In the usual Dave Byrnes fashion, the results are up quicker than you could say boo to a goose. We touched upon some of the leaders and winners yesterday, but it’s only fair to give a full run down of the results and try to share a few stories from some of those not at the top of the list. If you’re interested, there’s also some TV coverage from the local Newcastle station, which you can find here.

There is something about this race that really captures the imagination and spark of those who enter and attempt it. GNW seems to strike a huge chord with people. It gets into your soul, it picks you up, eats you, chews you up and then spits you out – and then if you’re lucky you get to touch that holy grail at Patonga Beach.

Once again we give special mention to the four winners of the each of the races, Andrew Vize in the men’s 100 miler and overall winner in a time that people can’t quite get their head around just yet. I thought he’d go sub 23 and was expecting something around 22:30, but low 22’s is amazing – but you know what – I think he’s got more in him. Meredith Quinlan, who two months ago was running around a 1km bitumen track in deepest, darkest North Wales representing her country and picking up a bronze medal that signifies her as one of the best 24 hour track runners in the Commonwealth – then she casually picks up a new female course record over some of the most brutal terrain Australia has to offer.

In the men’s 100km, Brendan Davies showed what a class athlete he is too by smashing the old 100km course record – he’s surely going to want to contest the 100 miler soon as part of his team ‘No Roads’. The next few years on the trails of Australia will be so exciting as more teams are formed and go head to head.

But what of the everyday normal guys who train just as hard as some of these front-runners? While we’re not aiming to make this sound like we’re all patting ourselves on the back for a job well done, after the rollercoaster of a journey that people go on through this race we hope that you enjoy reading about some of the experiences and journeys of some of those we know.

There’s so many to mention and list that to do so would mean you’ll be reading this article all day long. I’ll pick out a few, but please do excuse us if we haven’t mentioned everyone who needs to be mentioned. We believe that anyone who finishes GNW deserves a special mention. As we see year in year out, over 50% of the starting line-up never make it to Patonga. That shows just how hard this race really is, and it’s not just the physical, but the mental conditioning that’s required to overcome what are some of the highest highs and lowest lows you can ever experience in 36 hours.

The first people who come to mind are some of the people that at Ultra168 we’ve trained with week in week out. Keith Hong (aka Buzzlightyear) is known to pretty much most people in the ultra circuit as this loveable bouncy person who’s always willing to help out wherever he’s needed. Always toying with whether to run the short stuff or the long stuff, he committed himself to GNW and got his just reward with an excellent finish  full of guts.

Alexis Middleton is a guy that Darrel and myself met on Patonga beach one Sunday in August. A quick exchange of pleasantries and we found out he was running GNW and that he lived in Neutral Bay. We invited him to train with us each day down in Mosman and he soon grew the nickname of “Mr. 100% man” due to the fact that he never missed a session and trained his heart out for this run. He had a great run and we’re so happy that he finished this amazing run and journey.

“Whippet” or Andy Hewat to everyone else has had some well documented heart troubles over the last year. His preparation for this race was shall we say non-existent. His finish this year really does rank up there as one of the best finishes GNW has seen. So determined was this guy to keep his 100% record that he put his body on the line and did what probably most of us thought wasn’t possible. If you ever need an example of how sheer dogged determination wins over anything else – this guy has it in spades. Expect him to be knocking off his 20th GNW finish in 13 years time still.

There’s a classic scene in one of the Monty Python films where two guys are fighting each other, chopping off various body parts until there is just a body left. Chris Turnbull’s experiences over the last section of the course remind me of this. Reaching Mooney Mooney at 3am, Chris was up there with the leaders but along the plateaus to Patonga his body had had enough. Eight hours later, he staggered onto the beach at Patonga showing his true worth and fight for a finish. In training, Chris knocked off an out and back from Mooney Mooney to Patonga in around 5 hours. His journey of nearly 8 for the last leg shows how you must never give up.

Mark Redding is another guy like myself who’s suffered a few mental demons on this course – but his finish this year shows just what commitment means. He put the training in, got the head down and came in for a storming 32:59 finish that got the crowd on their feet cheering.

Tall Geoff as he’s known lives just up the road from me in Balmain and is a former two-time finisher of this race. This year however I knew he was gunning for a sub-30 run and he’d trained his behind off to make sure he did it. As the clocked ticked over towards the 30 hour mark we were nervous, but then with 10 minutes to go his tall gangly frame hits the beach to the roar of those supporting him, and with a fist pump in the air he gets his deserved silver medal.

Paul Every is a legend in Australian ultra running. This guy has it all on his CV, from running across the width of Australia, through to representing his country in 24 hour track racing, the list just goes on and on. Paul finished the very first 100 miler here in 2005 and it’s great to see him six years later back finishing another one.

The thing about Jess Baker is that we don’t think she genuinely realises just how good a runner she really is. This was her debut 100 miler and she ran 25 freaking hours! I ran with Jess in the North Face 100km pairs run in 2010 and her approach is so casual and laid-back, it’s hard to comprehend the performances she puts in. If she continues to run, expect big things from her – hugely talented.

Roger Hanney is that guy you’ll see bouncing around in those Hoka One-Ones :). Wearing his heart on his sleeve, Roger is a type one diabetic, so has quite enough to deal with in normal everyday life. He’s another one who committed to the run and the training and got a hugely rewarding sub 30-hour finish. It was great to see him sprinting along the beach at the end and the big smile on his face.

Those are just a few of the ones we can think of. We’d love it if our readers could also share their thoughts and stories on their experiences of the day, as experiences are what makes GNW – so we’d love to try to capture as many as possible. But for now, a run-down of the results in both the 100 miles and 100kms events below:

GNW 100 miles finishers

VIZE Andrew – 22:02

COOPER Matt – 22:22

MARTIN Levi  – 22:44

O’LOUGHLIN Jonathan – 23:23

McCLELLAN Darren – 24:28

ROBINS Darrel – 24:44

QUINLAN Meredith – 25:03

GALLAGHER Ian -25:15

BAKER Jess – 25:20

MURPHY Philip – 25:21

PICKERING Gary – 27:57

PARKER Gareth – 28:04

NIKOLAEV Nikolay – 28:21

GUEST Steven – 28:23

ANNETT Noel – 28:24

TURNBULL Chris – 28:59

BLEAKMAN Dan – 29:10

BENAYOUN Stéphane – 29:10

HANNEY Roger – 29:49

EVISON Geoff – 29:53

WARNER Marcus – 30:08

HONG Keith – 30:36

EVERY Paul – 31:14

VAZQUEZ-RECIO Luis – 31:23

MIDDLETON Alexis – 32:32

DRUMMOND Steve – 32:35

LADYMAN Rodney – 32:35

HUGHES Michael – 32:50

SCOINES Robert – 32:53

REDDING Mark – 32:59

CHU Margaret – 33:30

WOOD John – 33:30

WYE Graham – 33:30

WAUGH Rachel – 34:08

CARTER Adam – 34:08

HEWAT Andrew – 34:49

BARLOW Nick – 34:53

HARVEY-JAMIESON Susannah – 35:09

DANIEL Richard – 35:20

HUBER Dan – 35:33

BROWN Greg – 35:34

GNW 100 kms finishers

DAVIES Brendan – 11:36

? – 12:48

GAMBLE Malcolm – 12:50

HODDER Jeff  – 14:52

BYRNES Sharon – 15:13

SIMS Michael – 15:16

VASQUEZ Alonso  – 15:43

LAFFERTY Lise – 15:55

MARKEY Gavin – 15:56

LAYSON Andrew – 15:56

O’SHEA Matthew – 16:02

JUDD Gavin South – 16:43

EMR Mark  – 17:54

McGRATH Michael – 18:28

MURPHY Jason – 18:47

CAMERON Katherine – 18:49

CAMERON Angus – 18:49

KRANZ Adam – 19:06

OSBORN Jamie – 19:21

SHIELDS Philip – 19:21

MORRELL Sandon – 19:27

BLACKMORE Kieron – 19:49

O’CONNOR Kathleen – 19:59

TEMPLE Neil – 20:17

ENGLISH Stephen – 20:25

MOLONEY Mallani – 21:05

KNIGHT Nigel  – 21:19

SWAIN Elizabeth Windsor -21:35

WALSH Kate – 21:38

FOX Robert -21:38

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Dan

I'm a mediocre runner who can bat above his average when I train hard. A man of extremes, I do enjoy everything life offers and consider it an absolute pleasure just to be able to put one foot in front of the other and let my mind wander somewhere different.