Our Athletes

GORDI KIRKBANK-ELLIS

Gordi Kirkbank-Ellis, dubbed as “the running mad kiwi”, took up ultra running in 2010 completing his inaugural 100km race (the NorthFace 100) in a lightning time of 13hours, 23 minutes. Since then ‘the running mad kiwi’ hasn’t stopped.

Competing in every major ultra distance event on the Australia and NZ calendar in less than 12 months, Gordi has consistently racked up convincing times to quickly establish himself as one of Australia’s up-and-coming premier ultra marathon runners.

His steely determination and incredibly high pain tolerance come from years of training at an elite level in rugby union (competing in New Zealand and Asia) followed by a successful amateur heavyweight boxing career – representing Australia 3 times and winning the Golden Gloves in Queensland in 1995.

Gordi lives and works as a personal trainer in Sydney. Gordi’s other interests are watching the All Blacks pummel the Wallabies and chess.

ANDREW VIZE (BEAVER)

Andrew’s humble ultra running beginnings started when his wife bet him that he couldn’t complete a marathon from no training, and thus his spirit and determination were born. The following week, Andrew marked out a 42.195km course and ran the lot from scratch – from then on he’s been hooked. Andrew is probably regarded as one of Australia’s strongest long-distance  ultra runners over trail, but with the results to back up the claims. He’s won the Great North Walk 100 mile race in both 2009 and 2010, along with a second place in the iconic 246km Coast to Kosi, and more recently, first place in the inaugural Mount Solitary Ultra (45kms). He’s also the course record-holder, along with Darrel for the Wild Endurance 100km team event, held in the Blue Mountains just West of Sydney. Known for his detailed preparation before each race and for leaving no stone unturned, you can bet your life that Andrew has bigger and better things ahead of him in the future as he prepares for his first Western States outing in June this year. After this, Andrew hopes to tackle Europe’s premier 100 miler, the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc, with Dan, Darrel and Marcus.

DAN BLEAKMAN (THE FLYING COMPASS)

Having played rugby for over 20 years, Dan’s running career started when he moved to Australia in November 2007 from the UK. He entered the Marathon des Sables in 2009, and has been hooked since. Starting initially as a road marathon runner, he knocked off a 3:18 at the Gold Coast marathon in 2010. In the last year, the trail has been where the heart lies, with solid performances over the infamous 6ft track ultra marathon, along with various other 100km events, as well as a first place in the mixed pairs North Face 100km in 2010. Dan recently finished his first 100 miler in New Zealand at the inaugural Northburn Station 100 miler, a race that contained over 16,000m combined ascent and descent. Dan’s focus for 2011 will be at the Great North Walk 100 miler.

DARREL ROBINS (POPS)

Affectionately known as ‘Pops’ by his friends, this ultra legend is far from a slow-moving Grandad. He passes his time on the trails telling others his fine array of jokes, but there is a serious side to his running too. Darrel is probably one of the most consistently high-placed finishers in Australian trail ultra running, with a highly respected 3rd  place overall in the Great North Walk 100 mile 2009 race. He has finished second at the Great Ocean Walk 100 mile race in Victoria two years in a row (actual distance 130 miles), along with a second place in Australia’s toughest 100 mile race, The Mind Alpine Sky Run, one of the most remote and challenging races around in Australia. He is also the current record holder for the fastest traverse of the entire Great North Walk with Andrew and Terry, completing the 250km journey in 66 hours.

MARCUS WARNER (CAM)

Coming from a team sport background where Rugby and Cricket were the preferred sports Marcus took up ultra running 5 years ago after buying “Confessions of an all night runner” by Dean Karnazes and promptly entered and completed the inaugural North Face 100. Since finishing his first ultra he has been hooked on finding the most challenging mountain races and can often be found competing across Australia and overseas at any distance from 45kms to 100kms. Marcus was a member of the winning Wild Endurance 100 team with Darrell Robins in 2009 and most recently gained first place in the pairs with Andrew Vize at the North Face 100 breaking the course record along the way. Marcus has a love for experimenting with new gear and has been a big convert to the minimalist running shoe movement. 2011 is a big year for Marcus where he is set to pace Andrew over the last 60kms at the Western States 100miler, represent Australia at the Salomon Trail de Font Remeu in the French Pyrenees with the great Kilian Jornet and to make a 4th return to the 60km Kepler Challenge in New Zealand. In the future he hopes to qualify and enter the 2012 UTMB in Chamonix France meaning he will have to break his 100 mile duck.

CAMPBELL HANSON

After many years away from the sport of triathlon Campbell has rediscovered swimming, cycling and running and is enjoying a resurgence in the local triathlon scene. Having raced many years ago as a top level junior, last summer saw Campbell dust off the bike and pull out the racing flats and he has been enjoying success at all distances from sprint racing to the half ironman distance. In March 2011 Campbell travelled to Singapore for the Singapore 70.3 and in stifling heat and humidity managed to gain a qualifying spot for the World 70.3 Championships in Las Vegas, Nevada. Further to this he had a successful race in Auckland qualifying himself for the New Zealand Age Group team for the World Triathlon Championships in New Zealand in 2012. Plans for the coming season include the New Zealand Half Ironman Championships in January and another crack at Singapore in March. The lure of Ironman is on the horizon and he is building towards 2013 with a qualifying spot for Kona the ultimate goal. Campbell is a Principal Physiotherapist at SquareOne Physiotherapy and Sports Injury Management (www.squareonephysio.com.au) and looks after many of our local athletes.