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An Itch that needed scratching: Australian 6 Day
australian 6 day - 29 september to 4 october 2024 - adelaide, sa
Contributed by greg wilson
In 1993 I had spent most of a year injured and was quite unfit, when I displayed poor judgement and entered the Australian 6 Day event at Colac, Vic. After 21 hours I had covered 150 kilometres and was sitting in 5th position. I went off for a shower, asked myself if I would be able to run the next day and the answer was “No!” I went home and thus ended my multi day ultra career.
Fast forward almost 30 years and I belatedly returned to the 6 Day which was now held on an undulating concrete loop around Thorndon Park Reservoir in Adelaide. I soon realized this was not the venue to chase Cliff Young’s 48 Hour M70 Australian Record. It was surely more sensible to limit the damage find a flat track to pursue that ambition.
This time I reached 136.8 kms in under 23 hours for 6th position before achieving the same result as I had in Colac last millennium. I got in the car and drove home. A few months later my decision was vindicated when the AIS track in Canberra allowed me to surpass Cliffy at the 48 Hour.
With a sense of dejavu I spent most of 2024 with niggling injuries and limited fitness before doing the unthinkable. Two weeks following my 7th placing in the M70 World MarathonI Age Group Championship, were spent on the couch with ice packs on chronic injuries. I then went back to Thorndon Park to attempt Cliff Young’s remaining M70 records for 500 kms and 6 Days.
The field of forty contained a cast of colourful characters, all out to explore their personal limits. The “sharp end” performers would spend much more time circulating on the course, than others who pace themselves well, throwing in plenty of leisure and socializing.
I set an ambitious schedule because you cannot break records unless you test your physical and mental limits. On day one I covered 140 kms, putting me ahead of schedule and rewarded myself with a bare 3 hours of sleep. This fine progress continued for just another eight hours, before “Plan B” had to be put into effect.
My thigh injury flared and further running would put at risk my intention of finally completing a 6 Day event. With over 4.5 days remaining and the incentive of Cliffy’s records removed, it was mentally and physically tough to continue. Through to the completion of 3 days and a consolation prize is achieved when I added 40 kilometres to Colin Brooks best M70 distance achieved, with my 315.198 kms.
The second half was tough as lack of sleep and a variety of physical challenges had to be met and overcome. In no particular order, there was, constant gastric reflux, blisters, foot pain, exhaustion, heat reflected off the concrete and nausea. Always there was a mental battle to stay out there for twenty hours a day and endure the suffering …. Instead of just stopping!
Day five became critical when vomiting set in and for hours anything I ate or drank was immediately expelled. When it became obvious that refueling was not a viable option, I just went out with nothing in the tank and circulated. Eventually I was able to keep some nutrition down.
With 18 hours remaining and a finish in sight I was about to try running again, when my biggest challenge occurred. Whilst descending “Thorndon Everest” I felt a shearing tear in my left heel and and immediate sharp pain. A hobbled lap with a shooting pain each time my foot hit the concrete, was followed by some “running repairs” from our bister expert. Grim determination had me back out there, but running was out of the question. At one stage I was stopping to rest at each park bench as I reached them. Somewhere during this sea of pain I reached a total of 500 kilometres.
Thus to the morning of day 6. Just when you think you have endured all that is humanly possible, a downpour begins and continues for hours through to race end. At 10 am I reach the top of Thorndon Everest and place my “drop bear “on the very spot that ruined my heel, to signify my completion of the Australian 6 Day.
532.159 kms placed me 8th over the line and 5th male in the Australian Championship. My 72 Hour distance places me 5th on the M70 World All-Time list, with my 6 Day ranking a modest 26th.
Success was in proving to myself that I could endure the most difficult event in a lifetime of running. Post-race I read a quote from US trail ultra legend Scott Jurek. He was referring to his first attempt at setting a US 24 Hour record and seeing how close he could get to Yiannis Kouros’s world record.
“A 24 Hour race on a one mile loop, with not one hill but two, wasn’t just a challenge – it was insane!”
Scott was commenting on 10 ft of elevation every mile for 24 hours. Cast your mind to the difficulty of 30 ft of elevation in a shorter loop (1425m) for 144 hours. (He was DNF after 8 hours and later set a US record on a flat track.)
So whilst I was in a personal hell, all around me multi day champions were putting in excellent performances. Some that spring to mind are:
- Blaine Bourke breaking the course record with about 850kms.
- Perennial winner Darren Linney : runner-up and well over 800 kms
- Seije Takaka was from Korea for a fine third
- David Billett : a Centurion walk in the first 24 hour, then another 5 days,
- Mr Entertainment Dale Paul, female winner Nikki Wynd, and multiple walking records to Sabina Hamarty, all well over 600kms.
For all the record setters, I am in awe … but imagine what you are capable of on a flat course. I am certain that Cliff Young’s M70 records for 500 km and 6 Days will never be broken at Thorndon Park.
The most optimistic sign I have seen on a race venue is the “1000 Km” post at Thorndon Park!
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