JOIN

GREG WILSON TAKES ON M70 AUSSIE RECORD

Kate Dzienis • Apr 30, 2023

Contributed by Greg Wilson, AURA Member

SRI CHINMOY 48 HOUR / AUSTRALIAN 48 HOUR CHAMPIONSHIPS, AIS CANBERRA (ACT), 24-26 March 2023

This was Greg Wilson’s attempt on a longstanding M70 Australian record.

In 2022 at age 69.9 I competed in the Sri Chinmoy 48 Hour with a COVID delayed and very late attempt on Cliff Young’s M65 Record for 100 Miles (22:28) from 1983. My only track ultra this millennium had been a lacklustre 6 Hour, badly compromised by COVID restrictions and a recent bad fall. At 15 hours I was 1.5 hours in front of schedule when due to oedema and exhaustion I pulled out.

Last July in mid-winter again at the AIS track in Canberra, I achieved a feat I had never dreamed possible for me. Competing in the Australian 24 Hour Invitational (the Open event) at age 70, I completed my first 24 Hour race for 26 years. For the first time I coped with the second half without falling apart. During the event I aimed at a number of M70 Australian Records and had to run too hard early and ‘go to the well’ many times.

It was difficult as the weather was bitterly cold and I wore many layers to stave off hypothermia. To my delight and wonderment, I achieved the following records:

6 Hour: 61.777km

50 Mile: 8:32:39

100km: 11:18:15

12 Hour: 105.590km

100 Mile: 22:32:30

24 Hour: 170.395km

This was going to be a hard act to follow. In September I travelled to Adelaide and totally against my better judgement, ran in the 6 Day event to attempt Cliffy’s 48 Hour record. After a few laps I realised this was not the venue for me to attempt any record. I abhor concrete and though I love hills, they are not conducive to record setting.

Somewhere around 23 hours and with the 200km/48 Hour record still possible, but far from certain, I decided to DNF again. It would be very frustrating to wreck my body and not achieve the target records. My thought was to keep my body intact and save the attempt for a flat, fast track. For the next six months I tried to maintain my fitness, with the thought in the back of my mind, that my pipedream of a future record, had been just an excuse to stop running at the 6 Day.

What has gone before explains why in 2023 I was again at the AIS Track for the Sri Chinmoy Australian 48 Hour Championships. Pre-event my plea for crew was answered by Matthew Griggs, last year’s winner who would be available, while recovering from his 48 Hour in Taipei. For Matthew an attack of gastro led to a 3 hour DNF in Taipei and he reset his aim for Sri Chinmoy. With some trepidation I asked, “What about me?” His response was that his crew would look after me as well. Phew! Relief and gratitude.

A few days prior to the event I saw a post by Nicole Vaughan on the VUR FB page. It said lucky Rachel Sykes and Greg Wilson, they will be racing with Camille Herron. Even though I live under a rock, I had vaguely heard of this lady and it added an interesting aspect to the event.

Now, the event. At 10am on Friday my legs started moving and at 10am on Sunday they were pleased to stop. I do not recall much of what occurred in-between!

A field of 21 of whom I knew very few, which didn’t matter because I had devised a schedule to achieve the 200km and 48 Hour record and was going to run my own race. A young man named Justin Hiatt was Matthew’s main crew and he was informed pre-race, that he had an interloper to care for as well. We had never met and I just showed him my schedule and instructions and left him to it.

The tall blonde lady with an accent was probably Camille and I knew Matthew (only via Facebook!) and David Billett, who could walk faster than I could run. Deek gave us a pep talk and then sent us on our way. For the first 10 hours I ran as I felt and put no pressure on myself. This was around 8-9kms per hour. Meanwhile at the sharp end Camille was consistently lapping at 2 min per lap, building up a huge lead on Matthew Griggs who was also in splendid isolation in second.

Well aware of my vulnerability at 15 hours, I pre-empted it and chose a brief rest at 10 hours. I then resorted to what had worked last time, running the straights and walking the bends. This reduced my speed to around 6km per hr., but was sustainable and better than walking. I was hugging the inside as any wide running was not conducive to records.

After a period of speed humps causing problems for Camille and her world record attempt, we were told to move to lane two if we were walking on the bends. Not pleased, but the brain must have still been getting oxygen. Instead of complying, I just changed to walking the straights and running the bends. Gotcha! I was fully aware of the importance of Camille receiving an unimpeded run, but what I was achieving was important to me! Ironically my running was not much faster than walking, so I probably remained an obstacle.

Really, Camille was causing problems for herself. If she wasn’t running so damn fast she would not lap us every few laps. To her credit she just kept pounding them out and never complained. There was a big change around 18 hours when I heard Camille ‘throwing up’ nearby and within a lap Matthew suffered the same fate. Amazingly Camille just went back to her scheduled pace, but unfortunately Matthew was to call it a day a few hours later.

I am not sure of when, but there was a huge downpour and annoyingly the drainage would not allow the water to escape. For some hours we were sloshing through inches deep water or running wide to find the ‘shallow end’. Eventually a sterling job with a squeegee and picking of litter from the drain openings improved the situation.

Through all of this Justin and some relief crew had done a great job of keeping us both fuelled and out on the track, except for breaks of around 25 mins when needed. At around 20 hours I asked Justin whether I could break the 100 mile and 24 hour records if I picked up the pace. His response was no, you would need a couple of hours at 11km per hr. That’s what I needed, clear cut information, save the energy and focus on reaching 200km.

As I neared the 100 mile mark I deviated from my sensible race plan. I was not near my record pace but decided I at least wanted to be in the same hour. For five laps I ran flat out and crossed the mark in 22 hrs 59 min 48 secs. Cut it very fine but job done, now settle down and get professional again!

Then my 24 hour must have been around 165 kms, some 5km slower than my record for that distance. Niggling in the back of my brain was that it was frustrating to do all this work and not achieve them, but really the focus was directed to 200kms and they could wait for another day.

As I set off into the unchartered waters of a second day the male field received a shake up. Matthew Griggs had a huge lead and retired from the event. The second place runner had been gradually showing signs of a leg injury and after some perseverance he also moved to the sidelines. I think I was in the gazebo when Martin Flyer mentioned that I was the leading male. My response was to immediately compare myself to Steven Bradbury. It was ludicrous and beyond any ambition of mine, that as a 70 year old, I would be leading in an Australian Championship.

My co-inhabitant of the gazebo was a walker that I only knew as “Joff”. I knew nothing of him except that he was out in front of David Billett and he must be some sort of walker! As a “thoroughbred” runner I didn’t know what to make of Joff with a thickset build, tie dye T-shirt, bushy beard and topped with a cowboy hat.

A little later Justin asked me what was most important, winning the championship or breaking the records. He stated that at my current pace Joff was going to overtake me. My immediate answer was, “the records”. Again an instant clear cut decision to ignore everyone else and just maintain a schedule that took no risks of injury or illness and obtained the record aim. In the back of my mind I was wondering why I couldn’t win the championship and get the records. Common sense told me just listen to Justin and get on with it.

Justin alerted me that in 5 laps I would reach 200 kilometres and gain my first record. Somehow my brain informed me that if I ran absolutely flat out for five laps, I may be able to sneak the 200 Km in under 29 hours. With no reason other than wanting a 28 in front of the record, I took off and managed to get down around 5 min 25 sec per km. When I crossed the line I was overjoyed that the effort was not wasted and a time of 28 hrs 55 min 32 secs was on the clock. My brain couldn’t work it out after that effort, but I knew I had obliterated the Australian M70 record for 200 Km (formerly Deryck Skinner 2003 at 35 hrs 32 min 15 secs.

Okay! Refocus as there are still 19 hours left to complete the event and what was all that sprinting about!? Justin informed me that even my walking pace would see me achieve the “Holy Grail” of Cliffy’s 48 Hour record. I found that difficult to believe, but Justin had not told me any fibs so far. I promptly took him at his word and settled into a long walk, during which I was lapped many times by a real walker in Joff.

In all I totalled 1.5 to 2 hours off the track in lie downs of under half an hour and never slept. I trudged on through the long night and was pleased to see the dawn and still be out there. In view of my final few hour’s effort, I don’t know why I didn’t try running again earlier than I did. I guess just a focus on getting to Cliffy’s mark with no risks, as I was still waiting for a big bear to jump out on my shoulders.

I walked down the back straight as rapturous applause was building for Camille who was entering the straight to break the female world record. While that was all happening I was struggling out of my cold weather walking gear and tottering back out on the track. All I wanted to do was run a lap and look like a runner as I passed Cliff Young’s M 70 48 Hour record. A similar smaller crowd greeted my achievement and it was a gratifying moment to achieve my long worked for goal.

Then something unexpected occurred … I kept on running. I was aware I still had 2.45 hours to go, but it felt comfortable and suddenly I was running close the Camille’s pace. There were a few aims contributing to my revival. The frustration of having to walk for so long, the joy of running near Camille’s pace, pulling laps off Joff who had a long lead in the Australian Championship. Mainly though it was sensational to be carried along by the crowd’s enthusiasm and feel like I could still finish really strongly after 46 hours of circulating, making a record I could be proud of.

The gun sounded and we stopped on strategically placed chairs, while measurements occurred. Camille Herron – New Female World Record of 435.366 kms (by 23.884kms)

Greg Wilson – New Australian M70 Record of 287.404 kms (by 22.604 kms)

I had one other record, Camille had many and Joff some huge walking records. There were many other fine achievements. For example Matthew Griggs winning the M50 section after pulling out halfway. That is as crazy as a 70 year old finishing second behind Joff in the Australian Championship.

Finally my huge thanks for being adopted as an honorary Canberran for the duration. Their support and friendship was a large influence on my result. Vital however was the job performed by crew Justin Hiatt. He took the thinking out of it. I just ran and walked, while he kept me fed, watered and motivated. If I stopped he was soon on my case to get back out there. The way we did it, I was never distressed and always confident of finishing my first 48 Hour. Eternal thanks.

All photos supplied.