The road ahead: Cpl Wayne Heath reflects on what lies ahead before tackling the 21km half marathon at the Gold Coast. Photos by Ashley Roach/Fullframe

Effort: Pte Shaun Hughes, 7CSSB, finishes the half marathon.

SIXTEEN 9min 50sec BFAs back-to-back.

That’s roughly what ADF competitors completed during the annual running of the 42km Gold Coast Marathon earlier this month.

Competitors lined up early on July 3 to tackle any of three events on the day – the gruelling marathon, a 21km half marathon or a 10km walk/run.

The 21km half marathon started first, with the main ADF contenders being Sub-Leut Rowan Walker, NUSHIP, Sgt Glenn Columbine, AAVNTC, and Cpl Wayne Heath, 2HSB.

Cpl Heath said great running conditions during the Gold Coast winter, a flat course, and the fact that Australian Championships and prize money were again up for grabs, drew some of the best ADF, Australian and international competitors to the event.

“This year, the ADF was well represented in both the full and the half marathon,” he said.
In particular, he said a strong performance from one ADF runner in the half marathon showed an ability for ADF members to compete with some of the sports leading athletes.

“Sub-Leut Walker quickly joined on to the second bunch just behind some of Australia’s elite runners. His bunch were rolling out the kilometre splits in 3min 13sec, that’s about a 7min 36sec BFA 8.8 times in a row.

“As in previous years, the conditions were perfect and a slight cool breeze welcomed the runners on their 10km trek towards the turnaround point at Runaway Bay.”

Twenty minutes after the half marathon began, the marathon runners headed south on their 42km journey towards Mermaid Beach, taking in the sunrise over the ocean with cool breezes off the breaking waves.

“After heading south, the runners turned and headed north past the start finish line, at this point they are already past halfway with about 18km to travel, and it’s about this point the sun starts to come into play,” Cpl Heath said.

“It’s said that the real race starts after the 30km mark, because at that point, or about 90min, their bodies’ supply of glycogen starts to deplete its reserves and if the runners don’t replace their glycogen loss, their ability to maintain pace will halt and they ‘hit the wall’.”

Leading the charge for the ADF was the experienced runner Cpl Andrew Barron, AMI, who was also part of the Queensland team in the national championships, and his experience over that distance gave him an advantage during the last 12km.

“By that point the winners had already finished the half marathon,” Cpl Heath said. “Sub-Leut Rowan Walker had ran an incredible time of 67min 50sec and finished 16th overall and first for the ADF.”

Cpl Heath also achieved a respectable time of 77min, slightly ahead of Sgt Columbine’s 78min.

When the marathon finished some time later, Dickson Marwa from Tanzania and Tsutomu Saeki from Japan finished in just over 2hr 16min. Cpl Barron also ran a fantastic race to finish 22nd with a time of 2hr 40min.

Other runners to do well were Capt Matthew Carrick, Russell Offices, 3hr 6min, and WO2 Ian Clark, ADF PT School, 3hr 10min.

Cpl Health also praised some of the newcomers to the sport and encouraged participation from across Defence.

“These races aren’t just for the serious athlete, but everyone who is after a challenge,” he said.

Three other noteworthy efforts during the event came from Pte Shaun Hughes, 7CSSB, and Cpl Hamish Grey, 2/14 LHR (QMI), who ran 88min and 87min in the half marathon, and Sig Nanda Holyoak, 7 CSR, who ran a 3hr 15min marathon.

Incredibly, all three backed up the following day to pass the Combat Fitness Leaders Course Barrier Test.

The ADF Marathon Championships will be held on October 9 in Melbourne. More details on this race and other ADF running events can be found at www.adf.coolrunning.com.au

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