Rising Mt Barker runner Joel Gray conquers Run Bibbulmun Track Stage Race, Victoria Cole wins women’s division

Mt Barker ultra athlete Joel Gray added yet another piece of silverware to his growing cabinet after conquering all at the 2024 Run Bibbulmun Track Stage Race at the weekend. Two hundred ultra runners from around Australia and as far as America took part in the three-day stage race starting in the Valley of the Giants near Walpole on Friday before traversing 108km of the Great Southern’s toughest terrain and coastline until the finish line at McLean Park in Denmark. Gray took out the long course title, crossing the line after a gruelling 9hr. 11min. 38.60sec. while Victoria Cole was the quickest woman reaching the line in a rapid 10:34:45.34 — the second quickest time overall. Luke Gordon (12:02:20.31) and Samuel Burke (11:10:38.93) rounded out the podium in the men’s long course division while Sarah Paduano (12:02:20.31) and Natasha Pertwee (12:31:05.48) finished second and third in the women’s long course disciplines respectively. Gray said he took great pride in winning the ultra race on his home soil as he gears up for a big summer of ultra races. “It was a really good run. I was pretty happy with how I did run it,” he said. “I was talking with my coach and we said I’ll most likely be the one out front, and have that little bit of extra pressure on myself because it was a home race but I’m pretty happy with how I ran it. “I have run many parts of that multiple times, so I mean, I knew what I was looking at. “There was a bit of pride on the line and it makes you feel good being out the front in the home race.” The reigning Elleker marathon winner said he was driven to succeed by his new sponsor and was gearing up for bigger races in the near future. “I tried to stay at the front as much as I could trying to get myself out there a bit more,” Gray said. “I just had partnered up with Tarkine as a sponsor on board so it was my first race with them so I was trying to do well. “There’s another five or six races that I’ve already signed up for and most of them are trail. “The biggest one that I probably got would be the Transcend Ultra 65km in late August and that attracts a lot of overeast runners. “There’s a few quick guys coming down to that and I have to try and mix myself with them and beat the best.” Lachie McDougall (05:44:24.67) won the men’s short course category ahead of Ryan Meldrum (06:22:39.23) and Shannon Dixon (06:25:53.27). Christie Lori (06:03:23.93) won the female short course race with Rebecca Doedens (07:12:53.13) and Penny Fegan (07:14:51.90) rounding out the top three.