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Derxen's Bloody Victory

Today's stage, with the finish in Melton, was of special value to all the ultramarathon runners, because Melton has been Brian Smith's home for the past 30 years. His tragic death at the beginning of stage 28 has had a big influence on the runners, and the memory of Brian is still alive in their hearts. Consequently, the competitors were full of mixed emotions before the start of today's stage.

At first it seemed like the racers would run together, but the two Russians, Kruglikov and Derxen, broke away from the group. The others were running in a group, until Kaname Sakurai speeded up a little, Mihaly molnar followed shortly. Bobby Brown, who usually needs a longer warming up, was in touch with the best runners throughout the whole stage. "I was running a lot faster today, and when I noticed that I didn't have any trouble, I just kept on running. The Russians were too strong, but the rest of the runners couldn't follow me. I felt that Brian's spirit was with me, and that's what gave me the strength to continue," said Bobby in the finish after he had hugged Brian's wife. Janet Smith was waiting for Brian's friends to arrive in the finish, and meeting with each one of them was very emotional, since she has known many of them for a long time. The mayor of Melton was also eager to meet the competitors and listen to their interesting stories from the competition. Andrei Derxen managed to stop Kruglikov's winning series, and won his seventh stage in the TransAustralia Foot Race. "Mihaliy and I were exchanging in the lead, but I managed to gather enough energy to win," said the satisfied Russian.

A small incident occured shortly after Kruglikov's arrival in the finish. Peter Gray, Kruglikov's accompanist, punched Peter Pfister, Derxen's accompanist, for no reason at all. After a quick check-up in the hospital, Peter came back with a bandaged head. Peter Gray started in this competition himself, but after withdrawing from the race in stage 13, he volunteered to help out as a driver. It looks as though Gray is a sore looser, and the fact that Kruglikov didn't win the stage made him punch Pfister. The runners in the middle places crossed the finnish line one after another and the only one who really suffered during the race was Dusan Mravlje. He still hasn't fully recovered from the injury he got from the fall two days ago. An appointment with a physical therapist brought him back to life.

Although today's stage was dedicated to the memory of Brian Smith, evey runner experienced it in his own way. George Audley is, after today's stage, ahead of Helmut Schieke in the overall standings. Although his advantage over Helmut is only six minutes, there's very little doubt that the "Flying Fossil" won't hang on to 12th place. Noone would bet on him in the first 15 stages, when he was far behind everybody, although the Ausralians are famous for their gambling. They bet in all sorts competitions: horse races, dog races, team sports,… Whoever would bet on Audley, would probably get some big prize money. Only the first 25 kilometers of tomorrow's stage, from Melton to Melbourne, will count for the competition. The runners will run the remaining kilometers, due to heavy traffic and many traffic lights, without time measurement.

Results

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