2006 Tamborine Trek - 62 km

The 13th running of the Tamborine Trek took place on 27 May 2006. The conditions were near perfect with some cloud cover until late morning. Kelvin Marshall contested the event for the 11th time and was attempting to extend his wins from 7 to 8.

He was not to know that experienced adventure racer Michael Page was in the field as was the existing record holder Darren Skillicorn and an in-form Dominic Brown. Martin Schot, joint winner of the Glasshouse 50 km two weeks ago had entered but was forced to withdraw prior to race start when he broke some ribs in an accident.

The event starts at the Girl Guides Hall in Ferry Street, Nerang, winds through the Nerang State Forest on rough gravel 4WD tracks for 20 kms, then along bitumen roads to the top of Mt. Tamborine and back, for a total distance of 62 kms. The terrain through the forest was much rougher than normal with some sections being heavily eroded and much in need of repair. The course is undulating to hilly through the forest and Mystery Road, the road to the top of Tamborine mountain, is quite steep. In fact, there are many locals who will not drive their cars up that route, preferring to use the infamous Henri Roberts Drive.

The race started at first light at 6:04 am. The first runner to emerge from the Forest was Adrian Pearce who was in a relay team this year, saving himself for the Gold Coast 100 in two weeks' time. He was followed some eight minutes later by a group consisting of Kelvin Marshall, Michael Page, Darren Skillicorn, Daniel Hooley and John Nutall from Townsville. John had taken a fall in the forest and had blood streaming from cuts to his chin, knees and arms, contrasting with his blonde curly locks. The solos were setting a good pace as the second placed relay runner for this first stage was Ritchie Flesser, some two minutes adrift of the leading solo runners.

Adrian was in fine form, breaking Peter O'Sullivan's record for the forest leg (start to the tennis courts changeover) with 1:30:22. To better 4:30 mins/km on this terrain is quite remarkable. Adrian handed over to Mark Sparshott who had a great second stage with 1:39:04, which was to earn him King of the Mountain for 2006.

Back to the solos, Michael Page stamped his authority on the race with a sizzling second leg of 1:46:29, with Kelvin next best with 1:57:29. In the run home, Michael made it in 1:55:45, with Dominic Brown next best with 2:01:41 and Kelvin with 2:03:21. Michael won the race in a new race record time of 5:21:14 bettering Darren Skillicorn's 2003 record of 5:42:21 by some 21 minutes. Kelvin hung on for second with 5:39:34, also breaking the old race record and Dominic stormed home to finish third with 6:00:58. Darren is preparing for the Australian Ironman and was using the event as a training run, retiring at the end of stage 2. He was also in a relay team, running the second leg and did not start leg two until his teammate for the first leg arrived.

In the female section, Siri Terjesen who is more experienced with flat road running rather than off-road running, won with 7:18:02, easily eclipsing the old record of 8:05:00. Karen Neale from New Zealand was second with 8:02:29, also breaking the old record.

Rachel Stewart, running the mountain leg for the team of Ritchie Flesser and Rod Brown, smashed the old record of 2:27:00 with a fine 1:58:24.

Mini Kokoda (approx 27 km)

The inaugural Mini Kokoda section of approx 27km was introduced this year, primarily as a training exercise for teams intending to contest the Kokoda Challenge on 15-16 July. There were 25 teams of 3 and 4 and a sprinkling of solos and twosomes for 111 starters altogether.

Times for teams were recorded as the the time of the last team member to finish. The first 4 person team (provisionally) was Timbuktoo (comprising Michele Rosengren, Terri Nash, Marion McMahon from Brisbane and Megan Randell from Toowoomba) in 4:50:04.

Australian 100 km runner Rob Ware and his training partner Greg Waite, using it as a training run, blitzed the 27km course in 2:42:20.

Full results are shown here. It is intended that this event be held again next year, but please recheck nearer the date for minor changes.

Unlike last year, there were almost no problems with runners becoming lost in the forest. Special thanks to Robyn Cox, Alan Cossey, Scott Stevens, Bill Turkington, Paul Chamberlain and various members of the Gold Coast Runners Club who assisted on the day.

Ian Cornelius

Race Organiser

For more information tel 5537 8872 or 0408 527 391