The Incomparable History of the Frankston to Portsea

From AURA

I doubt that many people are aware that this race is the longest standing ultra in Australia. It may not have a history that dates back to the 1920's like South Africa's Comrades Marathon but its history is unique in it's own sense. This race has its origins way back in 1973, a time when 15+ sunscreen was unheard of, Gough Whitlam was telling us "It's Time", e-mail was a brand of refridgerator and a hard drive was a long trip in the car.

On the 29th of September 1973 Ross Shilston, Kon Butko and Scotty [Kon's dog] decided to make the trek from their Frankston homes in bayside Victoria to the end of the Mornington Peninsula at Portsea. The original trio were joined by Bernie Carrol in May 1974 and a tradition had begun, Kon "measured" the course in his HQ holden and came up with an approximate distance of 34 miles. His car was stolen soon afterwards and made a cameo appearance on the 6.30 news when it was used as the get-away vehicle in a hold-up at the local chemist!

The May date seemed to stick for a while as this low key event was used as a training run for the state marathon titles held in June each year. It rarely attracted more than a handfull of runners. With the Marathon Title being shifted around in the early 80s, the Frankston to Portsea found a new date of early June and this remained until the late 80s when it had to fit in with the Peninsula Road Runners summer track and field program and the winter cross country fixture, so a new date was found on the first Saturday of April each year. It was during this time that the a course record of 3:45 was set by Laurie Brimacombe. Laurie is the uncle of one of Australia's top sprinters, Steve Brimacombe. Laurie's record was thought to be unbeatable but just a few years later in 1990, local resident Paul Patton flew down the highway in 3:42, a record that still stands today.

With the Sydney to Melbourne run then in its prime, several runners would make the trip to Portsea as part of their training and it was during this time that a half serious side came to the race. Each runner was given a course description featuring various splits and landmarks with a final metric distance of 54.7km. At the suggestion of one Geoff Hook, runners recieved certificates with a bottle of wine for the winner, these prizes were in conjunction with the traditional finishers block of chocolate. The wine and certificates seem to have vanished in recent years but the chocolate tradition remains.

1991 was the year that this race peaked with a staggering 18 runners but as the Sydney to Melbourne race disappeared so did any chance of getting many people to the Frankston to Portsea. The term "Low Key" took on a whole new meaning in 1996 when I was the sole runner. Not wishing to break a long standing tradition, I ran to Portsea [I am still getting sarcastic reminders about my "Great Win"]

The actual distance has always been a subject of debate, but part of the tradition is the "Measuring" with Kon's old Holden. I have done some measuring myself and come up with a distance of between 55.5km and 55.9km, but what the heck, the course never changes and you can always compare your run with previous efforts.

With traffic on the Nepean Highway becoming heavier each year a decision was made in 1997 [by Ross and myself] to switch from the traditional Saturday and move to the Sunday.

There have been a lot of ultra races come and go over the years but the Frankston to Portsea has remained as the one constant. I guess if we wanted more runners we could get Ron Walker to declare it a Major Event and we would have huge crowds of spectators and poker machines on every corner with live T.V. coverage [I'm being REALLY sarcastic now].

Next years race has a tentative date in early April where once again someone will say "GO" and the runners will make their own way down to the Portsea gates with a block of chocolate waiting as their reward. Be there next year at the corner of Davey Street and the Nepean Highway at 7am to be part of the Frankston to Portsea where the tradition will continue.