Click here to go to race index page

Trans Australia Race will be the best ultra field ever

30th November 2000

Yiannis Kouros, the holder of numerous world records and widely recognized as the finest ultra runner of modern times, has confirmed that he will enter the event. Kouros' most recent victory was the Australian Six Day Race at Colac

Also confirmed are three top Russian runners, who recently contacted race organizers to negotiate terms of entry.

• Konstantin Santalov, three times world 100Km champion (1992, 1993 and 1996) and European 100Km champion in 1993. He is also a four-time Russian 100 Km Run champion (1993, 1994, 1996 and 1998), and he has won more than 40 ultra races in his career. He has also won the Barcelona-Madrid, Rio de Janeiro-Santos, Vienna-Budapest and Kaluga-Pushkin multi-day races. His best 100Km time is 6:15:17. His best 24-hour distance is 260.750 kilometres.
• Anatoily Kruglikov, the 1999 Russian 100km champion (6:36), six times Russian 24-hour champion, winner of the Tasmanian multi-day run in 1994, when he defeated Yiannis Kouros. He is also listed as "vice-champion" of Vienna-Budapest multi-day Run 2000.
• Andrey Derxen, three-time winner of the Marathon de Sables multi-day run in the Sahara Desert and also a triple "vice-champion" of the Vienna-Budapest multi-day run. He has also won the Sakhalin Island multi-day run and Barcelona to Madrid multi-day run.

Others previously confirmed include:

• Istvan Sipos of Hungary, who recently set a new record for the world's longest run and who is also a former winner of the Trans America Footrace (1994) and the Sri Chinmoy 3100-Mile Race, the longest certified footrace in the world.
• Dusan Mravlje of Slovenia, the 1995 winner of the Trans America Footrace and a former winner of the prestigious Westfield Run, held in Australia during the 1980s and early 1990s.
• Kiwaki Spalding of Hawaii, a 1994 finisher of the Trans America Footrace.
• Helmut Schieke of Germany, a 1992 finisher of the Trans America Footrace.
• Stefan Schlett of Germany, also a 1992 finisher of the Trans America Footrace.
• Wolfgang Schwerk of Germany, second all-time to Yiannis Kourus in world 24-hour race standings (303km vs 276km).
• Brian Smith and David Standeven, both former Westfield champions.

"I don't think there is any question that this is going to be the finest field of ultrarunners ever assembled in one place," Riley said this week. "The format of our race allows the 100Km runners, 24-hour runners and multi-day runners to compete on approximately equal terms. There has never been a race that brought such a range of top runners together in one even before."

Riley said race director Bernie Farmer is flying to Perth next week to finalize arrangements for the start of the event. It is possible the start may take place on Rottnest Island, an idyllic tourist island off the coast from Perth. If so, the race will start with a short leg on the island and then resume after participants are ferried back to the mainland.

"We're looking and several possibilities. Rottnest Island would be nice if we can work it out. It's a great tourist destination. If that doesn't work out, the start will be in Perth."

Back to CoolRunning Trans-Australia Footrace HomePage