Report: Narrabeen Allnighter 12hr

Narrabeen mapOn a fast, flat and well, boring out and back 3.333km course, the Narrabeen Allnighter is the ideal race to run a quick 100km or cover a PB for12 hours. This is exactly what the plan was for Brendan Davies and Barry Loveday, both of whom came to set qualifiers for the 100km world champs (Sub 8 Hours) en route to completing the full event. But what transpired was an epic battle that saw the Australian 12 hour road record fall as both runners toiled through the night.

Passing 100km in 7:48:35, Davies was a clear leader, but his plan was to get his qualifier on the board and then just relax and watch the race unfold. That was until his support crew fired him up to get back out there and keep running. He did exactly that (After 6 minutes on the sidelines) but couldn’t hold off Barry Loveday who maintained strong momentum and subsequently passed Davies to take the lead and run away with the eventual win. Loveday showed strength and incredible determination to cover an astonishing 149.7km to Brendan’s 145km. Not forgetting third place in Matthew Eckford who managed a sensational 45 laps to round out a big night.

In the women’s race Pam Muston covered an awesome 40 laps to take the win ahead of Carrie Gleeson (38 laps) and Emma Vaughan (36 laps). These results are indicative of an ever-increasing depth in the ultra running fraternity and with a start to 2014 like this, it looks like we’re in for a big year of ultra and trail running to come!

Brendan and Ron Schwebel
Brendan Davies and Ron Schwebel

Men

1st Barry Loveday 50 laps (149.7km)
2nd Brendan Davies 49 laps (145km)
3rd Matthew Eckford (45 laps)

Women

1st Pam Muston (40 laps)
2nd Carrie Gleeson (38 laps)
3rd Emma Vaughan (36 laps)