ON Saturday more than 60 bold competitors took to the trails of Cape Bridgewater and Portland in the 60km 3 Bays ultramarathon, in what was a successful return for the event.

It’s only the third time the run has been held, with the first races held back in 2018 and 2019, before the pandemic prevented the event from going ahead in 2020 and 2021.

This year’s winner was a newcomer to the race, as Jason Daye came in with an incredible time of 5hr07min40sec, to claim a new record for the event by 23 minutes.

Daye, who hails from Port Fairy, said that while the event was incredible and worthwhile, he was glad when he reached the finish line.

“I feel better now it’s over… it’s pretty hard work over that last couple of hours,” Daye said.

Conditions were wet and windy, especially early on in the event which kicked off at 6.30am, however Daye said that may well have helped his cause.

“It was probably good conditions to be honest… we had a tail wind for a lot of the race and the rain didn’t make the track all that slippery,” he said.

“The water was almost nice… I think we got pretty lucky with the weather.”

Daye – who finished 13th at the Melbourne Marathon just a month ago – said he came into the race with hopes of breaking the record of 5:30 set in 2019, adding that he felt confident in his ability to do so.

“Coming into it I thought I could break the record… early on I was travelling with Nick (Montgomery), and we were well ahead of even the time I ended up finishing… we slowed down a lot towards the back end,” he said.

“I think that was just a result of fatigue… it’s really hard work out there especially as you’re not running in a straight line and you’re on trails rather than road.

“It makes a huge difference… not sure exactly how much time it adds but it’s a fair bit.”

Montgomery came through seven minutes later in a time of 5:13:58 in what would have been a record time of its own just a few years ago.

2019 winner and previous record-holder Ben Wallis put together another exceptional effort, coming in with a time of 5:34:48 to place third.

Run like the Wynd

THIS year’s women’s ultra winner was another 3 Bays first-timer, with Nikki Wynd coming home quickest with a time of 6:57:56 in an impressive run.

Wynd marvelled at the quality of the course, saying the whole experience had been memorable.

“The track is beautiful… it’s a shame you don’t get more of a chance to appreciate it as you’re focused on keeping up the pace,” she said.

“The organisers did a wonderful job with the track.”

Melbourne-based Wynd is a seasoned long-distance runner and was using this event along with Sunday’s marathon as a training run for the 240km Coast to Kosci ultramarathon in December.

“It was a great opportunity to get some training into me… sometimes when you’re preparing for these events, you’re tempted to stop short… but the finish line was super motivating for me,” she said.

“I was running alongside my husband David… it was an awesome weekend away for the both of us.

“The conditions were great to be honest… the drizzle of rain was quite refreshing.”

Coming through 20 minutes later was second-place finisher, former Portlander Tanya Knight with a time of 7:19:17, while Kuni Dowden was third in 7:47:11.