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Back-to-back at Anaconda Gold Coast

Guy Andrews takes out the Anaconda Adventure Race on the Gold Coast for the second straight year ... stay tuned for full report

Fittest Guy on the planet

NO, he is not Forrest Gump. But you could well argue that Guy Andrews bears a distinct similarity after the former triple Australian ironman champion succeeded in running seven marathons in seven days in six states (and one territory).

Andrews running in Tasmania. / The Daily Telegraph

Andrews, 36, finished his gruelling 298km week at The Rocks in Sydney on Wednesday after starting his final slog from Manly at midday, a run that included an ascent up Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Andrews could have be excused for thinking he was in The Amazing Race television show.

As he ran marathons on the Gold Coast (last Thursday), Alice Springs (Friday), Perth (Saturday), Adelaide (Sunday), Hobart (Monday), Melbourne (Tuesday) and Sydney (Wednesday), on most occasions he was left calling on his old finishing sprint to simply make his next flight between every leg. Andrews says he didn't have any specific reason for running what was dubbed The North Face Endurance Seven – other than wanting to be the first Australian to do so.

"I've been racing all my life," he said. "I've always wanted to be the first to do something. No one has done this, so I thought: 'why not give it a shot'."

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Guy Andrews crosses the line with a staggering 19 minute margin - despite cruising up the final beach run. Photo, Rebecca Jennings

Anaconda Adventure Race - Geographe Bay, September 24th, 2006

In stunning fashion, Guy Andrews trounced a stacked field yesterday at the Anaconda Adventure Race at Geographe Bay in the beautiful South-West of WA. Faced with calm cool conditions and a tough technical course, Guy swam to the front to start the 2XU ocean swim.

He was momentarily headed by Australian champion Jody Zerbst during the Keen coastline run and young Victorian Jarad Kohlar during the Jamis mountain bike, but in the end powered away to win by nearly 20 minutes from Jarad Kohlar (2nd) and kiwi champion Gordon Walker (3rd).

Interview with Guy:

“Coming into this race I was a little worried about whether I may have been a bit over-done, having raced at Hamilton Island the previous weekend and having put in a few long runs in preparation for my 7 marathons in 7 States challenge that starts on Wednesday” said Guy.

“I also did a solid run over the course on Thursday and hammered over the bike course on Friday, so on race morning I was feeling distinctly flat.”

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Guy Andrews means business - extending his lead on the way to the fastest individual split on the 17km Jamis MTB leg. Photo, Jon Barter

Anaconda Adventure Race - Gold Coast, August 26, 2006

Interview with the Ginger Ninjas

In the men’s race, it looked to be a 3-horse race between Jody Zerbst (winner of Anaconda Lorne last December), Guy Andrews and Gordon Walker (NZ’s top ranked athlete). We spoke to Guy to get the lowdown on his race.

“Early in July I got a big wake up call when Jody was smashing me in training, it was clear that he was an exceptional athlete at EVERY leg and that if I wanted to beat him, I had to do something drastic. I worked on my speed and anaerobic conditioning (speed endurance) a lot. I also had to tackle my biggest weakness, the run leg. Due to my body shape {Editor’s note – Guy has tree-trunk thighs that are not exactly runners legs!}, it was a real challenge to be able to improve my run speed but also not compromise my speed in the other legs {Editor’s note – those same tree-trunk thighs come in very handy during the MTB leg!}

“Coming into the race, Jody was always going to be the main threat, but I also knew I’d have to keep an eye out for Jarad Kohlar who is capable of anything but just hasn’t put it together yet. I had heard that Gordon couldn’t swim which was a relief because he has beaten me at Coast to Coast in NZ and is all class. The dark horse I knew would be Wes Berg, a brilliant swimmer, strong paddler and strong runner, the only question was whether he could ride a bike.

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