He’s turned 40 and there’s no slowing him down.
Brendan Davies was named the Australian Male Ultra Runner of the Year for 2016 by the Australian Ultra Runners Association (AURA) on February 2. This follows the same award in January from the influential ultrarunning website Ultra168.
This is the first time the Woodford runner has claimed both awards in the same year. He previously won the AURA award in 2012 and 2015, and the Ultra168 award in 2013 and 2016.
He was surprised to receive both awards, but said it was “nice recognition, especially since I turned 40”.
“Personally, it's a good feeling of course, as any accolade is. It's satisfying but what is most pleasing is how my running career and achievements such as these instigate others to become involved in the sport, to better themselves through it and in turn give others the same inspiration too.”
The award from the governing body from ultra runners was given to Davies for his “world class” run at the 2016 World 100km Championships in Spain, in a time of 6:44:20 and 10th place, as well as other notable performances.
And Ultra168 acknowledged Davies’ super fast finish at the Comrades Marathon in South Africa in May – considered the most competitive ultra marathon event in the world.
He placed 19th, finishing the gruelling 89km course in 5 hours 53 seconds, ranking him the second fastest Australian of all time, behind Don Wallace’s 5:43 time in the year 2000.
“But the thing with Brendan is his versatility. He backs performances up time and time again,” reads the citation on Ultra168.
Davies said his goal was to finish in the top 10 at Comrades this year, and he’d been running 170 kilometres a week in preparation, building strength through plenty of elevation.
“I’m running lots of hills, building aerobic endurance early and I’ll add speed later,” he said.
