Doncaster Newsletter
Round 8 – 10/08/2025
Eleven DAC distance runners took a road trip up to Ballarat for the annual Road Race around Lake Wendouree. There was a choice of 15km or 6km (short course option and for Junior athletes). Steve Moneghetti, now 60+, was there and was beaten on his own stomping ground by a just one DAC runner in John Portwood. Monna’s time 52:34 and 1st place in his age group. At 60+ we’d all be very happy with that. Ballarat turned on a very crisp 0-degree start, but by the time the gun went it had warmed to a beautiful still and sunny winter’s day and was perfect conditions for road racing.
The dedicated DAC contingent had a successful day of road racing. Race 1, the 6km, was off at 9.30am, with great representation from the local clubs. Jason Merrett and Campbell McLennan (both 50+) flew the flag for Masters short-course competition, whilst duo Hamish and Lewis McLennan were our only underage athletes in action. Campbell placed 1st and Jason was 3rd. Both have set the standard in the short course events this season. Hamish and Lewis duelled, this time younger Lewis stole bragging rights for discussion around the dinner table.
Race 2, the 15km, required 2.5 laps around lake Wendouree and it proved quite the test. Best performed was John Portwood who finished 25th among a large and classy field all wanting to extract everything out of themselves. John was supported by our President, Nathan Down, Shawn Ko (M45), Brock Goodings and Jim Finch (M60). All put in a stellar effort. The women’s competition featured Colleen Kelly and Kath Gawthorn as soul representatives for DAC. Colleen (W60) was exceptional, earning herself a podium placing (3rd). We are definitely happy to have her return to racing and in such excellent form.
All age groups and divisions finished down the ladder this round. We look forward to seeing more runners for the final 2 rounds of the XCR season. Please contact team managers with any questions.
| Grade | Distance | Name | Performance | Notes |
| FOpen | 15km | Kath Gawthorn | 1:14:50 | F50, 7th |
| FOpen | 15km | Colleen Kelly | 1:21:16 | F60, 3rd |
| MOpen | 15km | John Portwood | 48:05:00 | |
| MOpen | 15km | Nathan Down | 58:14:00 | |
| MOpen | 15km | Shawn Ko | 1:07:02 | M45 |
| MOpen | 15km | Brock Goodings | 1:14:39 | |
| MOpen | 15km | James Finch | 1:25:55 | M60 |
| MOpen | 6km | Campbell McLennan | 23:25 | M50, 1st |
| MOpen | 6km | Jason Merrett | 26:13:00 | M50, 3rd |
| M18 | 6km | Hamish McLennan | 21:47 | |
| M16 | 6km | Lewis McLennan | 21:20 |
All results are provided below, with more detail available at Resultshub (Results Hub)