KILLER Track_Part - 2

The Birdsville Track starts in South Australia at Maree, and travels north through one of the most isolated parts of Australia to Birdsville in Queensland... skirting parts of the vast Simpson Desert with only a few cattle stations dotted along the track.

When the rains come in to the North of Australia... the flood waters travel down to the south of the continent along The Cooper and cuts the track, this is where "Burke and Wills" early Australian explores met their fate.

For Tony Rafferty to attempt a long distance run, across one of the most inhospitable, remote, areas of Australia is a very daunting task.

Background:

In 1972, Tony Rafferty became the first man to run from Melbourne to Sydney, pioneering ultra-distance running in Australia and breaking many records.

Tony was the first man in 1973 to run across the Australian continent from Fremantle to Surfers Paradise (5931 km).
First man to run from Perth to Brisbane, Perth to Adelaide, Adelaide to Brisbane, Melbourne to Brisbane and Sydney to Brisbane.

In 1975 Tony ran for 50 hours non-stop, creating a world record and in 1978 was the first man to run from Melbourne to Sydney and return.

In 1979 he was the first to do what was thought impossible to run through Death Valley in California, the hottest place on earth. Road temperatures soared to more than 70 deg. Celsius.

Tony broke the Adelaide to Melbourne record in 1980 and in 1986 was the winner of the 1000 Mile International race in Hull, England.

He earned 5th place in the World 6 Day Championships at La Rochelle in France.

In August 1989, Tony broke the world 1000-mile record by 33 hours and along the way also broke the 700-mile, 800-mile, 900 mile and 1500km records!

In 1991 he placed third in the world’s longest race (1300 miles at Flushing Meadows in New York) and in 1993 became the only man to compete in 10 Australian six-day races.