Mini-rivalries and side-shows everywhere in a week of racing

The Deloitte manager was a driving force in getting his company to sponsor the seven-day stage race.

It is his fifth time competing in the ATC and he finds himself in Division Six, setting his initial goal as finishing without injury. But that is not to say he has nothing to compete for.

‘Even when you’re further down, in [Division] Five or Six, you always find someone you’re battling with and you check those results to see whether you’re beating them,’ he said.

‘It doesn’t matter if you’re in the middle or the bottom – there’s always someone you’re trying to race.’

Fittingly, he finished just 3sec. down on Deloitte audit partner Dave Becker, who is one of five runners from the sponsor. Becker’s sprint finish made the

difference.

Although Becker focuses on ultra-marathoning, that does not mean the week will be easy for him.

‘This is a bit of a new one for me, but Brett’s done it in the past and I’ve had other friends do it so I was very keen to get involved in it as well,’ he said.

‘It’s brilliant to see so many different people here... lots of people from different backgrounds enjoying the variety of events.’

Bewey added: ‘Every time I run it I’m amazed by the number of people who use it as a springboard to get into running.

‘It’s the mental health benefit of being out there and doing sport. I was just excited that the company I work for was as excited as me to put their hat in the ring and sponsor it.’

Their mini-rivalry is one of many that showed in a deceptively tough second day of this year’s ATC.

Although only 4km and based at the seemingly welcoming grounds of Pembroke, it tested runners with two laps – and four ascents all told – of a loop based around the road climb at Chouet.

General classification leader Mike Batiste initially chose to bide his time behind George Mason, but he opened up on the second lap to win in 12min. 54sec. Mason followed 8sec. behind.

Next came Carl Holden, who posted 13-34, while Andrew Zabiela improved on his placing from the previous day’s cliff race with a 13-52 for fourth.

Nix Petit won the women’s race convincingly in 14-35, which ensured she is one of only a few female runners in ATC history to make the cut for Division One.

She finished 37sec. clear of Rosie Williams and further still ahead of Sabrina Amy in a repeat of the previous day’s podium positions.

The day also marked James de Garis finishing his 100th consecutive ATC stage – and almost all in Division One.

The veteran ended up missing the top flight for the first time in 15 years of contesting the event, but he did have the pleasure of a Division Two leader’s jersey.