Our Top 5 ANZAC Trail Runners
Brendan Davies
He’s the Mr Consistency of the ultra scene. Wether it be a flat 100km road race or a hilly 50km of trails, Brendan always performs. He’s won a heck of a lot of races and toes the line frequently, with highlight performances including victory in The North Face 100, the only Aussie sub 7-hour 100km runner in recent history and 8th at Western States. What makes him stand out from the rest is the fact he gets the results and does it extremely often. Yeah there might be a few out there that have had one or two great runs in the last few years, but Brendan has a dozen or more!
- Andrew Tuckey
The nice guy. The hard man that hangs tough while the others drop. Tuckey is a solid racer that always turns up in shape and is there to win. There’s no “I’m just playing in the mountains” from this guy. His total domination of the Coast to Kosci when he set the record, the 2nd place at The North Face 100 in 2014, as well as his 6th at UTMB and 9th at Western States makes Tuckey a force of the trail and ultra scene.
- Stu Gibson
Some would think Stu deserves a higher ranking on this list, but the reality is, while he may have won most of the races he’s done, Stu has only ever raced against a few competitive fields and competes very infrequently, generally doing events that lack depth, and there are no major international results for him. That said, he has won The North Face 100 in a close battle with Tuckey as well as an equal first with Andy Lee, and Stu also set the record for the 6ft Track. Add into the mix victories at Bogong to Hotham, Yurrebilla Ultra and some smaller events and you’ve got a class act. It’s just a shame he doesn’t race more frequently, internationally and against quality fields….otherwise he’d probably be at the top of the list!
Scott Hawker
There’s no doubting the talent of Scott. His second placing in the 2015 TNF100 in a cracking time against a stacked field solidified what we already knew. He’s not afraid of racing hard and always looking to test himself against the best and on the toughest courses. Placing 1st at the Ultra Easy, 3rd at the Hillary Trail, 4th at Laverado in 2015 and 7th in 2014 as well as a whole swag of other race results makes him a consistent performer both domestically and on the international scene.
- Blake Hose
The young gun of the ultra world in ANZ, Blake is as talented as they come. But despite his youth he’s got a racing head and training discipline beyond his years. Behind a casual and approachable facade lies a fiercely competitive and driven young lad that likes to race hard. The top of his performances was a sensational 3rd place in a stacked field in the 2015 edition of Transvulcania. This was a breakthrough that followed an incredible sub 4-hour run to decimate the field at the 2015 Buffalo Stampede. Other highlights include 6th at the World Skyrunning Championships in 2014, back-to-back victories at the GOW100 and 2nd in a fast time in Bogong to Hotham.