Athletics
By Gary Caffell
Crack Masterton endurance runner Graeme Butcher was "very satisfied" with his 73rd placing in a field of 154 while representing New Zealand in the men's event at the world 24-hour championships in the Netherlands earlier this month.
It was a gutsy effort by Butcher, who despite admitting to spending six hours of the race in a "zombie-like state" managed to cover 204.3km in testing conditions.
Butcher and support person Brenda Farley spent three days in Amsterdam to get over the effects of the long travel before moving to the race accommodation in Bergen op Zoom. Farley was kept busy as Butcher's quads had tightened up on the trip over and from being stationary in Amsterdam and it took some lengthy massage sessions to get rid of the aches and pains.
Once in Bergen op Zoom Butcher was able to get his first look at the course and do a few practice laps but he found sleep difficult, surviving on about five to six hours a night leading into the event.
The weather forecast for the championships predicted wind and rain and the rules were that runners would have access to their crew once every lap (2.3km). Each athlete had a dedicated support person who ensured they drank and ate regularly and generally keep them mobile when the going got tough.
Butcher said: "I was a bit late getting to the start so found myself right on the front row, with the French, Germans, Russians and Italians and they all let me stay there, so I had a dream start and wasn't subject to a lot of the pushing and shoving which generally occurs in the middle of the pack.
"It was cold at the start and I was already wearing a long sleeved top. I ran comfortably for the first six hours and covered 63km and had dropped down to just a singlet for a short period, but there was a cold wind blowing, so generally I had to stay well dressed.
"During the second six-hour period the event started to change. I went through the first 100km in 10h 15m but my pace was dropping. It rained during this period and more warm clothes and coats were put on.
"I also had trouble with blisters on my right foot and had to stop to get them attended to. In addition my big toe nail was starting to peel off, so that was taped back on and I was sent on my way, but only managed to cover 48km while this was happening.
"The third quarter was extremely tough, and the pace dropped right down. I'd hit the wall by this stage, it was dark and rained heavily the whole time with some hail thrown in. I had five layers of clothes on, along with tights, a woolly hat and gloves and was still freezing.
"I spent all of six hours in a zombie-like state, feeling pretty miserable and only covered a measly 34km. So far for the day I'd only done 145km, at this rate I would have been lucky to cover 180km for the event if I was able to keep going.
"Meanwhile, Brenda was doing a great job pushing me out into the rain every lap and had to be quite hard on me. Many runners took time off the track during this period, but not one of the seven Kiwis competing left the track.
"By the start of the fourth quarter, after 18 hours, the rain stopped, daylight appeared and I got a new lease of life. The prospect of only doing 180km sounded pretty disappointing so I had to get extremely tough on myself. I worked out if I could do four laps an hour I'd nearly make the 200km mark. So that became the goal.
"For six hours I concentrated on getting to the start-finish line of each lap in under 15min. I could watch my progress on the electronic scoreboard which gave individual results each lap. During each lap in this period I survived on coke, a glucose tablet and a handful of chippies. With two hours to go I'd covered 185km but my calf muscles were starting to stiffen up. A final massage with an hour and a half to go, then it was all concentration to make 200km...
"I covered 59km in the last six hours and finished with 204.3km, leaving me 73rd out of a field of 154. It was a very satisfying result given the tough conditions and mid race "blues" that I suffered.
"The New Zealand men's team came 15th out of 27 teams, and the women's team were 12th in their competition. I'm extremely grateful for all the work that Brenda did keeping me going, if she hadn't worked so hard, I wouldn't have covered 200km and I am also extremely grateful for all of the support received from Athletics and Cycling Masterton and the many members who assisted me in making this trip."