“I’ve always had a propensity to drink and party with friends, but found that running gave me direction and focus.
“I still battle with the desire to socialise with mates, although having success on the ‘road’, an emphasis on the big picture and improving my personal bests became the ultimate goal.”
Over the last few years, Hill’s training got more serious. He spent more and more time researching the sport of running and talking to seasoned athletes, and was told a number of times by others that the longer distances would suit him.
After a solid 2017, he was approached by established ultra runner Dan Symonds, who invited him to consider the Caboolture Dusk to Dawn 12hr race.
“I thought that it would be an ideal entry race to ultras, and had only planned on running to 100km,” Hill admits.
“It was flat, and due to being a 500m gravel circuit, although somewhat repetitive, meant that I had constant access to supplies and was softer on the legs than road or path, with no hills.
“I totally surprised myself to finish the event in first place and broke the distance record by over 3kms, managing 143.1kms in 12hrs.”
“It was certainly tough, but I bloody loved it!”
Soon after, he was contacted by ultra runner and World Team captain Brendan Davies, who was impressed with Hill’s race at Caboolture. It was from then that Hill considered it might be possible to qualify for the Australian 100kms team, and so the GC100 (2018) became the perfect opportunity.
“My ultimate goal was sub 7:10:00, and I was on target for this until about 80kms in, when things got really rough,” he says.
“The quads gave in, temperature increased as well as the wind, and at 90kms I was facing dizziness and became lightheaded whenever I looked from side to side, so I was forced to slow down to the minimum pace required to achieve my target.
“I was comfortably ahead, but on reflection, dehydration seemed to play a part.”
To get ready for the 100k World Championships in Croatia this September, Hill has been averaging about 140kms or more per week.
“I enjoy doing regular races and fun runs when possible, and have a strong belief in quality over quantity,” he says.
“The support and encouragement that I have received from my girlfriend Jessica over the past 3 1/2 years, and that of my immediate family, I mean, nothing I have done recently could be possible without their continual help and interest in my running.
“So, my strategy for attacking Croatia is to continue the quality of my training that has gotten me onto the team; I am self-coached and feel comfortable controlling my own training/racing schedule.
“I have always involved firm paced training runs of 50km to 60km into my marathon training, primarily for the mental aspect of knowing that it can be done and the confidence that comes with completing such sessions.
“To me the mental achievements gained in training are crucial, and I believe it is impossible to race hard if you can’t train hard.
“My strongest philosophy revolves around knowing and being aware of one’s own current ability and fitness level, and how that is translated into a race.
“I am constantly amazed by the amount of people that simply ‘bite off more than they can chew’, but it will always be the smart runners that not only finish, but do so to their best ability.
“It is always possible to make up any ‘lost’ time during the last ¼ of a long race, but ‘geez’ I hate crawling to the finish because I went out too fast.
“It’s imperative to know your pace (fitness) going into a race and then run accordingly.
“Plus, it’s much more fun to pass people at the end, than to get passed.
“The resulting feeling will actually make you run faster at the end.”
Pictured: Darryl Hill at the Gold Coast 100k Run Festival. Photographs – Supplied.
