By Marina Gomide
AN incredible near 11 hour run has secured local athletic champion Reesha Lewis back-to-back Blackall 100 wins.
The ultramarathon was held on October 15 with Reesha finishing first among the 69 female participants and fourth across all 208 runners.
The Beerwah local didn’t beat her record of last year, finishing the race in 10 hours 45 minutes – an agonising five minutes slower than her record run in 2021 – but told GC&M News she was still proud to be able to stay number one given the increased intensity of the competition this year.
“I felt like a baby gazelle being chased by the lions,” she joked.
“Last year I was over an hour ahead of the next girl, while this year Meagan [Brown] and Lucy [Bartholomew] were right behind me the entire track.”
This year’s race was the closest female race in the history of the ultramarathon, with fourth, fifth, and sixth place going to women.
Reesha also said this was the first real race she has ever had, since she has always been the only female amongst the leading participants.
“That feeling of being hunted was a real rush and really pushed me in a way I had never felt during a race,” she said.
The mother of two has secured her place on several female podiums over the years including first and second place at King of the Mountain in Pomona, first place at the West Mac Monster Festival in the Northern Territory, and first at the Blackall 50.
The former boxer said she owes all her success to her team and family, who support her throughout the craziness.
Her partner and family all help by looking after her kids, so she has time to train. Her team includes her running coach, Ian Stuck, her best friend, Angie, and her sponsor and Beerwah chiropractor, Jason.
Having trained intensively in various areas, including boxing and mountain climbing, Reesha said that she has found her passion in running trails and finds comfort and peace in that.
“I don’t watch TV or go to the movies or party and have a social life… the only thing that makes me relax is running,” she said.
Reesha grew up very athletic until she was 18 years old, when she started letting herself go by partying, not eating properly and not exercising.
After finding herself puffed out just from walking to the letter box and back one day, she decided she had to make a change in her life for her children’s sake.
This resulted in her losing over 75kg and becoming a dedicated, sponsored athlete.
While she is aiming to participate in another 100km run, this time in the Blue Mountains in two weeks, she will have to wait on doctor’s reports to see if her body can endure it, given she had some hamstring pain after the Blackall 100.
