HEPWORTH ACCEPTS PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR AWARD

Kate Dzienis • Jan 30, 2019

By Kate Dzienis

Every year, AURA asks its members to nominate an ultra runner who they think is deserving of the Performance of the Year award. Once shortlisted, members are also given the opportunity to vote for the person they believe should win it, and for 2018 the accolade has been handed to none other than Annabel Hepworth from Castlecrag, Sydney.

Based on a particular event for the nominated year, Hepworth humbly accepted her new win due to an astonishing performance in the 2018 Adelaide 6 Day, where she secured 742kms – the longest distance for a female in a six day event in the world for the year.

Earlier in the year, Hepworth had already completed two other six-day circuit events – the Across the Years in Phoenix, Arizona over the 2017/18 new year and 3 Days at the Fair (the six-day option) in New Jersey in May.

She had also finished her fourth Big Red Run where doing the event took her to a lifetime 1000kms of running the Simpson Desert but that hadn’t deterred her from the Adelaide 6 Day.

“In my experience, the endurance and skills of knowing what works for you on a six day are long lasting so I felt as though I was inherently fit enough for Adelaide and that the earlier events were training,” she says.

“On top of that, I’d done a few other shorter events closer to Adelaide, largely out of a sense of adventure although I felt the kilometres on my legs would probably serve me well on Adelaide. These types of event prepare you for the various lack of creature comforts that all build up to add to the difficulty of a multi-day like sleeping somewhere noisy, not necessarily having access to showers, not having anywhere to hide from people, and having to find ways to stay entertained.
“for me, events are the training.”

The 2018 Adelaide 6 Day went incredibly well for Hepworth, and to disclose to all, she wasn’t expecting to top 740kms. She ran it the way she would any other six day event, although had to make a conscious decision to have a crack at sleeping less than the five or six hours a day she had taken on previous events.

“I have an incredibly strong circadian rhythm, so felt there was nothing for me to gain by going out hard to bank a lot of distance in those first 48 hours, although that’s a strategy that some other multi-day runners can use to great success,” she admits.

“The first two days went smoothly for me, I just ran and walked to feel; the third day was hot and a spectacular storm rolled in that night.

“Despite the reality that fatigue slowly creeps over you across the duration, I went into the second half of the race feeling strong and happy for really the whole time.”

Minor blistering was the only real problem she had to keep an eye on, and Hepworth got a chance to see koalas in the trees a few times, but it wasn’t until the final day that it became apparent to her she could possibly get to 700kms.

“I started the last 24 hours on about 600kms, and for once I wasn’t jetlagged or thousands of kilometres away from my husband and daughter, which helped,” she says.

“It wasn’t until that evening when I saw a Facebook post about how I was doing and how it stacked up against the top female performances at the Hungary 6 Day that I started to focus on trying to pass the 700+kms that was achieved by a Swedish woman in Hungary.

“To my surprise, I still had a couple of hours to go when I got to the 721km that Kristina Palten got in Hungary in 2018; I was going to kick back at that point except David Billett asked if I was going to try and creep up Australia’s all-time six-day ladder to a spot behind Dipali Cunningham.

“I had to quickly scramble to find the ladder Jodie Oborne had recently updated as it would never have occurred to me to target a place on that ladder so I just focused and got a fair bit of running in over those last hours.”

Hepworth says being awarded Performance of the Year is an incredible achievement for her, and was elated to have been recognised for her efforts.

“It was thrilling to get recognition from my ultra running peers in Australia for how I did on this race,” she explains.

“I’m hopeful we’ll see continued interest in multi-days and that we can restore Australia’s reputation as a location for a world-class six-day which was how we were viewed in the era when the Colac and Campbelltown races were being held.

“It’s especially rewarding as Australia punches above its weight in the sport.

“Given Mick Thwaites was also nominated for his standout run on the six-day in Hungary, I was delighted that we had two six-day performances nominated for the award.

“I feel sometimes as though even other ultra runners are puzzled as to the appeal of a six-day circuit race so it was exciting to have the resurgence of interest in this type of event reflected in this year’s nominations.”

So where to from here for Hepworth?

This year, or perhaps 2020, she is interested in trying her hand at either a 1000kms or a 10-day race, and is yet undecided which race to target.

But watch this space for Hepworth and the Sri Chimnoy six day in New York as well as the next Adelaide 6 Day.

Pictured (feature): Annabel Hepworth at the 2018 Adelaide 6 Day event. Photograph – Ultra Runners SA.

Pictured (above right): Hepworth, in the red shirt, competing at January’s SA 100k Track Championships. Photograph – Lachlan Miller/Ultra Runners SA.

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