Reflections of the IAU 100km Asia & Oceania Championships

The challenges – very hot and humid race conditions, international travel, time-zone differences, a race start time of 10 pm and a course we thought might have some significant congestion.

All these were on our minds heading into the IAU 100km Asia and Oceania Championships in Bangkok. Whilst the team of Clay Dawson, Michael Hooker and Ben Kuang never used any of these as an excuse, they all performed to a high standard deserving of the Green and Gold and a credit to themselves and Australia.

The team flew into Bangkok in the days before the race from all corners of Australia, having spent the previous months meeting regularly online to plan our approach to the championships. Covering everything from team and individual goals, nutrition planning for race day, to ensuring the shoes the guys were racing in were compliant with the IAU regulations, we wanted no surprises come race day!

We used the spare day before the race to hit the course for a recce run. This was a great opportunity for us to see where we would be starting, how the course flowed and just as important, where all the toilets were on the course. A couple of key things struck us. It was going to be hot and humid, even with the night race. The course was potentially going to get congested as multiple races were going on at the same time as the Championships. Thankfully, the latter was not an issue as the park we ran in was closed to the public, and a separate lane was created for the runners in the championships, concern 1 averted, now had to deal with the heat and humidity.

The championships started officially with the opening ceremony and our first opportunity to suss out the competition. With no Japanese teams racing, we knew the competition would be from a strong Indian team, and it proved to be. An early night was in order with race day looming. Saturday was all about relaxation, after a team breakfast, I attended a number of briefings, including the important technical briefing.

My goal as Team Manager was always to ensure the team had as little to worry about and reached the start line as stress-free as possible. We had our own team brief on Saturday lunch and covered all aspects of the race from timings, medical tent locations, how the course was divided for the championships and location of the timing mats and of course, ice lots of ice! Then back to bed for more rest.

Then it was time to race. We arrived at the start line with plenty of time for the team to get warmed up and go through their own individual pre-race routines. My focus was on setting up our tent area. Making sure we had ice on tap, the guys' nutrition was laid out and ready, and I had an individual chat with each of them to go over the nutrition one final time. They all had unique approaches. We received the final call to the start line, had a final huddle and pep talk, and then it was over to the guys to go run, game on!

Run they did. From start to finish, running 100k is never easy. Doing it under the pressure of competition adds another layer, and then add to that the pressure of competing for your country. At no point did any of the team waver.

Clay from the start went out hard and fast, and led the race for a significant part (even though he didn’t believe it early on!!), until being overtaken by the eventual winner from India. After 60k, a comment that “This is really hurting now” showed how hard he was working, but there was no let-up in the effort, and Clay kept on churning out the quick splits. As the race progressed with a solid lead over third position, he refused to let up and continued to push to the end, with a captain’s knock of a race and an individual silver!

Michael (Hooksy) settled into a good, even pace and got through the first 30k with no issues, being consistent on his nutrition. Then it got tough, really tough. As an experienced runner, Michael started working on the problems, adjusted his nutrition plan, worked on the cramp that was creeping in and never at any point used it as an excuse to slow down. He kept on pushing and pushing, even though it was very obvious he was in a bit of pain and hurting and never dropped out of the top ten with an impressive 8th overall.

Ben was the youngest member of the team and still ran like a veteran. With a very regular, consistent pace throughout. Ben ended up with the additional pressure of being the 3rd member of the team and with some pressure of the team result resting on his shoulders. Each lap was a good balance of maintaining his pace and ensuring the team was holding onto the team silver position. As the race progressed, Ben continued to push and work with Michael in 8th, to ensure the 3rd place team never really stood a chance of getting near us. Ben held off easily in the end, guaranteeing the team a highly deserved silver with his 9th place and a very bright future of running ahead of him.

Prior to the event, we had set out some team goals, and it was a testament to the guys and their team approach that we attained them and more. This was all about the team from day 1, and all 3 of them bought into that culture, with never a thought of selfishness or about one individual's performance. Clay, Michael and Ben are a credit to themselves, AUTRA, and Australia, and very proud to have played a part in your success!