BARNES HAS RECORDS IN MIND

Kate Dzienis • October 30, 2020

Contributed by Jimmie Barnes, AURA member
The Endless Mile, 16-18 October 2020, Veteran’s Park in Alabaster, Alabama, USA

The Endless Mile is a 48 hour race with options for 24, 12 and 6 hours and it was held in mid-October at Veteran’s Park in Alabaster, AL just south of Birmingham. The 90-acre park contains picnic areas, picnic shelters, playgrounds, restrooms, soccer fields and a youth baseball complex. The asphalt walking path is flat and winds through wooded areas and past several lakes. The course is a 1.002mi loop with about 20 feet of elevation. The weather was very good with highs in the mid 60s and lows in the low 40s.

This was the 5th year for the race which continues to grow in popularity each year both locally and nationally. This year there were 41 entrants in the 48 hour race compared to 31 last year and a total of 161 entrants in all the races. Some of the increase was due to the lack of races because of COVID-19 restrictions.

Since the race is only 30 minutes from my home I have run it each of the five years it has been held. Last year I had the pleasure of running it with my youngest daughter Rebecca as she completed her first 100mi run.

I had hoped to have a good 48 hour run and even take a shot at my friend Doyle Carpenter’s new world record of 144.60mi which he set in July at Merrill’s Mile under some very difficult conditions. Doyle and I have been competing for over 30 years and in 2016 at this race Doyle came in first with 149mi at the age of 77 and I came in second with 136mi at the age of 78, this may have been the oldest 1-2 finish for an ultramarathon.

In addition to trying to break Doyle’s record I had some other sub-goals: a) I wanted to run my age of 82 in 24 hours, b) I wanted to break 30 hours for 100 miles this would also better my friend Ed Rousseau’s American 100 mile record of 30:07 which he set in February, and c) since I joined the Marine Corps 63 years ago this month I had also hoped to run 126mi.

The race started off well for me with splits of 23mi in 6 hours, 43mi in 12 hours and 82mi in 24 hours. That left me having to do only 20 minute miles for the next 6 hours to break the 30 hour mark (it always looks easy on paper.) However I have lower back stenosis and started having problems after the 24 hour mark which resulted in a painful slight forward lean. I like many older runners am prone to developing a lean in the latter hours of a race. Usually I lean to the right or the left and it is not painful but just difficult to maintain any kind of a normal pace. The forward lean was not only painful but it was difficult to walk downhill without stumbling. I did not fall on the course however I did fall going into the bathroom; luckily the only damage was to my left thumb and my pride. The lean and back pain got so bad that for the last 4mi I was stopping a couple of times each lap to try to straighten up. I finally reached 100mi in 29:27:12, second all-time only to Geoffrey Oliver of England who has a remarkable 24:01:17 for the 80-84 age group. I am also second to Geoffrey in the 24 hour run and again it is not even close 160.7km to 146.6km. After finishing the 100mi I did an additional 1mi as I always do just in case there is some kind of timing error and called it a day.

Currently the 80-84 age group is the strongest it has ever been. I am proud to be part of this group that includes Doyle Carpenter, Ed Rousseau and Don Winkley of the US and Jean Theibould and Christain Mainx of France. Many records have already been set by this group and more will be set in the coming years.

The winner of the race, Ed Ettinghausen, ran 187.38mi the female winner Jean Hotschule ran 152.3mi. One interesting aspect of this race is that since it was the first timed event in the state of Alabama longer than 12 hours there were no established state records for 24 hours or 48 hours. Also state records are maintained on a yearly basis rather than an age group basis therefore after the first year many people learned that they had set state records with surprisingly low mileage. Since there is no one else in my age group I only have to run 1 lap each year to set 4 records! This has led to entire families returning each year to try for records, for example in the 12 hour race 11 year old Teagen Benko won the female race with 55mi and her 16 and 14 year old brothers placed 4th and 5th overall with 55.11mi. The race has become like a big family reunion with many families returning each year to spend a weekend camping out at the park.

In closing I would like to thank my world class crew and wife Deborah for allowing me to do and assisting me in doing these crazy things, I could not do it without her.

If any Australian runners find themselves in the states in October and are looking for a race on a record setting course I highly recommend you come join us. If I do not see you here I look forward to seeing you in Canberra or Adelaide in the coming years.

Pictured: Jim Barnes with Doyle Carpenter in 2016. Photograph – Supplied.

< Older Post

Newer Post >

AUTRA News Report 19-02-2025

By Kate Dzienis • February 19, 2025

The latest in race results, covering Cradle Mountain Run, City Run, Oscars 100 Hut 2 Hut and Yaberoo Trail Ultra.

Final 2024 Points Competition Results

By Alexis Oosterhoff • January 30, 2025

Results for the 2024 AUTRA Points Competition have been finalised, and are available on our Points Competition page. Full details of the top 10 (as shared on Facebook during January) are detailed below, and results for all participating AUTRA members can be found in the documents at the above link. It was a real battle throughout the year between our top two finishers, Phil Gore & Kevin "BK" Matthews, with both giving it their it their all at events, and through contributions to the community - volunteering at multiple events, and submitting articles to our monthly newsletter, Ultramag. They finished within 2km of total distance for the year (Phil on 1203.087km, and Kevin on 1205.510km), and it was only Phil's final volunteering effort on 6 Inch Trail Marathon in December that gave him the that very narrow victory. As you'd be aware from previous communications, this marks the end of the Points Competition. With trail running (of all distances) now incorporated into AU T RA's constitution, and after careful consideration of the costs of the competition payouts in it's current form, the committee felt it was time for it's retirement. This marks my seventh and final year of delivering the points competition to membership (2018-2024), after taking on the role from Cheryl Symons. It has brought me great joy in doing so, and I feel like I've had an opportunity to get to know so many of our members through seeing their race (and volunteering) performances over the years! I'm continuing in my role as the AUS/NZL statistician for DUV (from whom we shared the data for the points comp), and you can expect to continue to find your ultra-race result on their site. 1st Place - Phil Gore (WA) - 86 points Phil's achievements this year have included a massive 265.653km (and 2nd place) at the IAU 24h Asia & Oceania Championships, wins at the Red Dirt Backyard Ultra (33 laps), the Australian leg of Big Dog's Backyard World Team Championship (96 laps), and the Soochow/Taipei 24h Ultramarathon (270.826km). He also knocked out an easy (!) 72km at the Light Horse Ultra 24h in between supporting his amazing wife Gemma. Those two 24h wins netted Phil new Oceania 24h Open Male records, IAU Level 1 qualifiers, and pushed him to the top of Australia's 24h trophy board (with only the great Yiannis Kouros having run further). Phil topped-up his points by contributing one article to Ultramag, worked as an Event Director at Herdy's Frontyard Ultra, and volunteered at a further five events through the year. He finished on 86 points. 2nd Place - Kevin Matthews (WA) - 84 points Finishing in 2nd place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Kevin Matthews. He monstered his way through the year with finishes at Australia Day Ultra 100km, Delirious WEST 200mi, 24 laps at Herdy's Frontyard Ultra, 190km at Light Horse Ultra 24h, 23 laps at Birdy's Backyard Ultra, and also completed Feral Pig 100 miler, Sandman 50km and Six Inch 47km. And to top things off, he contributed five articles to Ultramag, and volunteered at five events. BK ran 1205km in Ultramarathon races this year, all of them AUTRA-listed, and surpassed 100 marathon finishes (including 51 Ultramarathons!) Kevin finished the year on 84 points, a massive 34 points ahead of our 3rd place finisher Sue Robertson. 3rd Place - Sue Robertson (WA) - 50 points Finishing in 3rd place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Sue Robertson. Sue completed the Ultra Series 100 miler trilogy of Delirious WEST, Irrational SOUTH and Unreasonable EAST, and rounded out her year with the Sandman 50km and Six Inch 47km races. She received 30 points from the racing at AUTRA-listed events, and was awarded a further 20 points by volunteering across eight events and contributing two articles to Ultramag, for a total of 50 points for the year. Thank you Sue! 4th Place - Margie Hadley (WA) - 47 points Finishing in 4th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Margie Hadley . She was the top-female finisher at both the No Time to Die Frontyard Ultra & Wild Dog Backyard Ultra, 2nd at Birdy's Backyard Ultra, ran 182km at the Australian 24h Track Invitational and placed 3rd at Coast to Kosci. Margie received 47 points in the competition 5th Place - Melissa Robertson (NSW) - 44 points Finishing in 5th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is NSW's Melissa Robertson. Melissa took out 1st place at Irrational SOUTH 200 miler, 2nd place at Lakes Trail Festival 100km, 1st place at Hume & Hovell 100 miler, 3rd place at Rumble in the Jungle and 6th place at Ultra-Trail Kosciuszko 100 miler! She also volunteered at the GNW 50km event, receiving 44 points in the competition! 6th Place - Aaron Young (WA) - 42 points Finishing in 6th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Aaron Young . Aaron finished in 1st place at each of the Ultra Series "Triple Crown" of 200 milers (Delirious WEST, Irrational SOUTH and Unreasonable EAST), 55 laps at Big Dog's Backyard World Team Championship, and rounded his year out with Feral Pig 100 miler. Aaron receives 42 points, just nudging ahead of Maree Connor (who also finished on 42 points) on a count-back 7th Place - Maree Connor (NSW) - 42 points Finishing in 7th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is NSW's Maree Connor. Maree had an outstanding year, achieving 2nd place with 221km (and an IAU Level 1 qualifier) at the IAU 24th Asian and Oceania Championships, 1st place at the Lakes Trail Festival 100km, 1st place with 67km at the Southern Sydney 6h race, and 1st place with 116km at the Narrabeen Allnighter 12h. Maree also competed at Spartathlon race this year (for which she contributed an article to the September Ultramag on her experience), receiving 42 points in the competition. 8th Place - Darren Linney (SA) - 41 points Finishing in 8th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is SA's Darren Linney . Darren completed 34 laps at No Time to Die BYU, 199km at the Adelaide 24h race, and 814km at the Australian 6 Day race, for a total of 1241km raced and 41 points . 9th Place - Tristan Cameron (WA) - 40 points Finishing in 9th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Tristan Cameron. Tristan completed the Ultra Series Triple Crown of 200 mile races (Delirious WEST, Irrational SOUTH and Unreasonable EAST), along with Feral Pig 100 miler, for a total of 1154km raced and 40 points. 10th Place - Jen Millum (WA) - 39 points Finishing in 10th place in the AUTRA 2024 Points Competition is WA's Jen Millum . Jen finished 1st at all three of the Ultra Series Trilogy of 100 milers (Delirious WEST, Irrational SOUTH and Unreasonable EAST), and was 2nd female with 35 laps at the Wild Dog Backyard Ultra. With a volunteer stint at the Yaberoo Trail Ultra, Jen finished the year with 39 points in the competition. To view the complete list of members who secured points in 2024 click here and then follow through to Points Summary under the 2024 tab. All winners have already been contacted, with cash prizes distributed for 1st - 7th places, and AUTRA Store vouchers sent for 8th, 9th & 10th.