Doncaster Newsletter
XCR Round 2 – 22nd May – Lardner Park
Lardner Park is on the outskirts of Warragul and part of a privately owned cattle farm. We city folk were greeted with fresh air, fresh grass, and the smell of fresh manure, which you did get used to after about ½ hour. The ‘weather Gods’ turned it on for us again – still, clear and sunny, about 19 degrees! Unusual conditions for Lardner Park in May!
19 athletes made the trip for this first round of individual cross country. They competed over distances ranging from 2km to 8km. The start was situated on a steep incline and this quickly dispersed the fields and awoke the legs into action. There were many hills and cow-pats to contend with, a fence to navigate and 5 ditches filled with mud! (All done twice on the 8km course) The ditches were 1-1.2m wide (approx.) and some of the younger, taller and more nimble athletes could just take a running leap! Others, needed to wade through, moving quickly to avoid being bogged! That fence – for some of the vertically challenged, straight over-the-top was always going to end very badly! Luckily, a quick scurry underneath was allowed!
Whatever the distance, and even among the ‘fit’, the run was painful! Bodies complained and a post-run limp was commonplace. But that’s what we’d all signed up and paid a premium for! The scenery; rolling grassy hills and the angled winter sunlight…..it became useful to take the mind off of the pain! No cows in sight.
With 4 distances to report on, individual results are shown below. Congratulations to Baia Pugh who won the Women’s U16 3km event about 30 seconds clear of second place! Other athletes in the top 10 for their age group were Chloe Woollard (U16), Ben Purser (U18) and Alissa Ramsdale (U20). Open and Masters athletes had large fields and lots of competition – John Portwood had a great day out as the best-performing Open male, and Campbell McLennan the best-performing in Masters. Kate Downward made a fantastic comeback in her first race since XCR 2019, and was our fastest female over the 8km distance.
Individual Results
M20
4km: Caleb McLennan 15:00 (14th)
M18
4km: Benjamin Purser 14:10 (10th), Liam McLennan 14.16 (13th)
MOpen
8km: John Portwood 26:37 (28th) Alastair Christy 26:46 (30th) Matthew Christy 28:54 (76th), Brock Goodings 37:54 (278th), total field – 355
M40+
8km: Campbell McLennan 33:36 (M45); Richard Matison 35.23 (M50) John Curry 38:56 (M50); Jason Merrett 39.10 (M45 INV); Darryl Kilmartin 42:06 (M50); Ken Montgomery 43:10 (M50)
W16
3km: Baia Pugh 11:13 (1st)
W18
3km: Chloe Woollard 13:23 (8th)
W20
4km: Alissa Ramsdale 17:06 (8th)
W40+
8km: Kate Downward 40:45 (W40); Laura McLennan 44:33 (W40); Kath Gawthorn 49.34 (W45 INV) Total field – 149
Team scores
Men
U20 – 11th/14 teams, 1 point, Round won by Knox
U18 – 5th/9 teams, 6 points, Round won by Ballarat
Open Div 1 – 8th/10 teams, 3 points, Round won by Western Athletics
Open Div 5 – 7th/10 teams, 10 points, Round won by Mentone
40+ Team 1 – 26th/66 teams, 1 point and Team 2 51st/66 teams, 1 point, Round won by Richmond
50+ Team 1 – 13th/45 teams, 1 point and Team 2 41st/45 teams, 1 point, Round won by APS
Women
U20 – 6th/8 teams, 7 points, Round won by St Stephens
U18 – 8th/9 teams, 5 points, Round won by Coburg
U16 – 7th/11 teams, 6 points, Round won by Wellington
Open Div 3 – 7th/8 teams, 6 points, Round won by APS
40+ 16th/28 teams, 1 point, Round won by APS
The team scores above show that we have lots of competition this winter in XCR! Still early in the season, there’s time for us to make amends!
Thank you to all those who made the trip to Lardner Park, including the parents and supporters. Further, thanks to those who pitched in to help, and help almost every week. DAC are looking for a Team Manager to assist with the XCR season. Someone to be aware of the season details/rules, assist athletes to get out there and race, and help devise teams for relay rounds.
We missed seeing a number of athletes in Round 2. Some were entered, but weren’t able to come; injuries, personal commitments and other events elsewhere! Perhaps some weren’t ready to take the plunge? We hope you’ll join us in Round 3 or 4! Please contact DAC with any questions or barriers to your involvement……many of us have a spare seat if transport is an issue.
Round 3 – Rescheduled to August 7th, St Anne’s Ekiden Relay
Relay teams of 3-6 depending on age group/division. Distance also varies; in Men’s Premier Division, teams of 6 complete marathon distance 42.2km. For other age groups/divisions – total distance, and each leg are much shorter.
Round 4 – June 26th, Cruden Farm
looking forward to seeing you!
Thanks to Kath Gawthorn for kindly writing these winter newsletters!
Doncaster Athletic Club
Website: www.doncasterac.org.au
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