Winning style

By Barry Rollings
Volume 48, No. 12, July 13, 2006

HARD AT IT: FLTLT Gardiner back in training following his ADF Marathon win.

Photo by LACW Sonja Inderwisch.

FLTLT Richard Gardiner broke the pain barrier and the spirit of his main opposition when he won the ADF Marathon in 2hr 35min and 53sec on the Gold Coast on July 2.

In his debut ADF marathon, Gardiner beat previous winners Army’s SGT Mat Skate (2:39.10) and CPL Wayne Heath (2:42.18), both PTIs from Latchford Barracks .

The women’s event went to Army’s SGT Eliza Mayger, of Darwin, in a record 2:52.33 from CAPT Alicia Irving (3:44.17) and LT Tamyka Bell (3:52.11).

“I’ll be back next year,” FLTLT Gardiner said. “I really enjoyed it despite the pain and I am definitely keen to go back and do it again.

“I have always been into running and come from a triathlon background, but I wanted to give the marathon a crack.

“I’m very pleased and really happy with the outcome. I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I had done triathlons before and run marathons as legs of the triathlon, but I didn’t know how I would go on fresh legs.”

FLTLT Gardiner said he had not seen the course before the event but had been told by many that it was fairly flat, so he knew what to expect.

“My strategy was to go out as fast as I could and see how I went.

“I knew Mat Skate had won last year, so I thought he would be the person to beat.

“I saw him at the turnaround at 13km [to go] and again at 8km and I knew I would have to run hard to hold him off.”

FLTLT Gardiner knew he would eventually hit the wall and that came around the 35km mark.

“The last 7 or 8km really hurt,” he said. “Before that I had a few niggles in the race – you worry about whether you are going to crack up - but I got to about 35km and my quads started to feel like bricks.

“I did have not much left and had to run through a fair bit of pain to do those last few kilometres.”

Asked if he felt confident about victory at any stage, FLTLT Gardiner said: “I guess I never really knew until the finish line. I didn’t know where the next guy was behind me.

“I can walk again today (July 4) which is good. I was pretty exhausted on Monday and struggled to go down hills or stairs but I should be pretty right by the end of the week.

“It was a great event and it’s always good to be out there competing in an ADF uniform. It always perks up you up when see other ADF people; they cheer you on with team spirit and help each other out.”

A veteran of about seven years of triathlons, FLTLT Gardiner regards his tilt at the Hawaiian Ironman last year as the highlight of his triathlon career and is keen to go back.

“That was my big goal in triathlons,” he said. “It was certainly a tough day; very hot and humid.

“It was great to be racing in the same race as the world’s best; a great atmosphere and an awesome experience. It was such a big goal for such a long time and left me with memories I will cherish forever.”

Air Force’s SQNLDR Deborah Phillips won the veteran women’s section of the marathon in 4:31.21.

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