By RUSSELL BENNETT
BEC McSweeny must be crazy. She’s only just finished what would have been, for most people, the body and spirit-breaking 100-kilometre Tan Ultra Marathon and she’s already thinking about how to conquer Mt Kilimanjaro.
But Bec isn’t “most people”. The Pakenham Voyage Fitness personal trainer admits to feeling lost when she’s not training for an ultimate goal.
The ultra-marathon on 11 August was the culmination of seemingly endless weeks of back-breaking hard work that gave a whole new meaning to the term ‘gut running’.
Pakenham supermum Anita Hynes, who Bec trained in her first steps into the world of bodybuilding earlier this year, was trackside for the run – which started at 7am and was scheduled to finish at 7pm.
Technically, Bec didn’t make the 12-hour cut off – finishing in 12 hours and 13 minutes – but her whole 40-strong support crew was astonished at her effort.
While many of Bec’s supporters stayed for the whole journey, some understandably left and returned throughout the day. A constant changing of faces kept Bec’s mental stimulation up – important in a staggering 26 laps of the iconic Tan running track.
“Some family members turned up and lifted her spirits, just when she was beginning to struggle,” Anita recalled, with the pair already back furiously working out at Voyage.
“You could tell by the look on her face that something had changed at that moment – that she’d just have to keep going and couldn’t let them down.”
Mission accomplished. Bec somehow managed to push through 50 kilometres before the fatigue started to kick in.
And just to prove that the gods have no sense of the big occasion, a blister burst on Bec’s little toe with just four laps of the event remaining – leaving her with an agonising stretch to the finish line.
“I think I actually heard it pop,” Anita said.
By her own admission, Bec could hardly walk – let alone run – but she stopped to tape up the blister before picking the pace back up again.
“The blister hurt mentally, as well as physically,” she said.
Bec had to keep up her training regimen for the race – Powerade, banana and honey sandwiches, and power-gel. With all that sugar, she just felt sick.
She described the experience as “a learning one for everyone”.
“Just like the competition Anita took part in – you look back and just say to yourself: ‘Next time I’ll do this’.”
But Bec doubts there will be a next time, adding “I’ll probably just stick to marathons now”.
“Deep down I knew I was going to finish, but s**t that blister hurt!”
Anita said Bec’s never-say-die attitude was typical of her personality.
“She set that goal and she was really determined. I knew she would have been disappointed in herself had she not finished her goal,” she said.
Anita knows it first-hand – running the closing 20 kilometres alongside her great mate. She’s also preparing herself for the Kilimanjaro mission the year after next.
Bec ran the ultra-marathon for charity – aiming to raise $2000 through ‘Everyday Hero’ for the Epilepsy Foundation. She ended up raising $3199 … but only started organising the charity side of things eight weeks out from the event.
She was spurred on for the event by support from her trainer Scott Little, friends, family and support crew – especially Rachel Anderson, Sheree Smith, and of course Anita.
