track run	Adelaide	8th	150.76km

Cliffy in Perth - 1992