Hughes has ‘the force’

Press, 27 April 1984, Page 28

Hughes has ‘the force’

NZPA-AAP Melbourne John Hughes will have “the force” with him when he contests tomorrow’s Westfield Melbourne-Sydney Ultramarathon — the police force. Hughes, a 51-year-old New Zealand detective, will have three fellow New Zealand police officers in his support crew for the 875kilometre race. He said the other crew member, the masseur, would be made an “honorary constable” for the duration. Hughes has run the route three times and held the record for the distance

twice. This year, he said, he will be going for the third time lucky, and the $20,000 first prize. Fourth placed in last year’s Sydney-Mel-bourne run, Hughes said this year he won’t be caught napping by Cliff Young. The 62-year-old Victorian potato farmer who won the race, took a surprise lead in the early stages by running through the night while other competitors slept. This year, Hughes said he will run more kilometres through the day so he can sleep easy at night. He is planning to pace himself at 10-11 kilometres an hour to cover about 150-

160 kilometres each day. “I won’t get ‘kamikaze’ until the fourth or fifth day, but by then I I’ve got to give it all I can,” he said. “A lot of other runners probably won’t be able to do that.” Hughes discounted many of the 30 other competitors and said he thought the race would come down to the “proven horses,” people who have run the distance before. ‘lt’s a bloody hard race, and a monotonous, shocking highway. People who have run it before will have a definite advantage over the others,” he said.