2000 Australian Centurions 24 Hour Event
02-03 September 2000
Coburg Harriers Track, Coburg, Melbourne

This year’s race saw a field of 13 walkers. The race started at noon on Saturday 02 Sept and ended at noon on Sunday 03 Sept. The venue was the Coburg Athletics Track in Melbourne and the ultimate aim of the race was to try to complete 100 miles of walking within the 24 hour period.

Right from the gun, Michael Harvey went to the front and was already 3 laps ahead of the next placed walker after the first hour. Michael, coming from a background which included Australian representation over the 50 km racewalk, was keen to challenge our Australian ultra walking records and set out at the pace required to break Clarrie Jack’s long standing 50 mile record of just under 8 hours.

Behind Michael, the other walkers were clustered closely together, perhaps matching their own pace to those around them. Over the course of the next few hours, the field gradually separated but a group of 4, Gerald Manderson, Carol Baird, Robin Whyte and Kelvin Marshall, continued to walk together at a very steady 20 laps per hour. It was not till nearly 6PM that the first break occurred and Gerald dropped off the back, almost certainly showing tiredness from the heavy ultra racing program of the previous 12 months.

But Michael could only maintain his pace until the 46 km mark and, abruptly, he dropped from 2:20 per lap to 5 minutes per lap. He was spent.  To his credit, he took stock of the situation, kept moving, tried to take in the right sort of nourishment and modified his aims.  He set off once again with all thoughts of records forgotten. The aim now was to keep going for as long as possible and just see what eventuated. He passed the 50 km mark in 5:16:36 and settled down to a long battle against self.

Michael set himself to reach 100 km and did so just after midnight in 12:08:52. With that goal reached, he retired from the race and Carol Baird became the new leader. Just before 1AM, she also passed the 100 km mark in a new Australian Ladies Residential record time of 12:57:47.

Soon after this, the heavens opened with heavy rain and strong buffeting winds. By the time conditions cleared some 40 minutes later, the damage was done. Walkers were cold and wet and there were still 5 hours to go to sunrise. Changes of clothes and nourishment was taken and walkers drew on their inner reserves to battle self doubt and tiredness.

While this was going on, the 2 competitors in the 100 km race had other thoughts on their minds and they ignored the rain to walk towards their own personal goal. Just before 2AM and in the drizzling rain, Ross Jackson completed a fine first up 100 km in 13:40:30. Then Ken Riches followed soon afterwards in 14:33:26. Now only the 24 hour walkers were left on the track.

As dawn broke at 7AM, only 4 competitors were still there. Perhaps not surprisingly, all were Centurions – Carol Baird, Robin Whyte, Boyd Millen and Gerald Manderson. They had faced this sort of challenge before and, once again, had been able to overcome tough cold night time conditions. With a weak morning sun and under clear skies, the pace quickened and flagging spirits regenerated. The end was in sight and the mood brightened.

The final results tell the story. Gerald did his calculations and realised that he was too far back to reach the 100 mile mark so he retired just after 9AM at 141 km. That left just a final 3 to triumphantly reach 100 miles and achieve yet another Centurion performance. First was Carol with yet another Australian Ladies Residental record and then Robin followed by Boyd. Carol kept going to improve on her Australian Ladies Residential 24 hour record with a fine 175.460 km.

100 Mile Finishers

100 Km Walk

50 Km Walk

AUSTRALIAN RESIDENTIAL RECORDS
 

The Jack Webber Trophy is awarded to the most meritorious Centurion performance. This year, it was once again awarded to Carol Baird for another outstanding walk.

Congratulations to those who competed. I look forward to seeing some of you back again next year to try to improve on your performances when we host the Year 2001 Centurions Walk in New South Wales.

Tim Erickson
06 Sept 2000