West Australian middle distance runner Matt Ramsden used WA staple to stay on track for Tokyo 2021 Olympics

There’s a living monument to Western Australia’s rich distance running history hidden in the Perth hills. West Australians Ray Boyd, Cameron Johnson, Troy Kelly, Marc See and Lauren Shelley, and national icons such as Robert de Castella and Steve Moneghetti have all pounded the 23.5km Mt Helena run. It’s a rite of passage for serious runners — and not for beginners — passed down from generations, with sections named after the greats such as Boyd’s Boulevard, Johnson’s Loop and the brutal Kelly’s Climb. It was one of De Castella’s go-to grinds when he was in training for his gold medal run in the 1982 Commonwalth Games Marathon in Brisbane. It’s a staple for WA Marathon Club members and a favourite of WA middle-distance prince Matthew Ramsden, who has broken Herb Elliott’s long standing times for the 1500m and the mile over the past 16 months and is on track for Tokyo. “I haven’t met him in person yet. Growing up in WA and being a distance runner you hear about this legend Herb Elliott and all of his times,” Ramsden said. “You never ever think it’s a possibility to get such quick times. When it happens it’s surreal.” There is a growing movement among the WA running community for the Shire of Mundaring to name the circuit after Boyd, winner of the City to Surf 12km run 11 times. Melbourne-based Ramsden returned to his home town during the COVID-19 lockdown and was a regular at the Sunday morning Mt Helena runs before heading off to Europe. “(Ray) Boydy taught Mark See who is a sub-four minute miler and he taught me the loop and now I am passing the baton on to others,” Ramsden said. “It has to be taught because you can can get lost pretty easily out there. It is a technical trail and some of the sections are quite hilly so you need to be with an experienced runner.” The run leaves most Sunday mornings of the year from the car park at the end of Helena Valley Road and follows an old service trail for the pipeline for 8km. The undulating soft dirt path ends at 9km where runners deviate and begin a gruelling 3km ascent known as Kelly’s Climb. A 12km run home is on a slight downhill gradient along a fire trail. “It is iconic to Perth running with the history that’s behind it,” Ramsden said. “If you are a runner from WA and you haven’t run there you can’t really call yourself a WA runner yet.” The record average pace around the loop is 3:40min/km held by Thomas Bruins, a 2.25 marathon runner . Boyd said the Mt Helena Run’s appeal was its length and proximity to the city which is closer than another of his favourites at Fred Jacoby Park where there are “a couple of climbs that make Kelly’s Climb look like a bit of a joke”. “Having said that, Kelly’s Climb, she’s a real bastard,” Boyd said. “Deeks (De Castella), Monners (Steve Moneghetti), they’ve all run there and then the locals created a club which they called Club Helena,” he said. “It created a cultural element and has grown from there – Matt Ramsden is keeping it up when he is in WA and Marc See. It has become one of those staple runs. The beauty of it is it’s traffic free and it’s undulating.” Boyd said his best up Kelly’s Climb was 12.5min. Ramsden is at the vanguard of a new era of WA running, which is considered one of the best crops for decades. After gaining an exemption to compete in the European summer, Ramsden didn’t waste it. Last month, he was a pacer for Joshua Cheptegei when the Ugandan broke Kenenisa Bekele’s 10,000m world record in Valencia. Ramsden hit the front after a mile and stepped aside after helping Cheptegei through 3km on world record pace in 7:52.7. Cheptegei took command with 12 laps to go and finished in a time of 26:11.00, stripping 6.53 seconds off Bekele’s 2005 record. Ramsden can qualify in his preferred 1500m for Tokyo by either running a qualifying time of 3min35sec or be in the top 40 ranked runners globally over the distance. He is currently ranked 28, behind fellow Aussies Ryan Gregson (25) and Stewart McSweyn (14).