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Race Director's Report
Sitting here on the lounge-room sofa, reflecting on yesterday's event, I feel pleasantly satisfied. The idea for putting on a race, and calling it a FAT ASS was borne out of frustration with the dwindling number of ultras, particulary off-road ones, in the Sydney region, although it is a general trend across the whole country. In addition, there are some great tracks and trails that are just asking to be run on and shared with others. FAT ASS runs fit in well with the Australian psyche - low key, laid back, tough and cheap !Anyway, after spending some time designing a course, drawing a map and a moderately successful email-writing campaign, all that was left was to sit back and wait for a few runners hopefully to turn up on the day. I was assured of at least 10 runners turning up, being close personal friends and all that - but not sure how many others. August 26th was the last weekend of winter and was definitely a bit chilly, but 22 runners turned up and signed the waiver. A couple of bandits from Berowra, the starting place, failed to sign the form, but that was ok really. The big news was the arrival long-travelled ultra nuts from Melbourne Victoria, Kev Cassidy and Ross Shilston who stayed chez Tiller the night before; and some-time ultra bush star, Mike Burton, who took the Piker's option to save himself for the Great Nosh 15km the next day. Any ultra running event in Sydney would not be complete without the prescence of Paul Every, who was able to make the run and give us all some credence.
After a pre-race speech, group photo and a ready, set, go they were off on their chosen course : 56km, 41km, 30km or 15km. I waited for about 10 mins in case any stragglers turned up and then bundled the kids in the car [oh yes, being race director doesn't let me off baby-sitting duty, especially as my wife was one of the runners]. We dased thru the town and into the bush where we could catch the runneers going past, and took some photos, then hot-fotted it to the local Shell to buy some drinks and snacks for post-race.
Being race director meant I could choose the start location, by the kids park, so that the kids could play without much attention from me. The 15km runners drifted in after approx 2 hrs [it IS a tough course] and then I took the kids to a fairy party - after changing them into fairy costumes in the park. Arriving back at the start/finish I was just in time to cath the first runners from the 30km - Paul Every, Phil Hugill and Dave Cannings in 3:42. The others drifted in all the way up until 5hrs 47mins when Colin Colquhoun brought up the rear with an unteresting story of taking a wrong turn and going through a pack of wild dogs.
The 30km route was novel in that all runners cross Berowra Creek via Ferry, and I'd heard that 17 of the runners made it onto one ferry - seems like quite a social affair.
Some the runners kept going further onto the other side of the Kuringai peninsula towards Mt Kuringai and Apple Tree Bay and Bobbin head, although it is fair to say, many had shot their load on the first leg and refused to go any further. Paul Every & Phil Hugill were joint first place winners of the 56km option in 7:25, with Sean Greenhill being 3rd and final finisher in 9:56, still running strongly and training for his 100 mile debut in the Glasshouse Mtns in October.
Thomas Lenzenhofer was the lone finisher in the 41km option, in 6:16, which he took purely to finish quicker so he could spend time with his wife on her birthday. He did comment on the toughness and technical difficulty of the course, with some many rocks and roots, although all commented on the beautiful vistas of the area's scenery.
It appears that no one got lost, and most people were happy with their day's efforts, so I think you could call it a success !
Kevin Tiller
Race Director
