Sharon Careri (grey top, centre) assembled the town’s fittest and craziest athletes for the epic challenge. Photos: Supplied.
If you’re someone who overindulges during the festive season, Sharon Careri is the woman you need to see to get back in shape quickly.
The 49-year-old Griffith East Public School teacher organises extraordinary post-Christmas athletic challenges — the latest being a 24-hour sleep deprivation run that saw the fittest and craziest people in town running five-kilometre loops around Griffith Tennis Club all day and all night.
She’s currently planning a 2026 challenge that mixes the pain of running with the pleasure of drinking wine. But first, let’s look at what she put people through last week.
The 24-hour backyard ultra
“My family think I’m crazy, but luckily I have a lot of friends who are as crazy as me,” Ms Careri said.
“Between Christmas and New Year, people are at home and not doing much, so I’ve been putting on different types of challenges for people to test themselves. I put the word out through local running group Griffith Ferals.
“Last week (28 December), I organised a 24-hour backyard ultra. It’s generally a 6.7 km loop every hour on the hour for as long as you can keep up. We did a modified version where you could do a three-kilometre or five-kilometre loop, starting at 6 am from the Griffith Tennis Club. But people can come in and drop out any time.”
The concept was simple — run for five kilometres, then stop for a rest at the club before taking off again on the hour. Then rinse and repeat another 23 times. Once it gets dark, you keep going, with a headlamp.
Lachlan Date and Alex Melville try to have a kip before running again on the hour.
Date and Wythes complete 120 km
If you live in North Griffith and hear the patter of two guys running past your house at 3 am, look outside before you call Murrumbidgee Police. It could be Ms Careri’s fellow teacher Lachlan Date and carpenter Jim Wythes.
They were the only two who completed the full 24-hour circuit, running 120 km in total.
“I managed to get a small nap in at 5 am but you don’t really sleep properly, you’re too worried about your alarm and waking up in time,” Mr Date said.
“The run is about being able to challenge yourself. To be able to endure sleep deprivation.
“You get to the point where you’re never happy. Even after 22 hours, you’ve still got two hours of running to go.”
Lachlan Date and Jim Wythes at the end of the full 24-hour loop.
The next-best performance came from mum and keen runner Julie Durbhakula, who did 17 loops before sanity hit her after midnight and she went to sleep.
“We had 33 runners in total, the most being 17 for one lap,” Mr Date said.
“My fastest time to do five kilometres is 17 minutes, 20 seconds. But on 28 December, I was doing it in 30 minutes to 35 minutes. It varied a lot depending on the heat or whether it was night. We were lucky it wasn’t too hot that day.
“In the breaks, you come back to the same spot at the tennis club. You try and eat, change your shirt, brush your teeth or have a nap. You try and get some sort of comfort.”
Future challenge to be craziest yet
In 2024, Ms Careri got her friends to do famed former US Navy Seal David Goggins’ 4x4x48 challenge, where you run four kilometres every four hours for 48 hours.
“The rest of those two days are normal,” said Mr Date, who also completed that challenge.
“You still have to mow the lawns and look after the kids, but every four hours you pop out for a run.”
Ms Careri, a keen runner who was born and bred in Griffith, is now considering her most insane challenge yet.
“We should be able to do something and enjoy it too,” she said.
”I’ve seen challenges where you run through vineyards and stop every hour and drink a glass of wine. We have plenty of wineries in Griffith, so why not do it here? Watch this space.”
