The Leonora Golden Gift kicked off on Thursday in spectacular fashion. Under the guidance of professional running coach Raf Baugh, a record number of local school kids – aged five to eighteen – took part in an athletics clinic preparing them for the weekend’s races. The day proved to...
James Hansen, the sixty-ninth Australian to run a mile in under four-minutes, waited in the wings. He covered every move, stalking the leaders with flawless precision. It is easy to spot him amidst the fray, built for the brawl, his arms swinging like a barrage of punches. Hansen, now aged twenty-five, has run in six Australian 1500m finals, never medalling. This race, the 2018 Commonwealth Games trials, would be the most agonising. For a fleeting moment, with only fifty metres left to run, he hit the front. Besieged by the nation’s best milers, he dared to dream of winning. It was not to be. In the final strides, it all unravelled, swamped on the line in an unforgivable falter. For the second time in his career, he would finish fourth, only five one-hundredths-of-a-second shy of the medal he so desperately wanted to win.
Written by Jaryd Clifford - Runner's Tribe
Six seconds in the marathon is nothing, but for Liam Adams, it was everything. For a fleeting moment after crossing the finish line of the Gold Coast Marathon, frustration erupted. “Fuck. That was weak as piss. You stuffed that up,” he yelled. Stumbling...
In 1998, a young runner from New South Wales lay shattered on the Olympic Park track in Melbourne. His name was Martin Dent, and moments earlier he had come to a grinding halt, his panic-stricken face awash with realisation. It was the Australian junior steeplechase final, and while leading the race, he had forgotten to hurdle the all-important water jump. His race was over, and there was nothing he could do. It was his fault, and he knew it. Rising slightly from the track, he began to pummel his fist into the ground, his frustration released in a brief, yet unforgettable tirade. It was this fierce passion that would one day take him to the Olympic Games, and make him one of the toughest runners in Australian history.
Written by Jaryd Clifford
Located off the beaten track in outback Western Australia, over 800km north-east of Perth, the town of Leonora exists in relative isolation. Most Australian’s will never set foot there, and many may go their entire life without ever hearing its name.
Even Australia’s most accomplished marathon...
A column by Jaryd Clifford – Runner’s Tribe
Standing on the submerged start line in the middle of Oakbank Racecourse, shivering and shin deep in mud, I was utterly bewildered at my predicament. I was thirteen, a diminutive figure preparing to run in the National Cross Country. It was something I...
A column by Jaryd Clifford – Runner’s Tribe
Under the bright lights of the Stade de France, Genevieve Lacaze’s feet are dancing the final crescendo of an epic story. She is smiling. Her body is in a world of hurt, yet she smiles – she is invincible. With each step, she...
Written by Jaryd Clifford - Runner's Tribe
A grimace flickered across his face. Hopping from one foot to the other, his restlessness foreshadowed the chaotic frenzy that would soon ensue. Clad in Nike’s famous green speckled racing kit, the willowy figure of Stewart McSweyn stood poised on the precipice of...
A column by Jaryd Clifford – Runner’s Tribe
The moments preceding dawn are laden with mystery. There is a glowing darkness during this time, a sense that even the shadows seem friendlier. An atmospheric calm sweeps the land with the tiniest breath of wind. The world is at its most peaceful....
ALTITUDE | A column by Jaryd Clifford – Runner’s Tribe
“It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.”
Sir Edmund Hillary
In the mountains, even the strongest stumble. Every step is gruelling, every breath a battle. It is an environment that demands courage. It is a place where only the toughest survive. It...
