JONES GETS HIS CHANCE AT LOS

“Clint Eastwood” Last One Standing on Thursday, August 16, 2019 Qld

At 44 years of age I’ve only been a runner for just on 10 years now. It’s a familiar story in the ultra running community – a stressful career (in my case as a corporate lawyer) leading to unhealthy habits, running taken up as a hobby to try and turn things around, and an addiction to those wonderful endorphins being born. With around 30 ultra-distance events under my belt now ranging from 50km to 180km, in recent years my love of this sport has centred around helping others – whether that means completing these events as a sweeper, or running them for a cause greater than personal satisfaction – like the Bali Hope Ultra which I’ve taken part in over the last couple of years, an 83km overnight run across Bali to raise funds for children’s education.

When my name came out of the hat for this year’s AURA membership draw though, I saw the opportunity to go back to basics and revisit the reasons I had first fallen in love with the sport. With Great Southern Endurance Run on the horizon for November I knew I wanted something that would test me mentally and push me to the point of exhaustion. The Last One Standing Endurance Race in Brisbane (and yes, the name deliberately abbreviates to LOSER, given that only one person can win and potentially everyone can lose) ended up being the obvious choice.

I’m a middle of the field runner generally – never going to be up the pointy end but I’m happy to keep going for as long as my mind will drive me. A race in which you have an hour to complete a 6.8km lap-course, in any time you like as long as you’re at the start line to do it again at the top of the next hour, repeating hourly until only one person is left to complete a lap by themselves, fit my criteria perfectly. Writing that now, I realise that it might not seem normal to many people look forward to something like that – but I knew from the day I signed up I was going to love the experience, and it did not disappoint.

The philosophy behind organiser Alun Davies’ version of this race, like the original format that Gary Cantrell (of Barkley Marathons fame) designed in the Big Backyard Ultra, is very much about getting back to the roots of ultra running. Reminding people that it’s okay to want to win and also showing them what it takes to do so – a huge amount of mental and physical resilience and the ability to push through even when you’re going through those inevitable black spots – there’s no opportunity to take an extra break or walk a lap – miss one lap start time and you’re out.

The course for the Brisbane LOSER was beautiful – it was flat and with quite a hard, compacted gravel surface the whole way (neither of which are my favourite – give me hills and trail or soft sand any day) but the scenery was stunning. Open wetlands, scrubland and a small section of tree-covered trail to start. An out and back course in the shape of a “T” with two additional out and back sections, the course made for some great interactions with other runners throughout the race. You would see everyone at the start of each lap and again at least a couple of times out on course – perfect opportunities to share lots of smiles, high fives and general banter.

The format was also perfect for support crew as they got to see their runners every hour and apart from the bitterly cold first night of the race (which started at 1am in the morning just to mess with everyone that little bit more), base camp took on a bit of a carnival atmosphere with tents, gazebos, massage beds, lean-tos and every other sort of shelter imaginable on hand including a really well provisioned and fully covered area that the race organisers had provided for those without local resources.

For most runners, the first few hours were pretty relaxed. Apart from a few out front (who were getting through the lap in or around 30 minutes and getting in some regular 10-15 minute naps) most of the field were sticking to the 40 to 50 minute range. Just enough time to have a rest and get some food in, not enough for things to cool down too much and keeping plenty in the tank. With a spectacular sunrise over the wetlands during lap six came that wonderful runners high that we all look for and it seemed to infect pretty much the whole field. I came in off that lap thinking that my goal of 24 laps was easily within reach and that the stretch goal of 30 hours or around 200km, was not beyond the realms of possibility.

Of course, that was a long way from reality! While some light cloud cover kept things cool for the first part of the morning, things started to heat up very quickly after that and ended up hovering for a big chunk of the day in the mid to high 20s. The organisers rolled out the ice blocks and iced water which were life savers but heat and exhaustion played havoc with the field and by lap 13 and the 100km mark, only 34 of the original field of around 70 (81 originally registered but there were a number of DNS on the day) remained. I was hanging in there but was a long way from my high point of the morning. I’d also made the (in hindsight) serious mistake of deciding to do this event without a support crew – figuring that I could lay all my food and drink out in advance, and simply run in and down it at the end of each lap.

What I hadn’t factored in was the inevitable slowing down in thought processes that an event like this brings. I was sticking to my goal time of 42 to 43 minutes per lap (and then to 49 to 50 minutes from lap 13 onwards) but with just a few minutes of indecision or a toilet break, suddenly the three minute whistle warning of the next start would be blowing and I hadn’t managed to get any rest or in some cases, any food. Luckily I had prepared an emergency pack with water and food which I used on a couple of laps where I didn’t have time to properly refuel during the break. With lots of encouraging messages coming in from friends who had been watching my state deteriorate through regular Instagram updates, I knew that if I could hang in until sundown when things started to cool off a bit, I should be able to improve.

By the end of lap 16 though, things were feeling pretty bad. My knees were giving me a lot of pain and I could feel my mental game slipping away. By that stage we were down to about 18 runners with a group of 6 to 8 at the front who looked like they hadn’t even warmed up (which for two of them at least would prove to be true). Thinking that I probably only had a lap left in me, I ran into basecamp to find that my best mate, seeing things looking shaky on Instagram (looking back I can’t even recall making one of the videos…) had called in the cavalry – reaching out to our fabulous ultra running network to bring in two local friends from our Bali run who had dropped everything to come and try to get me through the night. While the runner numbers kept dwindling, their support, cajoling (and occasional bullying) kept me going and gave me a totally new mindset, eventually getting me through to 21 laps and 142km where knee pain ultimately made me call it a day.

From that point on, 12 runners would go through the 150km mark and 11 (including some first-timers) would make it past 100 miles. Ultimately though (as I found out the next day after heading home for a sleep and then coming back out to the track!!) it was Kevin Muller and Cam Munro who would go the distance with Cam eventually pulling the pin after an incredible 40 laps (winning himself a wooden spoon trophy like the rest of us, despite that massive effort), and Kevin going on to be the sole winner and to complete 41 laps and almost 280km. A superhuman effort and one that was incredibly humbling and inspiring to watch – I can barely comprehend what it must have been like watching the Big Backyard Ultra last year which went through to 68 hours!

That said, if you head along to this race in 2020 you can ask Gary Cantrell in person what that was like – Alun has secured a massive coup in having Gary agree to come out to LOSER in 2020, and as at the time of writing, that’s been pretty successful in promoting 2020 which is already sold out with a waitlist under way. Luckily I got myself into the start list and have already lined up my support crew…that 200km mark is definitely beckoning.

Pictured: David Jones competing in the AAA Racing Last One Standing in his new AURA shirt. Photograph – Supplied.