Going the distance
by Nicholas Duck
Trafalgar local and running enthusiast Jason Rantall will be pulling on the green and gold to represent Australia at this month's Backyard Ultra World Team Championships.
A keen ultra-distance runner for many years, it will be the first time the 53-year-old has raced for his country in any kind of competition.
The backyard ultra format sees a field of runners aiming to complete a 6.71km course (or 'yard' as its called) within an hour. Competitors then set out on the hour again, running as many yards as they can until one is left standing.
The world team championships will have 15 teams from more than 70 nations take off at the exact same time in their respective countries. In Australia it will be a late one at 11pm.
Every yard counts as teams work together to try and get the highest cumulative total before they get down to their final runner and their race ends.
Jason was initially the first reserve for the team with a personal best of 67 yards, but after an injury to world record holder Phil Gore, he got the call to action.
"To be part of something like this, it's so surreal. My mind still hasn't grasped it yet, it really hasn't ... somebody asked 'is it a dream come true?' It's not even that because I never even dreamt it," he said.
Jason tried a backyard ultra when his friend and current Baw Baw Shire councillor Paul Pratt insisted he join last year's Warragul-based Wild Dog Backyard Ultra event.
Initially resistant to the idea, Jason eventually agreed and quickly developed an affinity for the sport and the camaraderie around it.
"I came second and Barry Keem - who's an elite runner - said that I've got something special while we were running out there, that was the first time I'd met him. He said I could make the Australian team, I knew nothing about any Australian team. Didn't know anything about backyard ultras, I just turned up.
"There's this whole village of people supporting each other and I just went 'this is right up my alley.' It's not just the running, it's everything that went with it. I actually fell in love with it the first time I ran."
The Australian team will kick off its campaign on October 17 at Kembla Grange in New South Wales and is expected to run for at least four days, if not more.
Despite facing the challenge of stepping in for the world's top backyard ultra runner - not to mention being the team's oldest runner - Jason isn't focussing on the specifics.
"I'm not going to get lost in that, that'd be silly. I can't be Phil, it's not possible. So I'm not going to try," he said.
"I'll do what I always do. I don't go out there with any number in my head, I just go as far as I possibly can. That's it. In anything in life, we can only go far as we can and if we do our best, that's it.
"I just know I won't be disappointed no matter what because I know I'll give every bit of me. No matter what that total ends up being, I'll give every last piece of what I've got."
The Backyard Ultra World Team Championships will be livestreamed on YouTube.
