VICKERS’ CLAIMS WIN AT FIRST 24HR RACE

Contributed by Mark Vickers, 1st Male finisher at Butter 24hr (2020) and AURA member

Butter 24 & 48, 25 September 2020 at Nudgee College, Brisbane, Qld

I have for many years followed and studied the exploits of the world’s greatest 24-hour runners. We are blessed with some of Australia’s greatest ultra athletes in Queensland and I have had the pleasure of sharing races with the likes of John Pearson, Mathew Eckford, Dan Symonds, Jodi Oborne, Susannah Harvey Jamieson, Kelvin Marshall and more since the early 2000s. 

I also religiously read Bernadette Benson’s blog and perhaps have learned most of what I know about ultra-distance tips and tricks from her adventures. There is limited information on the 24-hour distance available through books though. The Lore of Running by Timothy Noakes touches on the training and achievements of ultra-elites such as Yiannis Kouros, Eleanor Williams and Sir Arthur Newton but I was searching for a training schedule or how-to guide that simply wasn’t available. Perhaps, I thought, I ought to just do one and see what happens. 

Training started for the Canberra 24 hour with a fervor.

With the careful guidance of Sara Parkinson, my partner and my coach I learned that one cannot merely arrive at a race and rely on two months of training and a plucky spirit. In many ways I was lucky to have avoided Canberra after it was cancelled as my preparation would have been pitiful in comparison to the months of effort that followed. I settled on the BUTTER 24 & 48 as the next challenge and from May worked at trail runs and longer road runs.

Remarkably, race directors Alun Davies and Susannah Harvey Jamieson kept the race alive all the way through those unpredictable months of COVID-19. I almost anticipated a cancellation and was so grateful that it was able to go ahead. 

I popped in on the Friday before the start of the 24hr race to watch the 48hr runners start and to set up a tent. The wind was already a problem and gazebos were being blown over regularly. With the hope of better weather on the Saturday I constructed what I could of the tent and gazebo and wished the 48hr runners all the best overnight. Sadly, Saturday’s weather had not improved much. The race kicked off on time and we were underway on a hot, blustery morning

Despite what I’d read about this distance, I decided to set off too quickly. Having only experienced the decomposed granite of the Caboolture Historical Village track at distances of up to 12 hours, an actual athletics track was a pleasure I had not anticipated. I skipped with joy through the first 5 hours, convinced that all was going well. 

At perhaps the 6th hour it became abundantly clear that my nutrition was failing me. I had been relying solely on Hammer Perpetuem to balance water and calorie intake but my mixes were too diluted. ]With friends and supporters coming and going, my mental health was wonderful, but my body was failing rapidly. 

Dan Symonds, who had arrived to watch the race suggested noodles. Apart from a small bowl of mashed potatoes, the plan was to focus on gels, the Perpetuem and the odd energy bar. With this news, one of my supporters rapidly set about sourcing noodles and mashed potato. I watched as the many laps I had gained were rapidly eaten up. As an aside, watching Tia Jones and her supporters was an education in itself – it was almost military in its structure and consistency. I was determined to learn what I could and keep going no matter what. 

At some stage the wind knocked out the official timer. Alun and Susannah rallied immediately and I watched in snippets of each lap as Alun literally took apart the electrics and rebuilt it whilst Susannah shifted to manual tracking. It was remarkable to watch and we were all grateful they had the skills and experience to turn the situation around so quickly. 

The 6 and 12 hour runners started and helped to buoy my spirits as night descended. Food arrived and my splits shifted from 7:30 to 4:45 per km. With something in my stomach, my body responded almost immediately and just in time as the stars came out and the track darkened. Running at 1am after 13 hours of effort was an almost spiritual experience. I watched in amazement as Tia and Kathryn Austin pushed right through the night. Kathryn it seemed had perfected the art of walking at pace and was able to refuel on certain laps whilst walking. Some runners stopped and sat down for a set period with a bowl in their hands. Others carried pasta in bowls around the track and others with noodles. Clothes changed too as leggings, beanies and jackets appeared when temperatures dropped.

As dawn broke and sun spilled over the track again, I knew that I was reaching a critical point in the race. I had not sat down since the start of the race in the belief that it would be too hard to get going again but the impact of less time to stop for food and refuel appropriately with more densely packed sips of Perpetuem was starting to tell. My mind was beginning to wander and I noticed my watch straining against my wrist as my hands and lower arms and hands started to swell. A kindly 12 hour runner pointed out to me that hypernatremia was under way with 3 hours to go. Convinced I could fix this, I took down a bowl of noodles whilst on the trot and also a few endurolytes and kept going. 

It was a pleasure being part of the final 30 minutes. Competitiveness was replaced by joy and camaraderie with multiple conversations underway around the track. Places were established with very little opportunity to change them apart from the 12 hour, where a final battle for first place was being fought out right to the wire. Remarkably Greg Ponych was still full of life after nearly 48 hours on the track and I remember him steaming past me adding as many metres as he could before the countdown. Throughout the race I had words of encouragement and advice passed on to me from veteran ultra runners such as Chris Harbinson and Lee Pratt which I am very grateful for and will definitely implement in my next go at this distance. All up, I managed just over 162km behind Tia’s very strong 197 and Kathryn’s 173. Plenty of opportunity for improvement. 

Hot tips for those considering the distance – direct from Vickers:

• It doesn’t matter how fast your training runs are. If you can’t run long, you will struggle.
• Take your nutrition seriously and have someone record what is going into your body.
• If this is your first 24hr, soak in the experience and learn. Manage your expectations.
• Things will go wrong. Prepare yourself for that.
• Talk to people. I’m so pleased I met such wonderful people that day. Eternally grateful for Chris Harbinson handing me a Lucozade at the end.
• Have a strategy. Implement the strategy and stick to the strategy no matter how good you are feeling.
• Have a big enough ‘why’ you are on the track when the clock ticks past 3am.

Finally a big thank you again to Alun and Susannah for managing through tough conditions and keeping spirits high. 

Pictured: Mark Vickers in the top podium finish for the Butter 24hr division with Lee Pratt in 2nd and Andrew Gills 3rd. Photograph – Supplied.