Sri Chinmoy Sydney Series 9: Cooks River Race Report

After a week of solid rain, who would not want to run for sheer joy when the sun rose radiant in cloudless blue over Cooks River on Sunday?

Despite some soggy surrounds around the staging area, the course recovered from the week's drenching remarkably well, and a field over over 200 enjoyed perfect conditions for a morning's run, with no fewer than 8 course records falling.

Commencing at Ewen Park, the 4 km loop alongside Cooks River features 2 footbridge crossings, an out-and-back to Mary McKillop Park and 500 metres of cross-country along the river's southern shore.

The 4 km race saw some exceptional front running from outright winner Shaun Hardy (new course record of 14:49), with a tight finish between 1st female Courtney Sanford (15:17, also a course record) out-sprinting Under 17 Boy winner, Daniel Watchorn (15:18). Hayden Brown (Boys Under 13, 16:01) and Maddison Zahra (Girls Under 17, 19:00) also set new records for their categories, while Miki Ellis took out the Girls Under 13s in 21:15.

The 8 km race saw a world-class run from 56-years-young Keith Bateman, shattering the outright course record with a graceful yet powerful 27:15 (3.24 per km). Keith's dynamic presence inspired participants and organisers alike, raising the bar of excellence to which all can aspire.

Male Under 50 winner Victor Correa also set a new record for his category (29:16), despite being 2 minutes behind Keith. After Keith, the Men 50-59 category featured some especially fine running, with Frank Zeichner (30:01) and David Riches (30:29) running fast enough for 3rd and 5th places respectively in the Under 50s category. Tom Kramer won the Men 60-69 with 52:09.

Elmarie O'Regan is running very strongly at present, her fine showing of 34:27 winning her the women's race from Natalie Malligan (35:03), while Sylvia Nichols' 41:52 took out the major placing in the Women 50-59.

Adrian Horvath just missed the course record in the 16 km race by a mere 3 seconds, his 57:40 the only time under the hour and a clear victory. Witold Krajewski continued the fine showing of our veteran-class men, winning the Male 60-69s in 1:08:45, another course record. Witold now holds the record for the most course records at Sri Chinmoy events in Sydney, with no less than 7 course records over various courses and distances (Iron Cove and Cooks River 16 km, Dolls Point 10 km, Mirambeena 8 km, and Centennial Park Half-Marathon, 14 km and 7 km!)

John Dawlings took out the Men 50-59 in 1:10:00, just one minute ahead of Women's winner Raewyn Harlock in 1:11:00. Rosamund Plummer set a new best-time for Women 50-59 with 1:47:06, while Renee Reynolds led the Women 60-69 in 1:48:47.

The fine morning was reflected in some fine performances and a fine mood throughout the field. Congratulations and thanks to all who participated to make this simple run such a memorable occasion.

Full results by category are published, along with a photo album from around the course. The Sri Chinmoy Cooks River run will return in 2012.