Free Heart of a Champion by Patrick Lindsay Page A

they hinged on the final event— Greg’s 2-km beach run. Four laps of 500 m (0.3 miles) on the beach. Going into it, Cronulla was in third place, with Southport and North Cronulla tying for first. For his club to win the competition, Greg had to win the race.
    It was a classic Australian summer tableau—a swarm of bronzed surf lifesavers in Speedos and club caps, straining every muscle as they raced, shoulder to shoulder, elbow to elbow, down the beach.
    Greg was in his element on the sand. His natural running skill and his excellent strength-to-weight ratio gave him advantages he had honed during tortuous hours driving himself up and down the sand hills at Wanda Beach, near Cronulla. ‘It’s all about keeping your knees up. In some ways it’s the same as swimming in the ocean with a swell— you’ve just got to be smooth and efficient. With running it was just all about pulling your knees up and having a strong body core over the uneven sand.’
    The race was a dogfight early on, but Greg held his line and form and gradually edged into the lead. Down the final lap, he pulled away and hit the line about 10 m (11 yd) ahead of his rivals. Cronulla had won its first world title. Greg had won his first world championship and was the toast of the Shire.
    Shortly after his Southport triumph, Greg travelled to Perth as a member of yet another New South Wales team, this time contesting the Australian Road Championships. ‘I didn’t run very well there, maybe I was spreading myself a bit thin then. But I had a great time.’
    Greg didn’t have to race at Forster in 1988 because he’d already qualified for that year’s Hawaiian Ironman, so he spent the rest of the year competing, training and saving up for the trip. He felt much more confident after winning his first triathlon, and he went off to Hawaii in high spirits. ‘I had a great race in Kona. I was ecstatic because I won my age group this time. I was absolutely over the moon because I finished 19th overall as well. The only bummer was that Paula Newby-Fraser beat me! Only joking!’
    In fact, the remarkable Paula Newby-Fraser won the second of her eight titles that year and took more than half an hour off the women’s record. She finished 11th overall in 9 hours 1 minute 1 second. Greg finished 6 minutes later. Paula and Greg were already acquaintances and fast becoming friends. Besides his future wife Sian, Paula would become Greg’s closest friend in the sport.
    (Two years later, when Greg moved to San Diego to train with Scott Tinley, they would meet every Tuesday at an organised run. Paula and her boyfriend Paul Huddle, a fine runner, would come along too. They all became fast friends. As they became closer, Greg jumped at the chance when Paula asked him whether he’d like to share a flat with them. He and Paula also shared the same agent. ‘I never had a sister and Paula was always about as caring and loving as you can get outside of a family member. My respect for her has always been monumental.’)
    After returning from Hawaii, Greg found time to let his hair down and join in what was fast becoming one of the Shire’s least salubrious endof-year traditions—the Toga Run.
    It started with a posse of young bucks, dressed in togas and Speedos, who lined up at the Royal Hotel in Sutherland. The aim was as simple as the mind of the creator: a 12-km (7.5-mile) run, during which you hit every pub on the way down to Cronulla—seven of them—and had a beer or two in each one. After the run, the group would meet their partners and get into the serious New Year celebrations. Over the years, the competitive element began to dominate the event and the challenge grew.
    â€˜By the end we started at 3 o’clock in the afternoon at North Cronulla pub and had two middies, then up to Caringbah pub for two there, two at Miranda, one at Gymea, one at Boyles on the other side of the railway