Tim Sloan targets Gold Coast 100km

MEDIA RELEASE
Tim Sloan targets Gold Coast 100
15 May 2006
THE 2006 Gold Coast 100, incorporating the Australian 100 km Championships, received a major boost today with the announcement that Australian record holder Tim Sloan will return to top-level competition at theSunday 11 June event, to be conducted at the Gold Coast Sports Super Centre.

One of Australia’s strongest ultra distance runners, Sloan has been away from top level competition for the last three years because of business and family commitments. He established the Australian record of 6:29 in 1995 and represented Australia at the World Championships in 1994, 95, 97, 98, 99, 2001 and 2002. Still at his prime at 38 years of age, Sloan won the Hobart marathon last January, which he contested as part of his preparation for his more favored event.

World class Sloan, who resides in Hobart has won several Australian 100 km championships and has the
distinction of having run the event in a sub 7:30 time on no fewer than seven occasions.
The Gold Coast 100 is the qualifying event for selection of the team to represent Australia at the forthcoming World championships to be held in Korea on 8 October 2006.

Also vying for selection will be Jonathan Blake from Sydney, Mark Hutchinson from Qld, Michael Wheatley and Magnus Michellson from Melbourne and Darren Benson from Sydney. Blake, Wheatley and Benson have recent performances of 7:08, 7:36 and 7:47 respectively. Blake was the best performed Australian in the 2005 world championships held last June at Lake Saroma Japan, where he finished in 8th position. Hutchinson narrowly won the Australian 50 km Championship in Canberra in March from Blake in second place.

The Gold Coast 100 will also see some up and coming 100 km runners in action including Robert Ware from Brisbane, Chris Hills from Launceston and Mal Grimmett & Tim Cochrane, both from Melbourne. Cochrane finished third in the recent Australian 50 km championships.

Athletics Australia CEO Danny Corcoran said the Australian 100 km Championships continue to grow in stature and welcomed Sloan’s commitment to the event. "Tim is one of Australia’s great ultra marathoners and his decision to make his comeback on the Gold Coast as part of the Gold Coast 100 Championships shows the esteem in which the event is held”.

It has also been revealed by the event organizer, Ian Cornelius of Gold Coast Ultras, that Don Wallace of
Brisbane and Sani Badic of Melbourne will be present for a special function during the Gold Coast 100. Wallace has the distinction of running four sub 7 hour 100 km races in the mid to late ‘90’s, while Badic is the second fastest Australian over the distance having run 6:37 in 1995. Wallace, Sloan and Badic are considered to be Australia’s foremost 100 km runners.

Gold Cost Ultras Managing Director Ian Cornelius, who is also President of Australian Ultra Runners, said Sloan’s commitment to the event and the attendance of Wallace and Badic augurs well for another exciting Gold Coast 100. “Having Tim Sloan and the other topline runners contest the event will place Australia in great stead for a podium finish in the team’s section at the forthcoming World Championships”, he said.

The Gold Coast 100 is becoming better known and is now starting to attract attention from other nations, with starters expected from at least four other countries. In due course the race will be seen as a means of combining a major athletic challenge with a vacation in one of the most attractive tourist destinations in the world. Events of 100km are quite popular throughout the world with four races in Japan alone each attracting more than 1,000 competitors annually.

Gold Coast City Mayor, distance running legend Ron Clarke, said the city was once again supportive of the Gold Coast 100 super marathon. "It's a spectacular event, not just for the Gold Coast, but for the whole of Australia.

"The event can only get larger and it has the full support of the Gold Coast City Council," he said.
Online entries and entry forms for the 2006 event are now available.
For more information call Gold Coast Ultras on 0408 527 391 or visit www.goldcoastmarathon.com
For further information contact Ian Cornelius 0408 527 391