Bannockburn father-son duo Tim and Oliver Kacprzak will be taking on the Dead Cow Gully Ultra Marathon in Queensland next month, which could see them run for more than two days straight.
The backyard ultra marathon requires participants to run a 6.7km loop within 60 minutes, every hour, until there only onerunner is left. Unlike regular marathons, there is no set finish line and the clock runs continuously – even in the middleof the night.
“The beauty of that format is that you’re reaching your limit of what you can do,” Mr Kacprzak said.
At next month’s invite-only masters event in Nanango, Mr Kacprzak will compete with 69 other runners, all of whom have qualifiedwith a time of 24 loops or more.
Mr Karprzak’s personal best is 51 loops, or about 342km.
Oliver, 14, was given a wildcard entry after an impressive marathon performance in Victoria.
To keep up with his father on race day, Oliver has been running 14km a day before school.
Father and son Tim and Oliver Kacprzak are competing in the Backyard Ultra running event in Nanango, Queensland. Picture: Brad Fleet
Mr Karprzak’s personal best currently sits at 51 loops or approximately 342 km.
Mr Kacprzak says he hasn’t seen “any other kid with that drive”.
“I look at him and I’m in awe of what he’s doing.”
Such events are not for the faint of heart – in the deeper stages runners often battle hallucinations and sleep deprivation.
At his last marathon, Mr Kacprzak was estimated to have only slept for 13 minutes over two days by sneaking in odd naps betweenloops.
“You’re trying to pretty much steal rest wherever you can,” he said. After years running ultra marathons, Mr Kacprzak saideverything else in life was, by comparison, “so much easier”.
“If I can endure 51 hours or 350km of running, then doing a mundane task at work or doing something … (I) might not want todo, seems easy,” he said.
The Dead Cow Gully Ultra Marathon Masters will start in Nanango on June 17.
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