I’VE    GOT A LITTLE    LIST    by Malcolm Campbell
Reprinted from IAU Newsletter, Winter Edition, 1991

It wasn’t easy this year.There were so many great competitions and achievements that evaluating them raises obvious problems. Ultradistance has by common usage come to mean longer than the standard marathon distance.We now have, in the 100km, a standard ultradistance race but beyond the 100km are events of crucifying lengths and those succeeding in them are no lesser athletes than the 100km runners. Many would say that the multi day runners are advanced ultradistance runners. For these reasons I always state that this list is my own personal choice containing all my own prejudices and opinions. Runners only have one place on the list although they have probably obtained a number of world best performances during the year so there is an added problem of deciding which is their personal best performance of the year. Here then is my list of the top ten performances of 1991

1. Valmir Nunes    BRA    Winner IAU World Cup 100 kms
2. Konstantin Santalov    USSR    World Best Amiens    100 kms
. Sandy Barwick    NZ    World Best N.York    1000 mis
4. Al Howie    GBR    World Best N.York    1300 mis
5. Ann Trason    USA    World Best Houston    50 mis
6. Eleanor Adams Robinson GBR    Winner IAU World Cup 100 kms
7. Bryan Smith    AUS    Winner Westfields    645 mis
8. Don Ritchie    GBR    Winner London    24 hrs
9. Jean Paul Praet    BEL    Winner Torhout    100 kms
10. Valerie Goubar    USSR    Winner Surgeres    48 hrs

1. Valmir Nunes.    BRAZIL
He had arrived at Faenze exhausted and with eyes swollen from lack of sleep. I had telephoned Brazil and asked his neighbour to inform him to go to the Hotel Vittoria in Faenze. He had arrived at the Hotel Vittoria in good time- unfortunately it was the wrong one. Stranded outside the Hotel Vittoria in Firenze about lOOkms away with no grasp of the Italian language the ensueing complications are best imagined than explained. They involve a visit to a hospital, discussions with the police and a night without sleep. When he finally arrived at Faenze we thought he would be lucky to make it to the starting line. The report of the race was in the last Newsletter. Earlier in the year he had won in the Madrid 100 km. In October he would win the Santander 100 km. Unbeaten this year and with three great performances to his credit including the major 100km Championship his course record of 6.35.36 in the 100km del Passatore running against most of the best athletes in the world was the greatest performance of the year.

2. Konstantin Santalov    USSR

There has never been a time when the sport has been so rich in outstanding talent. The great competitions established around the world have allowed these talents to emerge. Sanatalov is a 2.14 marathon runner with a devasting burst of speed at the end of a 100km race. He is also a runner that seems to thrive on competition. He is , with a few results to come in, almost certainly the winner of the IAU 100km Inter-Continental Cup Competition with wins at Rodenbach (6.35.49) and Winschoten with a World Best Time of 6.26.20. His great performance to finish less than a minute behind Valmir Nunes with 6.37.20 a few weeks later at Santander was a performance that marked him as someone quite special. It had been a great year for this very popular Russian athlete. It wasn’t over. Two weeks later at Amiens he reduced the 100km record even further by winning with 6.24.24. There is nothing else to say.

3. Sandy Barwick    NZ
There have been instances, especially in recent times, when I have been accused of an overuse of hyperbolic expressions. If anything I was understating matters when I wrote at the end of 1988 that Sandy Barwick is likely to produce a number of outstanding performances in the future. Last year she headed this list with her World Best Performance for 6 Days. This year she has produced a run of such an incredible high standard that the shock waves have been felt around the world. The impact on the conception of what is possible will oblige many theorists to stand patiently waiting for the men with white coats to arrive.

The Sri Chinmoy 1991 Ultimate Ultra. When this annual trio of events was first introduced into New York the longest of them-the 1300 miler-was described by many as the Impossibility Race and for a number of years no one was able to complete the distance within the imposed time limits.The first athlete to do so was Al Howie in 1989 and the first lady to do so was Sandy Barwick in October this year. The times for this are given elsewhere. On route to the 1300 miles she passed the 1000 mile marker in 12 days 14 hours 18 minutes 14 secs. Only four men have ever run this distance faster and they are: Yiannis Kouros, Stu Mittleman,Al Howie and Siegfried Bauer. Barwick’s time is only 2 hours 2 minutes and 2 secs slower than Bauer’s time which was for many years the World Best Time for the distance.
It doesn’t seem too long ago that we were told by the various medical experts that marathons were too strenuous for ladies. These same experts are now telling us of the problems of overuse in running. My suggestion is that if they were so incredibly wrong then are they not just as wrong now. Sandy Barwick in her running says they are and we should be grateful for races like the Sri Chinmoy Events that provide a platform where her voice will be heard.

4. Al Howie    GBR

One basic rule I have for this list is that solo runs are not included. In September of this year Al Howie completed his trans Canada run covering the 7295.5 kms in 72 days 10 hours 23 minutes. His average daily distance was a little over 100 kms. There is no doubt; no possibility of error and no “faint aroma of performing seals” about the recording of this run. I only mention this fact because a number of solo runs are undocumented and therefore open to question. Having said that it was not a competitive run in the general term. In other terms he was competing against himself, the legend of Terry Fox and the knowledge of his own frailty. The run worried me because it wasn’t by the terms I had set eligible for this list and at the same time it was probably the best ultradistance performance ever produced. When I learned that he was to run in the Sri Chinmoy 1991 Ultimate Ultra just two weeks later I relaxed. I knew with some certainty that he would produce a real high quality performance.It wasn’t just the strength he had acquired during his epic journey. It was something else. Something deep inside that almost defies description. After the first trans America Run in 1928 a number of the 55 finishers were reported as feeling sad and dejected that the run was over. Harry Berry in his excellent book of the race quotes one of the contestants “Wildfire” Thompson-”I believe in tapering off. When you’ve been through torture like this, it’s dangerous to stop agony all at once. When the misery’s gone , you feel kind of lonesome and lost. A lot of the boys are feeling terrible and don’t know what’s the matter with them. The thing they are suffering from is lack of pain”. I can understand these sentiments and felt strangely similar after my race across America. Shortly afterwards I was to run better than I had ever done before. And so it was with Al Howie.He moved up to third on the all time ranking list for 1000 miles with a World Masters Record of 12 days 1 hour 42 minutes and 52 seconds.Then he carried on and completed the ” Impossibility Race” setting a World Best Mark of 16 days 19 hours 31 minutes and 47 seconds.
5. Ann Trason    USA
“There ain’t a going to be no apple-core” wrote Mark Twain and for most of this year Ann Trason seemed to be expressing these sentiments to all of the female athletes hoping for records. She started early. By February she had beaten the 50 Mile Ladies Best performance for the second time in 1991. On route to the last 50 mile, record she also set a new 40 mile record.In May she was overall winner of the Sri Chinmoy 100 Mile Road Race in New York with a’World Best Time of 13 hours 47 minutes and 41 seconds. She set a new Ladies Course Record for the Western States 100 miler in June and a Ladies World best Track Performance. for 12 hours in August.A whole clutch of course records will have fallen to her this year and at the time of writing this she is probably still running. When the running stops and she reflects on this most amazing year of successful achievements it would be interesting to know which of them she considers the best. The one I think is the best is the 50 Mile Ladies Best performance at Houston, Texas when she achieved 5 hours 40 minutes 18 seconds.
6. Eleanor Adams Robinson.    GBR
When I wrote some time ago that Eleanor’s need to win had passed far beyond the obsessional stage it was meant as a compliment.This need is one of the factors seperating great champions from great runners. She had won the 100km World Cup in Duluth (USA) in 1990 finishing about ten minutes ahead of Ann Trason and this year as defending Champion at Faenze (Italy) she was faced with strong competition from Birgit Lennartz of Germany (top of the 100km ranking list), Marta Vass of Hungary (course record holder) and Nadeznda Gumerova of the Soviet Union ( winner of the Goodwill Games Marathon in 1986). In winning the IAU 100km World Cup for the second year she set a new Ladies Course Record for the 100km del Passatore of 7.52.15 . In the context of a Championship event times to some extent are not important. The dominant factor is competition and Eleanor Adams Robinson has confirmed, if any confirmation was needed, that she is one of the world’s greatest competitors.

7. Bryan Smith    AUS
The Westfield Run takes place over a 645 mile route between Sydney and Melbourne and is described by the organisers as “The Greatest Race in the World”. Any superlatives used are not out of place for this event which offers so much in terms of rewards to the competitors, publicity for the sponsors and interest to the public.
This year in addition to the first prize of A$30,000 for the fastest time there was an additional A$30,000 for the winner of the handicap event. The handicap race was aimed at reducing the margins beteen the first finisher and the following runners.It was a sensible decision as these margins could be quite enormous in an event of such protracted length and the media requirements were an important part of the race presentation.
The inexperienced athletes would start without a handicap and then others would follow at four hourly intervals with the best runners starting after 24 hours. Bryan Smith was one of the best runners. Imagine the problems faced in winning the handicap race. After 24 hours even a novice runner could have established a lead of 100 miles. The smart move has to be to run at even pace to a strict schedule and hope the inexperienced runners falter but to some extent this leaves the initiative in the hands of others. It’s not possible to ignore the difference of the handicap and the race must have been a great test of Smith’s ability to pace himself correctly. In any event he seems to have judged things perfectly and his final time for the 645 miles of 6 days 12 hours and 50 minutes earns him a place on his list and, incidently, A$60,000.
8.    Don Ritchie    GBR
On the way home from Santander after his great run in the 100km race Ritchie remarked that he intended taking part in the 24 Track Race at Copthall Stadium, London three weeks later. The race which started on October 26th was the National 24 hour Championships and many thought that on a good day with no injury problems Ritchie was the one most likely to beat the existing record held by Kouros. He did not do so but he did win the race with 268kms 251 mtrs and on route to this magnificent distance-the highest recorded this year in a 24 Hour Race- he set new World Track Age Best Records for 100 miles and 200 kms. It is impossible to predict the distances he may achieve in the future he is a man that defies predictions. Uncompromising. Competitive. Satisfied only with full committment to the race.He will run for ever.There is only one Don Ritchie.
9.    Jean Paul Praet    BELGIUM
Jean Paul Praet produced three very outstanding runs in 1991 and in all of them he was closely concerned with the leading honours. At Amiens and Winschoten he was beaten into second place by Konstantin Santalov who was obliged to set World Best Performances in both races to settle matters. After both of these races Santalov credited his records to the determined opposition provided by Praet. In these competitions the two athletes share a mutual respect for each others ability and sportsmanship and their clashes next year will be something to look forward to. Santalov came off worst at Torhout where Praet won a perfectly judged race against some extremely strong competition. He won with a time of 6.33.51 and at the time of writing he is the second fastest man of the year after Santalov.

10.    Valerie Goubar    USSR
Some very strong competitors assembled at Surgeres (France) for the International 48 Hour Track Race starting on May 7th. We had to leave for meetings in Holland shortly after the start but before leaving we spoke with Goubar with the aid of his interpretor and he indicated that he expected a good result. He holds the National 24 Hours record with 262 kms and was obviously a strong contender. Shortly after the start we left for Holland but a telephone call the next day established that Goubar had achieved 248 kms after 24 hours. It was obvious something special was taking place and his final winning total of 427 kms 562 mtrs places him second on the all time ranking list behind Kouros. On the evidence of this performance he has the ability to move one step higher up this particular ranking list.

Tags: Ultra history, Ultrarunning

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• August 30, 2009 -- International Ultra Summary – 1992
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• July 28, 2009 -- World Age Track Bests – As of 1992
• July 8, 2009 -- Arthur Newton – London to Brighton – 1924
• July 8, 2009 -- All time Ultra Bests – as of 1992

Tags: Ultra history, Ultrarunning