Audley the Great

Stage 34 - Highway stop - Iron Knob 66.7km

Yesterday's short stage enabled the runners to get a decent rest, consequently the competitors ran a lot faster today. George Audley was the 'Star of the day', running for the first time with an average speed of 10 km/h. ''I felt great and the wind was blowing in our backs'', commented the satisfied Australian.

Another cloudy day made the runners speed up their pace. Anatoliy Kruglikov quickly took the lead. In solo running, he managed to finish the stage with an average speed of 13.5 km/h, which is an outstanding result, considering the 2400 km he had already run. Derxen was running in second position throughout the whole stage, but had to fight for it at the end with Sakurai, who yet again came up with a finish 'a la Kruglikov'. Dusan Mravlje let the Japaneese pass him and even waited up for Schwerk to keep him company for the last kilometers.

Australian Mick Francis, atfer he had crossed the finish line, anxiously awaited for the arrival of Hungary's Mihaly Molnar. ''It would be great if I could beat him in the overall standings one of these days and manage to get some advantage over him. It's going to be harder to catch up with him after I recover completely.'' Jermolajevs, Brown and Molnar crossed the finish line one after another, and the Hungarian lost another 33 minutes to Francis. These two athlets are going to be in the eyes of the spectators on tomorrow's stage once again. Audley finished the stage less then two minutes behind the Hungarian and was witness to an applausive audience who enjojed the success with him. He has, despite his age, prooved once again that he has got what it takes for an ultramarathon runner.

There are very few places to spend the night at in Iron Knob for the town is almost deserted, with the population of about 250. That is why most of the runners along with their crew decided to spend the night in a motel 35 km away from Iron Knob, in Port Augusta. Tomorrow's stage means farewell to 'wilderness', because the runners will in a few days reach Adelaide, with a population of over a million.

Results

1.Anatoliy Kruglikov, Russia 4.57.46
2.Andrei Derxen, Russia 5.25.16
3:Kaname Sakurai, Japan 5.25.32
4.Wolfgang Schwerk, Germany 5.50.32
5.Dusan Mravlje, Slovenia 5.50.32
6.Mick Francis, Australia 6.04.18
7.Georgs Jermolajevs, Latvia 6.28.33
8.Bobby Brown, Great Britain 6.31.43
9.Mihaly Molnar, Hungary 6.37.02
10.George Audley, Australia 6.38.56
11.Paul Every, Australia 7.18.35
12.Marcus Muller, Germany 7.19.49

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