2013 Yearly Report

Caboolture Historical Village Dusk to Dawn, Caboolture, QLD
9-10 February 2013

Caboolture Historical Village has been providing their grounds for this event since about 1994 but I do not think they would have ever expected the event to have grown in popularity as displayed this year. There were over 268 entries, and over 155 competitors started at 6pm on the Saturday evening. Of those starters, 47 finished in the 12H, 62 in the 6H, 2 the 100km, 4 the 50km, 11 the Marathon & 12 the Half Marathon. Overnight conditions were good but humid.  Four walkers contested the overnight event with Peter Bennett (C 24) the best of them with 97.096km. It was also great to see Caleb Maybir (C 28) back in action after a significant layoff.

12 Hour Walk
1	Peter Bennett (c 24)	QLD	97.096 km
2	Steve Jordan	VIC	71.705 km
3	Caleb Maybir (C 28)	QLD	52.655 km
6 Hour Walk
1	John Harris (C 12)	QLD	34.472 km

 

Injinji Mt Stromlo 12 Hour Championship, Canberra, ACT
16-17 February 2013

This ultra is part of the Stromlo Running Festival, a 3 day carnival which runs from Friday to Sunday and incorporates School Challenge runs, cross country, tough off road runs  and the ultra events themselves (50km, 6 Hours, 100km and 12 Hours).  There were 3 walkers in action in the 12 Hour event and, like last year, Michelle Thompson (C 58) was in superb form, finishing with a distance of 100.986 km (100km in 11:53:10). Fellow Victorian Steve Jordan was also in great form, finishing with 83.180km, his best since 2007 and only 2km outside his PB. Since Steve walked in the Caboolture 12 Hour event the previous weekend, it was a huge effort to back up a week later and walk so well.

12 Hour Walk
1	Michelle Thompson (C58)	VIC	100.986 km
2	Steve Jordan	VIC	83.266 km
3	Saul Richardson	NSW	43.000 km

Coburg 6 Hour Track Championships
Harold Stevens Athletics Track, Coburg
Sunday 10 March 2013

With Melbourne under the influence of ongoing sweltering conditions, the decision was made to bring the start time for the 6 Hour Championships forward from 8AM to 6AM on Sunday 10 March. The decision was well received by competitors and it proved a correct one as the temperature was around 35C by the time the event finished at midday.

Michelle Thompson (C58) was in a class of her own in the walk division, covering 9.3km in the first hour and holding that same pace throughout the entire race to break her own Australian Women's 6 Hour Walk Record with 55.865km (she held it previously with 54.636km, set here at Coburg in 2012). Fellow centurion Karyn O'Neill (C45) took second with 45.735km while ultramarathon legend Dawn Parris was third with 43.476km. It was a dominant display by Australia's best female ultra walker and this performance adds to her growing collection of records. An inspection of her lapsheets indicate she passed the 50km mark in 5:22:00, an Australian Women's 50km track best.

In the men's walk division, defending champion Terry O'Neill (C 18) had an easy win with 50.532km ahead of fellow Melbourne walker Steve Jordan (PB of 46.157km) and NSW walker Saul Richardson (PB of 43.266km). It was good to see a couple of first timers in Victorians Rob Grinter and Michael Whimpey also walk to good totals.

The placings were as follows

6 Hour Walk Men
1	Terry O'Neill (C18)	VIC	50.532 km
2	Steve Jordan	VIC	46.157 km
3	Saul Richardson	NSW	43.266 km
4	Rob Grinter	VIC	41.560 km
5	Michael Whimpey	VIC	39.772 km
6	John Timms	VIC	38.692 km
7	Gary Turner	VIC	38.332 km
8	Ken Carter	VIC	28.535 km
6 Hour walk Women
1	Michelle Thompson (C58)	VIC	55.865 km
2	Karyn O'Neill (C45)	VIC	45.735 km
3	Dawn Parris	VIC	43.476 km

Coburg 24 Hour Track Championships
Harold Stevens Athletics Track, Coburg
13-14 April 2013

It was only a small walks field at the Coburg 24 Hour as the majority of places were allocated to runners, it being the Australian 24 Hour Track Running Championship. But we did have 10 starters in the walk division, headed by the amazing Michelle Thompson (C 58). Michelle walked so well that only the top 6 male runners and the top 3 female runners actually ran further than she walked in the 24 Hours. Her final distance of 184.724 km was an Australian Women's Open 24 Hour Walk record and her 100 mile split of 20:22:36 was an Australian Women's Residential 100 Mile Walk record, but her final distance could have been even further if she had not finally succumbed to fatigue in the last couple of hours (the first 12 Hours saw her cover 98.118km).

Michelle now holds the Australian track and road bests for 50km and the Australian records for all ultra distances up to 24 hours - 6 Hours, 50 Miles, 12 Hours, 100km, 100 miles and 24 Hours. All that remains now are Sandra Brown's amazing All-Comers records which she set in 1999 at Coburg but I am sure that even Michelle would admit that they are of such a high standard that it would take an amazing walk from anyone else to challenge them!

Victorian Steve Jordan won the men's walk with 148.504 km - he had been well up at the half way mark (84.8km) but slowed in the second half as fatigue and a stomach upset took its toll. Steve was one of a number of walkers including Saul Richardson, Dawn Parris and Karyn O'Neill (C 45) who were all on track for 100 mile finishes in the event based on their 12 Hour splits but this is indeed a tough event that tests the limits of human endurance.

24 Hour Walk Men
1	Steve Jordan	VIC	148.540km
2	Saul Richardson	NSW	139.028 km
3	John Timms	VIC	136.540 km
4	Doug McKay	VIC	129.585 km
5	Terry O'Neill (C 18)	VIC	74.646 km
6	Ken Carter	VIC	58.480 km
24 Hour walk Women
1	Michelle Thompson (C 58	VIC	184.724 km
2	Dawn Parris	VIC	142.521 km
3	Karyn O'Neill (C 45)	VIC	141.711 km
4	Diana Kelly	WA	124.795 km

24 Heures de Rouen, Rouen, France
8-9 June 2013

Peter Bennett travelled to France in early June to defend his title in the 24 Heures de Rouen and defend it he did with a final winning distance of  213.0km. Peter's performances in this event over the years have been pretty astonishing in terms of excellence and consistency:

2006	176.175 km	Rouen	3rd
2008	214.650 km	Rouen	1st
2009	213.885 km	Rouen	1st
2010	216.240 km	Rouen	2nd
2011	213.606 km	Rouen	1st
2012	213.0 km	Rouen	1st
2013	213.0 km	Rouen	1st

 Sri Chinmoy Australian 24 Hour Track Championship, Blacktown, NSW
15-16 June 2013 

The annual Sri Chinmoy 24 Hour Track Championships at the Blacktown International Sports Park in Sydney on 15-16 June 2013 saw some superb walking, with 4 centurion efforts and 3 new Australian Centurions.

Justin Scholz (C 61), who qualified last year in Adelaide, was back to improve and he did just that, passing the 100 mile mark in 19:43:21 and compleing an amazing 189.678 km for the full 24 Hours. This is the second biggest 24 Hour distance ever done in Australia.

Sharon Scholz was inspired by her husband Justin's effort last year and was determined to join him in our centurion ranks. One of our top ultra runners, she had competed in the Australian team in the World 24 Hour Running Championships in Holland only 4-5 weeks before and then embarked on what must have been one of the shortest ultra walk preparation periods ever. Like Justin's walk, Sharon's was also special, going through the 100 mile in 20:06:00 and breaking Michelle Thompson's Australian records for 12 Hours, 100km, 100 miles and 24 Hours. Her final distance was 187.653 km, the third greatest ever achieved in Australia.

Melbourne walker Steve Jordan had tried unsuccessfully 11 times in the past but this time he nailed his centurion badge, passing the 100 mile milestone in 23:13:33 and going on to walk 164.478 km in the 24H. There was much celebration and it was definitely the highlight for all the walkers present.

Sydney based Sri Chinmoy running legend Anyce Melham tried to qualify as a centurion in this race last year but finished short of the 100 miles. This time he had his lap times worked out and kept to his plan, reaching the 100 mile mark in 23:46:32 and going on to walk 162.431 km overall. It was a well timed even paced walk and yet another milestone for this veteran athlete.

The results of the walkers are shown below

24 Hour Men
2	Justin Scholz (C 61)	VIC	189.678 km
4	Steve Jordan (C 64)	VIC	164.478 km
5	Anyce Melham (C 65)	NSW	162.431 km
12	Saul Richardson	NSW	80.800 km
15	Phil Essam	ACT	46.000 km
24 Hour Women
3	Sharon Scholz (C 63)	VIC	187.653 km
12 Hour Men
3	Tim Erickson (C 13)	VIC	102.330 km

Caboolture 24 Hour and 48 Hour Championships, Caboolture, QLD
19-21 July 2013

Peter Bennett (C 24) was in action in the Australian 48 Hour Track Championships in Caboolture in Queensland. Competing against a field of runners, Peter walked 272.114km to take 8th place overall, a good effort by any standard and only about 8km below his best. For the record, Peter passed the 161km mark (just over 100 miles) in 22:44:26 for yet another centurion effort, his 17th in total.

Australian Centurions Qualifying Event, Middle Park, Melbourne
14-15 September 2013

The 29th Australian Centurions 24 Hour walk was hosted by the Victorian Race Walking Club at their headquarters at Middle Park in mid September 2013. The event was held over a 1.25km road loop and started at 2PM on the Saturday. It had been rainy and cold the previous two days but it cleared on the Saturday morning and the event was held in just about ideal conditions, with a calm and pleasant night midrace.

The race saw 6 Centurion qualifiers, the same number overall as in the 1998 qualifying event. For Peter Bennett (C 24), it was his 18th,centurion qualifier, an amazing statistic. Sharon Scholz (C 63) and Justin Scholz (C 61) walked together for the whole event and hence both have the same 100 mile time of 22:40:57 - a fitting husband and wife result. The following weekend they were back inaction running in a 100km trail race in Canberra! David Billett (C 50) and Karyn O'Neill (C 45) were nearly always on the same lap and only 8 minutes separated them at the 100 mile mark.

Peter Crump (C 66) was the sixth centurion performer and hence qualified for Australian Centurion membership. It was a big ask for Peter whose previous longest walk was in the 2010 Australian 50km championship when he finished third with 4:59:14. It's a big jump into the unknown from 50km to 100 miles. He walked an excellent first half, covering 93.224km at the 12 hour mark. So he had only just over 64km to go and 12 hours in the kitty. Sounds easy! If only life were so simple. He hit the proverbial wall around the 19 hour mark and had to dig deep in the final 5 hours of the event, eventually reaching his 100 mile target in a time of 23:39:40. His performance against the odds was so impressive that he was awarded the Jack Webber Trophy for the gutsiest walk of the meet. It was a well deserved honour.

24 Hour Men
1	Peter Bennett (C 24)	QLD	185.199 km
2	Justin Scholz (C 61)	VIC	168.934 km
3	David Billett (C 50)	SA	166.272 km
4	Peter Crump (C 66)	SA	161.250 km
5	Saul Richardson	NSW	135.772 km
6	Steve Jordan (C 64)	VIC	130.492 km
7	John Timms	VIC	128.605 km
8	Robin Whyte (C 29)	NSW	102.500 km
9	Peter Tutty	NSW	75.000 km
10	Tony McGowan	VIC	73.750 km
24 Hour Women
1	Sharon Scholz (C 63)	VIC	168.934 km
2	Karyn O'Neill (C 45)	VIC	164.982 km
3	Carol Baird  (C 35)	ACT	81.250 km
12 Hour
1	Sandra Howorth	VIC	69.373 km
6 Hour
1	John Kilmartin	VIC	49.973 km
2	Alex Poore	VIC	39.464 km
3	Ken Carter	VIC	28.603 km

        

C24 C63 C61 C50 C45 C66

Peter Bennett Sharon Scholz Justin Scholz David Billett Karyn O'Neill Peter Crump

QLD VIC VIC SA VIC SA

20:33:00 22:40:37 22:40:37 23:06:59 23:14:56 23:39:40

100km Men
1	Peter Bennett	QLD	12:07:30
2	Peter Crump	SA	12:55:06
3	Robin Whyte	NSW	13:21:40
100km Women
1	Sharon Scholz	VIC	13:25:36
2	Karyn O'Neill	VIC	14:21:40