Perth to Sydney Ultramarathon

Media News Article

BY TIM POTTER

PRINT FEATURES 1 - 1/11/01

Most of today's fitness conscious are people who wake up one morning and, through whatever inspiration, decide to turn over a new leaf and see their body as a temple. This usually involves hiring a personal trainer before breakfast, buying aerobics tights before morning tea, and having a water bottle fitted to their hand like a spare organ. They might begin by power walking around the block. But when Don Maclurcan woke for school one morning, he decided he was going to run. to Melbourne.

Don was in Year 11 at St. Aloysius College in Sydney at the time. His mum bought him a $3 - metal frame backpack from a St. Vincent's depot store and that evening, he set off down the Hume Highway and three days later he was in Goulburn with a bleeding back.

"My uncle twice attempted the Sydney to Melbourne ultra-marathon and made it half way, so we always talked about it in the family. I didn't do it as a sport, I just felt like getting away from Sydney and decided to run it I didn't have a driver's licence."

Don has already taken up more adventures and worn out more pairs of running shoes than the average 19-year- old.

One year on from his first run he again took off, this time down the Princess Highway and ended up near Bega.

" Six months after that I decided to run down the Hume Highway to Albury. The following day I felt all right and played Aussie Rules for UTS in the Australian University Games. I think it helped me recover."

His competitive endurance achievements include the Australian 24-hour Championships in Adelaide where he ran 122km. There was only one other competitor under 25. He also competed last year in Colac Victoria in a six-day race and in Coburg, finishing seventh in a 24-hour event and running 132 km.

Apart from running the lines of highways and running tracks, Don has also hit the high seas. He's sailed off Denmark in 1996, competed in the world championships in Morocco in 1997 and crewed on Polaris which finished second overall in the 2000 Sydney to Hobart.

Don, who now studies at the University of Technology in Sydney, has a new challenge. Running across Australia.

The near 3980km run will begin in Perth on January 6 2002 and if all goes to plan, finish in Sydney in under 47 days, breaking the current world record for crossing Australia.

"The guy who currently holds the record is Serge Girard, known as the French Forrest Gump. He crossed in 1999 following the train tracks for 3760 km You can't have a Frenchman holding the Australian record."

Don knows all about the difficult terrain he'll cover, since he was part of the support crew during the Race of Fire last year, which had 22 national and international competitors a run that began in Perth, and finished in Canberra.

"To qualify you had to run 480 km in 24 hours and I ran 414 km. But I think that's helped set me up for this run. I've seen the majority of the course. I know there's a lot more experienced runners out there, but a little naivety is important. I think if I knew how much it was going to hurt, the extent of physical hardship over the 45 to 50 days, then I probably wouldn't do it."

However, Don has another motivation for his adventure. He'll be running to raise money for the Fred Hollows Foundation.

"I went to school at St. Aloysius with Fred's son, Cam Hollows. Back when I was in Year 7, Fred Hollows presented me with a prize at school and while crewing in the Race of Fire I saw areas like those in which he worked and it was remarkable. His work curing so much cataract blindness and lowering the cost of treatment to people around the world is just amazing. Not only are The Fred Hollows Foundation a good cause to support, they are a most practical cause, creating a high level of self-sufficiency through the establishment of lens factories and training of local eye surgeons."

Gabi Hollows of the Fred Hollows Foundation has known Donnie for some years, and says a challenge like this reflects Donnie well.

"I think what he's doing is just brilliant. If anyone was going to do something like this, then it would be Donnie."

While looking to secure major sponsors to cover his expenses, Don is hoping the community will also get behind the run.

"People will hopefully be pledging money straight out or by donating per 10, 50 or 100 kilometres. If people can get back their sight and be able to see some of the things I've seen, then it's worthwhile."

As well as training, Don is also busy gathering the equipment he'll need to cross the Nullarbor.

"I have an interesting crew of four, each with a story to tell. Ideally we would have two vehicles, one five km up ahead with food and drink ready, but realistically we will be happy with the one already secured."

He's also aware of the extreme conditions he'll face in the centre of the country, with summer temperatures in the shade pushing 50 degrees.

"I'll probably try to run a marathon in the morning, and then run again at night. We'll have a satellite phone and be in constant contact with police and The Royal Flying Doctors Service. I think I'm savvy enough to keep an eye on my hydration and avoid the highest temperatures."

Don believes the most difficult challenge will be to retain the mental strength to keep going despite the conditions.

"I think the main part is all in my mind. If I can run the first six days in my mind and not in my body, there's a 50 per cent chance of me making it. Then I hope to have acclimatised and found my rhythm. I think if I run the first six days in my body, focused on my body, then I think I have a one per cent chance of making it. I think the first six days will be a whole new world of pain."

Pat Farmer, Australian ultra-marathon runner, says there's a lot of tough challenges in the first two weeks.

"You're far from home, you're questioning your reason and purpose, encountering tough weather conditions and hostility around the course. You feel very passionately about it, but some people aren't as sympathetic to that, and they question your motives and success.

The next toughest challenge is just after half way. You've been out there for a long period of time, and when I was running across America there were a lot more towns and service stations. A lot of S.A. and W.A. is very isolated."

As tough as the run is, Pat believes Don will take a great deal from the challenge.

"My advice for Don would be to believe in himself, and to never give up on himself.

It's a personal journey of great satisfaction, to take something on and to see it through. There are many reasons not to, but reaching his goal and what he will feel from that will see him through the rest of his life."

While most people find the plane flight across the nation tiring enough, it would seem impossible to drift away from the fatigue and pain that builds up running it. However, ultra-marathon runners and distance athletes have their individual methods of drifting into another zone.

"I try to tune out, sing, listen to music. I might take something light like a mini disc, and just look around. The most impressionable aspect of my last trip across Australia wasn't what I experienced emotionally but rather what I saw. Something like only 10 per cent of Australians have seen the Nullarbor and it's just beautiful."

Don is also aware there will be people who'll tell him it's impossible, and won't give him a chance of completing the run.

"I'm the first person to admit it's ridiculous. But I believe in the old clich - aim for the stars and if you fall you'll still be over the moon. Who would have thought Cliffy Young, a potato farmer in gumboots, could have competed against top international runners. Who would have thought, Jesse Martin, could have sailed around the world solo. My point is that if impossible just can't enter your vocabulary."

He has taken on board advice from ultra marathon runner Pat Farmer, who ran around Australia last as part of the Centenary of Federation celebrations.

"Pat Farmer said if you start thinking 85km km is too hard then focus on the next ten, or break it down to the next one or even to the next telegraph pole, until you have a manageable portion."

Don has been training his body so it will be able to cope with the change in diet once his body becomes fatigued.

"The most important thing is to get the calories in any way you can. Like milk, rice, pasta and other carbohydrates, whatever I feel like and whatever my body can handle.

" In ultra marathon running there's not so much of a wall that you hit because you don't get that same lactic acid build ups. After day one it's really just one big wall of depleted energy. The hardest part is to stop, eat, then get going again. The trick being not to stop."

As important as it is to prepare himself mentally, the humour in the challenge isn't lost on him.

"It's about tuning out beyond the body. It's like getting up and going to work everyday-There's no way I can come across as someone who doesn't sound like an idiot."

Don has also received support, and some shakes of the head, from his family and friends.

"My mum and my brother said they'll join my crew along with a friend if I can't find anyone else. Mum says she doesn't support 'what the man's doing', but she 'supports the man'. My friends haven't written me off, although I suspect they think it."

With the run drawing nearer, Don admits his fears at such a challenge.

"The scariest thing is one hour into the run getting shin splints, feeling stuffed with 3975 km to go, that's the greatest fear. Also fear of letting people down, but at least I'm doing something worthwhile. The only real failure is the failure of not trying.

"Clichs aside, If people hadn't pushed the boundaries where would we be now. I don't have a set plan, I don't want to look too far ahead and feel unsatisfied if I don't make it, this way I have nothing to lose."

Don has a website where people can find out more information about his run and download donation forms at www.seeaustraliarun.com. Donations can also be made directly to the Fred Hollows Foundation.

Don is hoping to raise $100,000 for The Foundation

Messages of support can be emailed to Don at don@seeaustraliarun.com

"It seems to have inspired a lot of people. People are coming up to me saying you make me feel like I should get off the couch and do something worthwhile," he says.

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