A couple of big races dominated proceedings this weekend, with one, Hardrock being the highlight of the running calendar. If you haven’t heard already, Kilian Jornet aka Superman won Hardrock with his left arm in a makeshift sling (see below), after dislocating his shoulder at 40 miles. He then proceeded to bash it back in, although apparently this isn’t the first time it’s happened and crack on for another 60 odd miles to take out the win.
Try running with one arm in a sling for a training run and see how you go. Now consider Hardrock, which with its steep climbs and descents too, you kind of wonder how the hell he managed to stay upright, let alone go on and win this race against some of the highest quality mountain runners around. It boggles the mind if I’m honest with you.
But it’s not all about Kilian…
While everyone hands out the high fives to Kilian, there’s another story lurking within the Hardrock community that deserves even more plaudits. Less than a year ago, leading Canadian ultra runner, Adam Campbell suffered a horrific accident in a near-fatal rock climbing accident. He broke his a broken pelvis and spine (T8-T11) and was pretty much told to forget the running.
Well Adam threw two fingers up to that and this weekend, he completed the Hardrock course to a rapturous finish. Well done Adam, amazing what the mind can achieve.
In the ladies, Caroline Chaverot showed that she truly is the best female ultra runner on the planet right now, winning in the third fastest time ever and this was with time spent wandering off course too. She came, she saw and she kicked ass. Darcy Piceu and Natalie Mauclair rounded out the ladies podium, with Mike Foote and Joe Grant doing likewise for the men.
Blue Mountains locals score top 10s at Eiger Ultra Trail
Meanwhile over in Switzerland, Scotty Hawker (5th) and Lou Clifton (8th), flew the flags for the Aussies and Kiwis (although Scotty is pretty much an Aussie now!), to continue the cracking performances, runners from our two countries have achieved overseas in the Northern Hemisphere summer. Great to see Scotty returning back to a bit of form after his ankle operation and a few start/stops since. For Lou, it’s another great result under the belt in what has been a pretty amazing last 12 months of race results. She continues to get better and better.
In addition to the performances above, Marie McNaughton, the Hong Kong based Kiwi bagged fifth place at Eiger too. Great result.
Kokoda Challenge 96km
Up on the Goldie, the Kokoda challenge took place this weekend too. Physiologic, a team comprising Dave Coombs, Simon Byrne, Kieran O’Brien and Brad Glover took the overall honours, finishing in 12hrs 55mins. The leading ladies team, Condev Girls finished in 17hrs 7 mins made up of Lisa Baxter, Lou Ramsey, Anna Taylor and Alana Vought. The leading mixed team,Gold Coast Physio & Sports Health, finished in 14hrs 5mins after the overall winning team.
Feature Image credit: Andy Hewat
