Australian 100km Road Championship

History

Recollections from Geoff Duffell and Barry Higgins

Shepparton Athletics Club had been running 100km Championship until 1996 but stopped running it for 1997.  Aura was looking for some other club to run it and asked the Traralgon Harriers in 1997 to run the event in 1998.  This was an honour and I think it was recognised by AURA that the Traralgon Harriers organisation of the 6hr was very good and felt confident that the Harriers would run a good event.  The Traralgon Harriers showed interest and were invited to run the 100km Road Championship in 1998 by AURA with the understanding it would be a one off trial first time.

In the 1998 event it was the first time that Athletics Australian medals were presented.  The 1998 event it was able to achieve an international championship status due to Traralgon Harriers involvement.  Money became available from Athletics Australia for 100km runners to compete overseas.

Athletics Victoria provided Tony Rafferty as a delegate to AURA to supervise the overall running of the event who then reported back to Athletics Australia on how the event was run.  A 1997 newsletter article about the need to support the 1998 Australian 100km Road Championships.

Australian 100km Championship Article

The Traralgon Harriers ran these events from 1998 and 1999 then it shifted to Canberra.

Since 1998 it has not been run due to: 

• The Traralgon Harriers Committee decided that it had to give priority to club events. The issue being that conflict was created as this event was not a Traralgon Harriers event.  Thus being organised for someone else there was nothing in it for one’s own club.

• Another minor issue was Traralgon Harriers organisers had to follow the strict AURA international standards manual.

• The club had achieved the intended goal of bringing the event under the umbrella of Athletics Australia according to AA’s and international rules. It was more appropriate for the event to be offered to other organisers who could continue and expand the event.

Course descriptions

Both the 1998 and 1999 courses were identical and were 10 laps of a 10km course around country roads at Glengarry.

Results & Report on the 1998 event

Kouros defends Australian 100km 1998

The AUSTRALIAN 100 km ROAD CHAMPIONSHIP and GU Ultimate Fuel 50km Race, were held at Glengarry, Victoria on 5th April 1998.

1998 Results of the 100km Championships

1998 Results GU Ultimate Fuel 50km Road Race

 Australian Road Records Pending

 The following road records were created, subject to approval.  The previous records are shown in brackets.

 1998 Ultra Australian Road Records Pending

Yiannis Kouros 1998 100km Event

Taking advantage of the ideal early morning conditions, runners set off at a cracking pace.  Kouros completed the first 10 km lap in 38:48, with Ian Cornthwaite (39:44) Kelvin Marshall (40:24), Nigel Aylott (42:33), Michael Grayling and Nenet Susa all looking as if they wanted a fast first half. In the 50km race, Darrel Cross (41:01) already had a good lead on Greg Wilson (44:20).

During the second lap, the half marathon runners, who had given the 50 and 100 km runners a 1.1 km start, began to move forward.  This probably encouraged the ultra-runners to keep their pace up.  It was also on this lap that runners first felt the early morning breeze – a breeze which increased in intensity to near-gale force during the morning.

Despite the rising wind, runners continued to maintain a good pace for some time. Kouros reached 40 km in 2:38:14 with Cornthwaite less than a minute behind.  At this stage Cornthwaite started to suffer from blistered feet and stopped to change shoes.  Darrel Cross was third on the road, dominating the 50 km race and about 5 minutes behind Kouros.  Next to come through were Marshall (2hr 46) and Aylott (2hr 53), both running very strongly.

Nigel Aylott 1998 100km Event

During the next lap, to the 50 km mark, the early pace abated.  Kouros slowed to a 44 minute lap, well enough in front to afford some respite into the direct head winds.  Cornthwaite, still second, made a longer stop, but went out again still in second place.  Marshall and Aylott retained their order.  Nenet Susa, running in his first ultra-marathon suffered badly in the conditions, and withdrew at 50.

Lavinia Petrie, not far behind Susa, took over his fifth position. She had just picked up an Australian women’s record at 30 miles and looked good for the 40 mile mark.  Bob Petrie and Michael Grayling completed the field.  They passed 50 km shortly after Kouros reached 60km.

Darrel Cross went on to complete the 50 km race, his first ultra-marathon, in 3hours 26. Greg Wilson finished second, 22 minutes behind.  The race for third was between David Styles, Peter Grixti and American Peter Ylvisaker.  The three continually swapped places in a tactical battle.  Ylvisaker had originally entered the 100 km Championship but, suffering from a cold, had switched to the shorter event. In the windy conditions, he had no regrets about that decision.  Shirley Young had dropped behind these three, but looked capable of picking up any of the stragglers.  Grixti (4hrs 26) finally won third spot 10 seconds ahead of Styles.  Ylvisaker and Young were next.

Kelvin Marshall 1998 100km

At the fifth hour, Kouros had completed 7 laps and a total of around 72km. Kelvin Marshall had switched into preservation mode, had covered 66 km, and had been caught by Nigel Aylott.  Cornthwaite had called it a day, but was now completing a cool-down lap, and was around the same mark.  Lavinia Petrie was around 61 km.  Her husband Bob was half a lap behind. Michael Grayling was approaching his 60th km where he was to retire.  Like many other runners, he complained of leg problems which the head and side winds must have contributed to.

The severe winds had a cooling effect, although it was a bright sunny day. Some runners were beginning to show signs of sunburn but all seemed to be keeping well-hydrated. Yiannis Kouros at 90km - 1998 100km Event

With the passing of another hour, Kouros added yet another Australian record to his impressive list, achieving 84.8 km for 6 hours on the road.  Lavinia Petrie, contemplating retirement from the race – she never intended to complete it when she started – had responded to urgings and went on to add the 6 hour women’s record to her already impressive list.  She covered 72.2 km.  In between them, Nigel Aylott was around 77 km and drawing steadily away from Kelvin Marshall.

Bob Petrie was still going.  A lap behind his wife, he ultimately retired at 70 km, but he looked as if he might have been able to go much further.  It was his best ultra-performance for quite a time and, hopefully, the first of many good performances to follow.

Kouros was cruising now, well clear of everyone else, and he finished in 7:14:35.  Nigel Aylott managed to avoid being lapped and took second in 8hrs 10.  Kelvin Marshall was the only other finisher (8hrs 33).  He was delighted to have improved his PB by half an hour, a worthy reward for his courageous start-hard-and-hang-on strategy in very demanding conditions.

N Aylett (Second Place), K Marshall (Third Place), Y Kouros (Winner) - 1998 100km Event

Ultra Mag, September 1998

Results & Report on the 1999 event

The AUSTRALIAN 100 km ROAD CHAMPIONSHIP and GU Ultimate Fuel 50 km Race, were held at Glengarry, Victoria on 3^rd October 1999.

1999 Australian 100km Road Championship

Lap Times 100km and 50km Runners

Gippsland Water Australian 100km Road Championship

Australian Championships 1999 100km Event

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