From park run to 50km

Just two years ago, Warragul’s Corey Milner was happy running between five and 10 kilometres. Now, he has crossed the finish line first in the recent Surf Coast Century’s 50km event. After finishing sixth in last years’ race, Corey left the rest of his competitors in the rear-view mirror along the Anglesea trails, finishing in a blistering time of 3:46:31, with an average pace of 4:31 per kilometre. Distance running only piqued his interest after participating in a park run in Merimbula with a friend, who mentioned that she did long distance trail runs. “I was doing 5-10km, but after that I upped to 21km races, then 36km and now to the 50km mark,” he said. Eighteen months ago, Milner made the switch to a plant-based diet, which he said has enabled him to go faster for longer during training and races. Training with local running group the Baw Baw Runners, Milner wasn’t sure how he would cope with the distance after such a long layoff from events due to COVID-19. “It was one of the first events back after COVID. I only signed up three weeks ago and during one 30km run I felt I might not be ready, but on the day, I felt good and I just pushed myself,” he said. Consistently running over 30km during lockdown, Milner continued to work towards the event and said he was driven by seeing how far he could push his body. “It’s definitely a mental game as much as physical. I’ve been in races where I’ve felt done, but I’ve found you can always push through, I guess I enjoy the pain and pushing my body as far as it can go,” he said. Alongside him at the event was Warragul’s Damien Smith who also saw success in the race, finishing second behind his training partner. Milner credited him for setting the pace in the first few kilometres, allowing him to get into the lead early. While he’s now taken out a 50km event, Milner has a new goal in mind for 2021. “I’ve just signed up to the Ultra Trail Australia 100km race in the Blue Mountains in May. It’s the biggest in Australia so I’ll be using the next few months training to compete in that,” he said. Milner also thanked his girlfriend Sally for her support before and during the race, the Baw Baw Runners training group and friends Damien and Paul Pratt (who finished 10th) who competed in the race with him.