General News
18 August, 2023
Grandad, 98, to the rescue
A GREAT Pyramid Race competitor has his 98-year-old grandfather to thank for completing the event after he collapsed just 50m from the finishing line.
Dominic Sansom of Cessnock succumbed to the heat and humidity of the day on August 5 moments from the finishing line at Gordonvale.
Despite 12 weeks of solid training at Cessnock in much colder weather, the tropics took its toll on the 39-year-old.
“Fifty metres from the finishing line the body decided to give up,“ he said.
“In hindsight I should have slowed down and maybe walked a bit, conserved my energy,” he said.
Mr Sansom blacked-out just before the line following a combination of dehydration and overheating.
As he was sitting in a wheelchair recovering, he suggested to his grandad that he get him over the line.
“I can’t remember it but apparently I asked grandad for help,” Mr Sansom said.
Bill Honeywell of Mission Beach sprang into action and pushed the wheelchair so his grandson finished the event to cheers and applause from spectators.
It was the second time Mr Sansom had competed in the race. He also took part five years ago in a time of 2 hours 17 minutes. In 2023 it was 2hrs 33min.
Mr Honeywell is no stranger to the event.
He has run it 12 times from the age of 67 after he retired until the last when he was 80.
His first time was 2hr 23min, reducing that to 1hr 46min.
“I was first in the novice section the first time and I’ve collected about five to six trophies over the years in the veterans or senior age groups,” Mr Honeywell said.
Mr Sansom said he wasn’t the only one to fall ill, nor was he the last to finish.
The winner was George Murray in a time of 1hr 32m. Meredith Huey was last in 4hr 4m. There were just over 150 runners.
The current record for the 12km race stands at 1hr15m34s set in 2007 by Neil Labinsky, a mountain specialist runner from the Sunshine Coast.
The race gained official organisation and status in 1959 as part of Queensland’s Centenary celebrations and went on to become an annual event that gets marked in the diaries of some of the finest and fittest runners, as a “must”.
For the complete results list, visit the Cairns Athletics Facebook page.
