Media fact Sheet - Australian 6-day race

20th Cliff Young Australian 6-day Race

20-26th Nov 05 , Memorial Square, Colac


Media Fact Sheet

· The 20th Cliff Young Australian 6-Day race is being held at the Memorial Square, Colac from the 20th to the 26th November, 2005.

· There are thirty seven entrants entered for the race. There are thirteen from Victoria, two from NSW, two from Tasmania, one from Queensland, one from the ACT and one from Western Australia. The countries represented are, France, Japan, Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, India, Sweden, USA, New Zealand and Brazil.

· Over the years the competitors have completed over 189,563kms around the Memorial Square. One of the runners, Peter Gray from Geelong has completed 9,837kms by himself around the Square.

· The favourite for this year’s race is Yiannis Kouros from Greece. He holds the World Record for the 6-day track at 1023km, World record for the 24hr event at 303km and was a multi-winner of the Sydney to Melbourne Westfield Run.The second favourite for the race will be Claude Hardel from France. Earlier this year, he ran 923km in a 6-day race in Germany and has also won a 303km Desert Race in the Sahara.

· There are three Japanese runners in this year’s race. Aki Inoue who is a former winner of the race and Asian 6-day record holder, has promoted the race back in his Home Country since and has brought them to the race. All three runners have very good ultra results on the board. One of the runners is Kenji Okiyama who earlier this year ran 407km in a 48hr race.

· There are five female runners in the race this year. The favourites would be Dawn Parris from Victoria and Elvira Janosi from Hungary. They have run in fifteen Colac 6-day races between them. Deb DeWilliams from Victoria is back for he second attempt at the race. Deb became the first women to walk around Australia last year and is entering the race this year as a runner.

· The race will see the first indigenous Australian to compete in a 6-day race in Australia. Seventy year old, Alby Clarke from Warrnambool will be entering. Alby is an accomplished bike rider and will be using this event as a warm-up for a bike ride from Adelaide to Darwin.

· There are six runners in the race that are over seventy years old. They are Ken Matchett (83), Stan Miskin (80), Andy Lovy(70), Don McKechnie(72), George Audley(70) and Alby Clarke(70)

· The AURA Australian 6-Day Championship will also be held during the race which is expected to be a very close tussle in the male and female divisions.

· Vlastilav Skvaril from Tasmania will be back for his second start at the race. Skvaril will be raising money and awareness for the Make A Wish Foundation during the event.

· The race can be followed at http://www.sixdayrace.org.au. For further information, please contact, Phil Essam on 0407830263 or email on pessam@bigpond.net.au



2005 RUNNERS.

Race Number Runner Age Origin
11 Claude HARDEL 46 France
12 Kenji OKIYAMA 40 Japan
13 Muneharu KURODA 56 Japan
14 Katsuhiro TANAKA 34 Japan
15 Vlastik SKVARIL 66 Tas
17 Peter HOSKINSON 42 Tas
18 Jaroslav KOCOUREK 56 Czech Republic
19 Eric WRIGHT 50 RSA
21 Dawn PARRIS 52 Vic
22 Vlastimil DVORACEK 46 Czech Republic
23 George AUDLEY 70 W A
24 Yiannis KOUROS GREECE
25 David BILLETT 35 S A
26 Elvira JANOSI 50 Hungary
27 Kjell-Ove SKOGLUND 63 Sweden
28 David JONES 64 Vic
29 Peter GRAY 41 Vic
31 Brock McKINLAY 39 A C T
32 Arun BHARDWAIJ 36 India
33 Shaun SCANLON 61 N S W
34 Lindsay PHILLIPS 40 Qld
35 Heather KICK 28 U S A
36 Deborah DeWILLIAMS 35 Altona, Vic
37 Sarah BARNETT 29 Richmond, Vic
38 John REIDY 38 N S W
39 Graeme BEST 53 N Z
41 Stan MISKIN 80 Vic
42 Andy LOVY 70 U S A
43 Jevvan McPHEE 39 Vic
44 Robyn DAVIS 60 N S W
45 Garry WISE 59 Vic
46 Ron McGREGOR 63 Vic
47 Don MACKECHNIE 72 Vic
48 Carlos Alberto MACHADO 36 Brazil
49 Albert CLARKE 70 Vic
51 Brian BLOOMER 64 Vic
52 Ken MATCHETT 83 Vic