Alf,I do have a funny story about those days at Ferny Creek running with the Wardlaw group.
I used to cart a few of the younger club mates up there and they would do 16- 20k.
This particular day I was going to do one of the long runs either the 21 or 22 miler. All the stars were in town for some reason.
A young clubmate and I were rolling along pretty well.
When the group would hit the top of "2 mile hill" they would trot about to regroup before running the long downhill together.
The young gun and I got up 2 mile mid pack and just kept going so built a bit of a lead on the pack.
My young buddy turned off and left me out front of the pack of superstars. I knew the area well so started shaving a few bits of the course to stay out in front for a bit longer.
I was running along a short cut and could see the leaders of the pack down on the road below as we ran toward the village of Belgrave.
It was Deek, Gerard Barrett (used to beat Deek as a junior)and Gary Briggs (nat. xc champ.)
So anyway I was busting for a crap so I took off hard to get to the toilet at the garage in Belgrave before the others.
I come out of the toilet and there is a frustrated looking Deek waiting outside, the others having continued on and left him to wait to use the toilet. From there the course dips down to the railway station then a series of hard climbs, another steep down hill then the toughest of all the hills, "Aeroplane".
DEEK caught me just as we approached Aeroplane and he took off almost at a sprint. It was impressive to watch as he disappeared up the hill.
Anyway I continued on, flying solo the rest of the way. I completed the traditional 22 miler but figured I'd shaved nearly a mile off it. My 2.26 was equal to my best ever for the traditional 21 (unshaved lol.). My young mate had the clock running when I got back to the cafe. He was delighted to tell me that Deek had finished something like 15 mins. earlier, having run the 22. I'm guessing he must have run the last extremely hilly (trails) 10k in 31mins. or better.