Sri Chinmoy Cooks River Race Report

21 June 2009 - The first time the Sri Chinmoy Cooks River course was used, in 2008, building works on the cycle path necessitated an alteration which slightly shortened the route. This meant that whoever won their category in today's race was assured of setting a new "official" course record!

The first to claim a new record was the flying Under 17 runner Brad Fraser, who easily took out the one-lap 4 km race in a very impressive 14:59, ahead of Under 13 Daniel Heaslip's 16:07, with Darren Szczepanski the first Over 17 runner in 16:13. First Over 17 female, Amy Brown was not far behind in 16:37, ending Larissa Tichon's winning streak in this year's series, Larissa placing second in 17:06.

The fields in the short races have increased over the past year, to the point where today more entered the 4 km than the 16 km. It was the middle distance however- the 8 km race- which attracted most interest, fielding more than the 4 km and the 16 km combined.

In the 2-lap event, another Fraser dominated, with Cameron's time of 29:30 almost 2 minutes clear of Pavol Sefcik in second. Meanwhile, 4th and 5th outright went to David McEwan (32:09) and Dennis Johnson (32:11) after an engrossing duel in the Men 50-59 category. Rob Connolley's Men 60-69 time of 34:24 would also have placed him in the top 7 men under 50.

Sally Lynch and Emma Grubb battled neck-and-neck for first place, with Sally eventually breaking away to win in 34:13, just 6 seconds clear of Emma. Pennie Psaltis added to her string of course records by taking out the Women 50-59 category in 39:53, just in front of the fast-finishing Sylvia Nichols in 40:01; while Kerry Bray likewise shone in the Women 60-69 with a fine 43:54.

A group of 4 led out the men's 16 km race. Despite a fall after an encounter with an oblivious iPod-wearer, Dani Andres (58:25) was able to draw away from Gary Howard (58:47) to clinch the victory. Kathryn Parkinson took out the women's race in 1:07:18, ahead of Audrey Hall in 1:08:19. Wayne Morgan led home the Men 50-59 in 1:14:24, and Frances Bowman was first in the Women 50-59 in 1:55:48.

Full results are posted, as well as a photo gallery. The next race in the Sri Chinmoy Sydney Series features a Half Marathon, 10 km and 5 km at the beautiful Dolls Point on Sunday 12 July.