Race Report: Run4Kids by marie Boyd

The event is held by the 100 Mile Club to encourage young school age children to run 100 miles during the school year. Many schools participate. Runners commit to a fundraising effort, with all proceeds going to the club, which uses the money to encourage kids with awards, etc.

Held on a 0.82km route, mainly hard packed dirt, at the Auburndale Middle School, with trackside camping and parking available for ultra-runners, the course easily accommodated the runners, crews, and many families who came out in droves on Saturday morning, to run a 5k event.

The event started on Friday evening at 8pm, so provided a different opportunity to plan for running and resting. There were 9 runners in the 48 hour event, many more in the 24 hour and 100 mile iterations. Weather was mixed, with high winds, rain at times, then wonderful sunny spring conditions at various intervals. As usual, on a loop course, I was wearing the right clothing for about 1/2 way round.

My plan was fairly simple - start out at a steady pace, take only a couple of short breaks on Day 1, then plan a little more rest time on Day 2, but try to maintain forward momentum throughout.

Day 1

Day 1 just flew by, and I happily continued with one easy, one power walk, one easy, and one easy run 4 lap combination. Taking just 2 short 30 minute breaks, I was excited to surpass my previous Australian 12 hour, 50 mile and 24 hour records, set in Adelaide last September at the Australian 6 Day Ultra Marathon Festival.

Day 2

Day 2 had the same weather combinations, and although my pace slowed somewhat, I pushed on, taking 2 short rest breaks. At about 3am, I noticed I was weaving slightly, and possibly hallucinating, thinking the traffic cones were children dancing! Time for a proper sleep, so I lay down for an hour, fell right to sleep, until the phone alarm woke me. I lay there for several minutes, thinking I was a home, and just incredulous that I was in the tent!

Pushing on after that well-earned rest, the miles slowly accumulated. The next goal was the 100 mile record, which to my amazement, was almost 13 hours faster than the sufferfest total in Adelaide! It is now an almost respectable 42 hours, not 55. The weather turned cold, wet and windy again, as the final afternoon and early evening hours approached.

Next goal - the US women’s 75-79 48 hour record at 103 miles, and done! Now came the hard part - the weather was cold, I was tired, and starting to feel the effects of long miles on very tired feet.

Regretfully, I gave in to the temptation to call it "good" at 106 miles, with 2 hours still on the clock. All of a sudden, sciatic nerve pain caused me to rethink the wisdom of continuing in the wet and cold weather. I hope to not do that again, but at the time, it was the right decision.

Lovely belt buckle and finish medal, and I will look back fondly on this event. 

I have learned much from this event, and have some ideas for my continued training for the Australian 6 Day Ultra Marathon Festival this October.

The numbers:

• New AUS 12h record: 51km / 31.8 mi (old: 48km / 29.8 mi)
• New AUS 24h record: 97 km / 60.6 mi (old: 81.2 km / 50.4 mi)
• New AUS 48h record: 170 km / 106 mi (old: 133km / 82 mi)
• New AUS 50 mi record: 19:57:29 (old 23:57:24)
• New AUS 100 mi record: 42h 52:15 (old: 55:32:51)
• New AUS 100km record: 24:30:11 (no existing old record)