Just 14 hours, 4 minutes, 30 seconds. That’s the time it took Brendan Davies to run 100 miles (161km) through the Sonoran Desert in Arizona.
The Woodford runner was third in the Javelina Jundred won by Pat Reagan of the US in 13:01:14 on October 28, Davies setting a new Australian 100 mile trail record in the process.
Stopping for just 20 minutes in total, plus a five-minute detour off course, Davies said it was challenging running in temperatures in the high 30s, against acclimatised US runners.
To keep cool he wore a legionnaire cap on top of a cooling scarf.
“The scarf when wet, creates a fridge-like affect on your head, face and neck,” the 40-year-old said.
“I dipped both in iced water at aid stations throughout the whole day, and the water then dripped onto my torso. I then repeated the process over and over again. Drinking icy cold drinks was another strategy I employed too.”
He expended about 15,000 calories and instead of his usual race diet of complex carbohydrates, he mostly consumed energy gels and energy drinks, and downed about 2L of Coke in the last quarter of the race.
“The desert is pretty unforgiving, if the heat or rattlesnakes don’t get you, the cacti and prickly plants everywhere will,” he said.
Just days after flying home, Davies had laced up the runners again, to win Sunday’s 60km Carcoar Cup Ultra Marathon in 4:13:58, some 42 minutes ahead of the second placegetter James Watson.
