So Laz set up the Strolling
Jim, a 64km race named after
a champion walking horse. “I
wasn’t very fast,” Laz says, “and
I didn’t have outstanding
endurance, but I could take a lot
of punishment.”
For most of his working life,
Laz was an accountant, a job he
enjoyed. “I used to love being
given an insoluble problem:
you can’t igure out how to do
it, you’re frustrated and you
might walk away from it a time
or two and say, ‘I fucking give
up!’ Then you let it roll around
in your head. When you solve it,
you say, ‘Man, that was fun.’ But
no, it wasn’t! It sucked the whole
time! You kept doing it because
it needed to be done. We need
challenges to be happy. We need
things to be hard.”
BREAKING DOWN
Seven hours into the race, three
runners have dropped out. It’s
not until 11.12am on Saturday
that Gary Robbins and John Kelly
inish the irst loop. Robbins
hurries to his tent to stock up
on food. Their camps are a
study in contrasts. Robbins’
giant, space-age tent has been
dubbed the ‘Tent Mahal’. Kelly,
meanwhile, is fed and changed
at the yellow gate in full view of
everyone. A hush surrounds the
Robbins camp, whereas the Kelly
campground across the road is
full of billowing wood smoke
and chatter, as family members
gather to ofer their support.
Other runners arrive in twos
or threes. The preferred food here
is junk: chocolate doughnuts,
Nutella sandwiches, anything
TRIALS OF
ENDURANCE
1011Runners wrap their feet,
stock up on kilojoules and steal
brief moments of rest – but
little can prepare them for the
ordeal of the next loop
12 Robbins stands dazed at the
inishline
1314Almost delirious with fatigue,
Kelly lays his hands on the
yellow gate marking
the inishTHEIR EXHAUSTION HAS STARTED TO
SHOW. THEY’VE LOST THEIR APPETITES
101112