What ever you want to call it, Tail Ender or Sweeper, most people who run in ultra events never want to see you and most people don’t even know what goes on at the back end of the field. I got an opportunity to sweep the 100km event at UTA in 2021, it was an experience that changed my perspective. I got to help people achieve their wildest goals and some people I accompanied nearly the entire 43km to the end of the race that I swept for. To see what they went through and to share their experience filled my cup in many ways better than competing myself.
Roll on to a very much delayed and changed UTA 100 2022. I again got on the volunteer team to sweep the 100km event. This time it was sweeping from the 45km point to about the 78km point with friends Ash and Nikki who I managed to persuade that it is a good idea. I was determined to do a bit less this year and have time to have sleep because last year, after running for nearly 14 hours although seemed great at the time, it was a bit dangerous driving home very sleepy.
We met up with the first sweep shift trio of Peter, Jane and Greg who had swept from the start and would meet us again later, to sweep from 78km to the finish. The course was completely changed this year and so much later in the year which meant heat was a factor. They asked us if we would continue to the 85km mark at Fairmont resort which Nikki and I agreed.
It took us few km before we caught our first runner. He was struggling and was keen to pull out at the next CP. Even though he got there well within the cut off, he joined quite a bunch of bedraggled runners who were waiting for the van to collect them, their race was done. We stayed at the CP for quite some time, a combination of getting food in, waiting for the cut off and allowing the back of packers time to get ahead. We wanted a bit of a run! Finally we left and got quite a clip for 5km before we caught the last runner. Nikki and Ash stayed back and I ran up to the runner. I learned his name and how he was going. He was slow, but easily fast enough to make it to the next CP within cut off so I told him that too. He said he would rather run by himself, so I dropped back and the three of us followed about 50m behind.
We chatted away, enjoying the social catch up, just keeping our distance. Eventually we started to communicate a bit more with the runner and eventually, before we knew it, it was the four friends getting to the finish. It is this sort of relationship that you can get with other runners, we all seem to communicate better in an event with a shared goal. Shortly before the checkpoint we had to go around a big muddy puddle which had a bit of single track bypass. The runner was bit unsteady then fell off the track and down a small bank. We were patient and helped him up. We should have known that this was a sign of things to come.
We got to the Queen Victoria checkpoint and Ash had to finish there, Nikki and I carried on aiming to finish at the next CP of Fairmont Resort. By now, darkness had arrived and lights would become a critical part of our equipment. The runner took his time, he was still the last one in the field and we assisted him as best as we could. He was now our charge and although slow, we felt he was going fast enough to get under the cut offs. The next few km’s were a bit technical and we had to pick the runner up twice when he slipped over. It was in these few km’s that we found out a bit more about him. He was in his 70’s, lived in Canberra, had two artificial knees and it was his 50th wedding anniversary next week. We were determined to encourage him get to the finish, he was certainly determined too! It was in the dark that we began to assist him a bit more. His head torch was very feeble and was a hindrance because his knees made good footing critical.
There was a bit of flatter terrain then a very technical point. What would take us a few minutes, took the runner 25, then we were onto the beautiful cliff top tracks at Wentworth Falls. Nikki and I both knew what was off the side of these unfenced tracks, at least 200m shear drops! We started to get a bit more of a rhythm, Nikki and I both had high power Ayup lights and were doing our best to light the runner’s way. A bit difficult with the shadow, I would look from behind, Nikki would look behind her to light his way. We managed to make reasonable progress, but underfoot there were still some large rocks and sandstone steppers. We also had to cope with having to duck in some places where the track was cut into the cliff face.
We came to a corner where there were a few large sandstone stepping stones and the runner stumbled a bit. Nikki heard and looked behind to direct her light to help and we both watched him trip and launch headlong off the cliff, hitting rocks as he went. Nikki said something like Noooo, dooon’t! I just stared and a million things raced through my mind. I was so shocked to my core, thinking that I had just seen someone fall to his death. There was some noise of crashing and silence. We peered down there and the runner was clinging onto a small tree with his legs dangling down the steep slope. He was about 7m down, all we could see below that was a black abyss. He was moving and communicating and all I could think of was to yell to him to not let go of the tree or he would fall off the cliff.
The next 15 minutes was such a blur, I felt like I was running around in a panic, but knew that our behaviour could have a major impact on the outcome. My first impulse was to try to climb down, but the drop was nearly sheer and the vegetation broke off in my hands and I decided I would be sure to fall and then collect him on the way. We called down to the runner and tried to ascertain any injuries. He did a bit of a check on himself and as far as we could tell he had no major injuries. I got on the two way radio and called HQ and told them what had happened. I cannot recall how I described the situation, but later heard I did it calmly and precisely. We didn’t really know where we were, I told them that they needed to call emergency services. I forced myself to remain calm and succinct, but was inwardly shitting myself. We knew we had to stabilise him somehow. We dug into our packs and tied our two snake bandages together, but they came up well short and looked so feeble in the scale of the situation. We gave up on giving any physical assistance.
I used the Emergency Plus App on my phone to call in our location. The runner was saying he was cramping up and asking how far away help was from getting there. This seemed to be a repetitive theme for some time (but time stood still for us!), but the runner was beginning to calm down. He also knew roughly where we were. I was worried that my location that I had supplied to race HQ was affected by the overhead rocks. I ran up the track to open sky and re-sent lat/long coordinates and “what three words”. To speed up the process and to assist emergency services, Nikki decided to go up the track to guide in emergency services. Once she went, I stayed and calmed the runner. I managed to shine my light down a little better and he swung his legs up and managed to wedge himself into a more stable position. I showed him where his walking pole was, close to his right hand, he managed to grab it and wedged himself even better. I called this to race HQ that he was now stabilised and no longer at risk of further falling. The communication between Nikki, myself and race HQ was happening almost continuously. We knew people were on their way to help us, but it all seemed like slow motion and was taking forever.
Finally Nikki guided the first helpers to us, which were race medics. They were very experienced and took over the situation. I was not sure of their abilities, but knew they had no rescue equipment or rescue expertise. One of them surprised me (I thought he was crazy!) by moving about 10m up the track, then climbing down the trees, eventually getting to the runner. He assessed him for injuries. The other medic remained with me, but had to use my phone as hers could not get signal. She was in communication with her boss. By this time, the our crowd on the cliff top had swelled. At least two more ambulance crews plus at least three police officers. Nikki was busy shuttling back and forth from the car park, nothing like having an ultra runner on the rescue team! No rescue services yet and as far as I could gather, they were coming from Sydney – Seven Hills, which is over 90 mins away!
I had already been checking out where a rope could be anchored, there was a large tree about 15m up the track. Finally someone arrived with a rope long enough. It was just tie-down rope but new and long enough to reach down to the runner. The rope “bringer” noticed an anchor point on the cliff face, so we tied the rope to the tree and threaded it through the anchor point. The snake bandages got re-used to protect the rope from the rocks and the rope was used to stabilise the runner further, but we were not confident to use it to rescue the runner.
By this time Jane and Peter had arrived, they had been listening to the radio traffic and Nikki had been talking to them by phone. It was nearly an hour since the fall and Nikki and I felt that we could help no more. We agreed with Jane that we would run to Fairmont Resort, Jane and Peter did the same. The run is exactly what Nikki and I needed, the drama had taken its toll and our adrenaline was pumping which meant we kept up a good clip. The terrain is pretty difficult with stairs and single track, we chatted constantly the whole way there. We both found that as soon as we stopped talking, our emotions took over, better to let them take over when we finished! Once we got there, Greg was already waiting. The last runner had left about 25 mins before, so we took our time and had food, drink and toilets. Jane and Peter arrived and then there were 5 of us sweeping to the finish. We decided that we had come a long way and there was no way we would be able to sleep as we were buzzing so much from the experience of the last couple of hours.
It took some time for us to catch up with the last runner. Daylight was arriving, we were now a big sweep team of 5 and at some point we heard that the fallen runner had finally been rescued. Our spirits were soaring, I couldn’t believe how much of a high we were on with the shared dramatic experiences. We finally caught up to the last battling runner who seemed to get a spring in his step. This is not uncommon when sweeps catch the tail ender, then he caught others and then we encouraged all the last runners. The cut off was very generous and all the runners that we caught finished easily. Finally the finish line and what an emotional time for both the last runners and us. We had done it! It was going to be difficult to sleep now, Nikki and I had gone through so much. We thought we had seen someone fall to his death, then had helped to save his life (to see his 50th wedding anniversary!). My emotions had had a work out and I am sure nothing would easily beat this experience. Roll on next year, I’m in!
Afterthoughts
There is so much that we did right. After some thinking, the runner, if they were not accompanied, would maybe not have survived and the outcome could have been so different. The emergency services did bloody well at 3am in the morning, it is just that the police and fire rescue services are hard to get moving in remote areas in odd hours.
Ironman Australia, the event owners certainly did everything and more to make sure that the event was safe. My first thoughts when the runner had fallen off, that this would be the last event they could run because the fallout of a death on the course would force changes that would be unsustainable. If you look at the facts, the race is run on difficult terrain and public accessed tracks, it will be just a matter of time that a serious incident will happen during this race in the future. I only hope that the nanny state recognises this and understands it.
That Sunday afternoon, a representative from Ironman called me on my mobile and asked if I was OK. I was shaken but so rapt that the runner had survived. No way was I affected by the events, in fact, I was on such a high! they said if I needed anything, all I needed to do was call them or make use of their Employment Assistance Program. I was certainly emotionally affected, but more in a good way than a bad way.
When I see runners complain on the socials about the apparent unreasonable compulsory requirements. I have seen first hand that you should just comply and shut up. Everyone has to comply and they are there for your own safety. The requirements are there for your safety and the longevity of the events and it is such a small price to pay. This also goes for when out training, think about investing in an EPIRB and take a little more with you than you think you might need. There is no point in storing everything in a cupboard when it is more useful when you go out in remote areas.
Lastly, take the time to learn basic radio protocol and add the Emergency Plus App to your phone (and open and test it). you never know when you might need it!
Postscript-Message from the runner
Hi Stephen, thanks for the best wishes and again the great support Nicki and you gave me. Great article – just wish I hadn’t been the star. Only points I make are paramedic was an Army veteran with 3 tours to war zones and being an ex-serviceman myself and an ex-caving instructor I was calm throughout. I ended up head down and had to invert myself using an unstable [moving) thin tree stump to secure myself. When rescue arrived they had to drill into the cliff to secure their recovery ropes. I then reverse absailed up the rock face. Wanted to continue the race but ambo insisted on hospital. Tests showed just bruising and abrasions. You guys were fantastic. Thanks heaps. Back on the horse for 50k UTA in May. Maybe we 3 can catch up for a coffee?
Windyman 