Tenth Annual New Zealand Self-Transcendence twenty-four hour track race

The following report is by Philip Sharp who was the judge for the walking races.


The tenth Annual New Zealand Self-Transcendence twenty-four hour track race was held at Sovereign Stadium, Auckland, September, 2003. The race included six- and twelve-hour races. The weather was generally better than it has been for several years. There was the usual wind, but little rain and a reasonable amount of sun.

Six hour race (two walkers)

Graham Cleal M65

A very experienced walker with a best of 154K for 24 hours. Six weeks and 3 days before the 6 hour race, Graham had a major abdominal operation and spent six days in hospital eating/drinking just crushed ice. His doctor gave Graham permission to enter the race and Graham built up to 11k in training. He managed 40K in the six hours.

Linda Law M55

Another experienced walker with a best of 14:10 for 100K. She was using the six hour as a tune up for the Auckland Marathon and had not specifically train for the six hour race. Nevertheless she did 45K which is a good distance given her PB for a marathon is 5:26.

12 hour race (four walkers)

Colin Clifton, first year in M80

What can I say - he set what the race organisers believe is a world record for 12 hours, beating the old record of 67.5K by 700 metres.

Keith Still M55

Consistent as ever, did 84K. Keith and Colin left Tauranga at 4am on race day, drove to Auckland, raced, had a bite to eat and then drove back to Tauranga.

Craig Welsh M45

One year ago Craig, a self-confessed couch potato, decided he needed to exercise, so he started walking. He trains by himself (he prefers this), does not belong to a club, has never entered a walking race, and supported himself in the twelve hour race. His 78K was a remarkable achievement.

Hillary Boyd M40

Another consistent walker. Hillary did 54.1K in the 12 hour and thought she had set a PB. I was pretty sure she hadn't. She checked her pile of certificates at home after the race and found she had missed her PB by about 400 metres! Nevertheless, she was pleased with her effort, as she should be.

24 hour race (three walkers)

Yens Borello from Denmark, M55

Quadruple Centurion (Continental, British, US, Australian). Started methodically, but he had picked up a cold on the trip from Denmark and was not enjoying the race as much as he could have been. Passed 50M in about 11:30, then started struggling and withdraw after about 14 hours.

Robert Radley M45

Also started methodically. He passed 50M at 11:28:40 to establish what we believe is a NZ national 50M record for M45. However, he was having trouble with his back and one shoulder and withdraw after 13 hours.

Simahin Pearce M55

The fastest walker in the field. Started slightly slower than Yens and Robert but at a good enough pace to do 100 miles in 24 hours. Found the track very hard and started slowing in stages after about three hours. Stage 1 - same walking action but favouring one side. Stage 2 - dropped the arms. Stage 3 - taking it easy. Stage 4 (after about 10 hours) - Off the track with a sore back and hot spots on the balls of his feet. To his credit, Simahin managed a few short stints on the track for the rest of the race, but spent most of his time resting. He finished with 91.4 K.

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Last modified: October 30, 2007.