KURT Gidley never won the race that defines him.
He finished second. Maybe third. All bloodied knees, awkward limp and skin ripped from both elbows.
"Yeah, he was nine," dad Geoff recalls. "Had just taken off in the regional cross country when there was this huge tumble.
"And of the eight kids who hit the deck . . . mate, seven walked off course crying."
This is why there are no numbers, stats or fluttering blue ribbons to really define the rise of Kurt Gidley.
For this ascension going beyond the beep tests, skinfolds and time trials. Beyond those VO2 studies and GPS spreadsheets.
Because, sure, Gidley, 26, is the code's fittest man.
A physical specimen who covers 15km per game. Who averages more metres than any other player and has missed only 16 minutes since 2007.
A footballer whose aerobic capacity is so supreme, well, secret GPS tests show his heartrate at 160 when everyone else climbs toward 200.
"But I could give you every statistic we've got on Kurt," Knights conditioner Lee Clark explains. "Because it isn't what defines him.
"I mean, what goes on inside that head of his . . . mate, that's what you really need to measure."
Which is why this story is all about those contests Gidley lost.
This kid who was hundreds for Harold Matthews. Too small for SG Ball. Who only made Jersey Flegg after an 11th-hour decision to increase the squad from 20 players to 21.
The younger brother of a Kangaroo who insists those rejections made him.
"Because my career has never been about trying to emulate Matthew - trying to better him," Gidley says.
"But growing up the youngest of three brothers I've definitely had to compete for everything I got.
"I also didn't have the skills of other players either. But that doesn't stop you wanting to play for the best team in Newcastle."
Which is why a young Gidley would take himself and a pile of witches hats to the park every day.
Why even now he does extra abdominal work in the gym. Works to a meticulous hydration and sleep plan.
Can even be found kicking goals when every other Knight is showered, fed and reversing out of the carpark.
"Everything Gids does, mate, it's aces," prop Danny Wicks says of the NRL leader in trysaving tackles.
"You only need to watch him defending our line, going left, going right, going left again. If something happens you just know he'll be there."
It's why halfback Jarrod Mullen calls him freakish. Andrew Johns invaluable. Former Newcastle trainer Scott Campbell says he has never seen Kurt look tired.
Indeed, speak with Knights doctor Neil Halpin and you'll hear that "Kurt has been dealt a terrific hand genetically".
His body is capable of pumping oxygenated blood to muscles like few other males in the Hunter. This allows him to recover quicker. To produce repeat efforts. To turn up where others can't.
Which is why most yarns focus on the athlete who has never lost a beep test in his life. Who won 4km races by a quarter of the track and now, in six-minute circuit trials, will lap most Knights twice .
"He keeps achieving goals that no one else thought possible," Knights second-rower Steve Simpson says.
Which is why older brother Adam wants you to see Kurt climbing the torturous Red Head sand dunes.
Especially when he spews halfway up, Adam laughs, "and won't even stop to wipe his mouth".
Mullen, meanwhile, points to the fierce competitor who hurls ping pong bats when beaten and only last week snapped a three iron in half.
"Yeah, it's true," Gidley shrugs almost apologetically. "I like to compete."
Compete. Fight. Win.
Like when Gidley approached club nutritionist Trent Watson over summer, concerned he was too light.
So Watson did the sums of his extended time on the surfboard. Of how Gids was missing one of six daily meals to chase those same waves, too.
Calculations that when complete, came within a gram of what Gidley had lost.
"Which is proof," shrugs Clark, "of how finely tuned this bloke is."
But could there be something more? Some dark secret hidden inside Knights headquarters.
Because Ian Thorpe has size 17 feet. Lance Armstrong that heart 30 per cent larger than average. So could there be a red cape hanging off Gidley, too?
"Mate, nah, no secret powers, sadly," he laughs. "And I've had plenty of medicals over the years so I should know.
"I guess when it comes to what I do out there on the field . . . mate, it all comes from within."
