Select the race below for full results, by age category, in the Sri Chinmoy Canberra Day 10 km & 4 km Fun-Runs staged from Acton Ferry Terminal on Monday 9 March 2009.

 

10 March 2008

If the passengers in the "EU" hot-air balloon were angling for a bird's-eye view of the Sri Chinmoy Canberra Day 10 km & 4 km Fun-Runs, they timed their run a little early, as their balloon sailed down to land right on the course about an hour before the race was due to start.

Continuing a multi-year trend of glorious weather for this race, a good-sized field assembled of 85 runners for the 10 km and 68 for the 4 km run/walk. This is by far the largest field ever gathered for the 4 km race, and also the highest ratio yet of 4 km to 10 km entrants. The morning cool had just about dissipated by the time runners embarked on their scenic lakeside journey.

"Runner of the Day" award goes to Jim White (top left). While Jim "only" took 3rd place in his age category, this was his third race in three days - on Saturday he completed his first "6-foot Track" ultramarathon in the Blue Mountains; on Sunday he raced the Weston Creek Half-Marathon; then this 10 km race on Monday! Congratulations Jim for an outstanding effort, you are an inspiration to us all!

Scott Imhoff (bottom left) is an oft-times winner of the Sri Chinmoy 10 km race and notched another victory in an impressive 35:02 on this testing course. Anthony Olliffe took out the competitive men's 50-59 division in 43:27, while Bob Chapman lithely covered the course in 51:53 for first over-70s male.

First woman home was Kate Molineaux in 44:39, a full 4 minutes ahead of her chasers. Kaaren Sutcliffe, another veteran of the course took line honours in her new category Women 50-59 in an impressive 53:32.

Meanwhile the 4 km race, as so often happens, was a stage for younger runners to shine. Shane Farrant was first home in a sprightly 15:02, though running in the Under 17 Boys category, with Dave Cooper in the Male 17+ only 12 seconds adrift, just ahead of Daniel Craig. Joshua Torley was first Under 13 boy home in 16:30.

Nicola Torley (right), in the Girls Under 13, was not far behind the leading males in 15:45, an outstanding run. Kym Chisholm announced her comeback by taking first place Female 17+ in 16:46, while Georgia Hardy was first in the Girls Under 17 in 18:30.

Full age category results are now published.

The Sri Chinmoy Labour Day 10km/4km Race has continued to grow with each successive year, but organisers were astounded by today's field: 276 runners registered, far and away the largest group of runners to eagerly arrive at the Acton Ferry Terminal for the race since it began over 20 years ago.

As there were so many runners, it took an extra long time simply to register them all, meaning that the races began 35 minutes late- which is, erm, ANOTHER race record. Apologies to all runners for this untimely delay- especially those who found themselves running late for other appointments.

Another apology: Alf, our usual photographer, was in Adelaide visiting his family for the long weekend. This means that the photo gallery is smaller (and sad to say, less accomplished) than usual, as the only photos were taken by some of the other, less image-savvy officials, in the midst of juggling other duties (and without the super-deluxe camera that Alf has in his possession).

Official business aside, it was an almost perfect day for a run: fine, sunny, with just the matter of a stiff breeze to contend with. Alex Matthews (left) easily won the 10km fun run and set a new course record with an impressive time of 32:38, followed by Scott Imhoff (36:17) and Grant Stanfield (36:35). Emily Brichacek was the first woman home in 37:45, followed by Natalie Wood (40:53) and Emily's sister, Jenny (41:38).

In the 4km fun run, Robert Torley- not for the first time- was the first one across the line, in a time of 14:41. Unlike previous years, however, 18-year-old Robert won the open male division, rather than the under-17s division of previous races. He was followed close behind by veteran runner Geoff Monro (14:51) and Shane Farrant (15:27), who now picked up the under-17 prize that had so often gone to Robert. Daniel Hearle (16:25) was the top under-13 competitor, followed by Robert's brother Joshua Torley(16:54).

The women's 4km race was equally exciting, with Hannah Angove (15:33) winning overall- and taking home the under-17 medal. Hayley Gosman (16:05), another veteran of our kids' races, now entered as an 18-year-old- and was the fastest runner in the open female category. She was followed by another under-17 runner, Anna Brichacek (16:07), and Sara Hely (16:28). The first under-13 girl was Nicola Torley, yet another from the amazing Torley clan, in a time of 16:36.

Whatever unpredictable changes occur, it looks like we can still depend on the Torleys to dominate the 4km race. (The patriarch, Paul Torley, was also in the race- achieving a time of 16:38.)

On a perfect Canberra summer's day- no mean achievement, as it was early October- the ever-popular 10 km / 4 km fun-run event boasted its largest field since it was first held in 1984.

The record field of 176 finishers braved the challenging lakeside course at Acton Ferry Terminal, and was rewarded by not only a sense of personal satisfaction and achievement, but also a breakfast of crepes (with fresh maple syrup), fruits and assorted cereals.

How does a runner stand out in such a large group? Well, it helps if your name is Scott. Scott Imhoff (below) easily won the 10 km race in 35:26, followed by Scott Irons (38:21). Two of our long-standing regulars, Geoff Monro (39:10) and Bruce Egan (39:22), came third and fourth.

The top female was Kristen Connell (41:34), followed by Kym Chisholm (44:16), Christina Thorne (44:56) and Reegan O'Keefe (45:36).

In the 4 km run, Chris Macdonald (13:15) clocked the fastest time on this tough course for several years, followed by Keith Southgate (14:02), Paul Considine (14:30) and Robert Torley (15:02). The fastest females were Catriona Windsor, 12 (far right), and Nicola Torley, nine, who finished in 16:23 and 16:29 respectively. (Both are already veterans of Sri Chinmoy events, and we can safely name them as"ones to watch" for the future.) As Catriona and Nicola are both under 13, Marissa Veid (16:45) clinched the women's first-place trophy, followed by Karina West (19:36).

Special mention should be made of Rylan Ziesing, easily our youngest-ever 4 km finisher. Ryan turns five later this month, so if anyone is inspired to break his course record, they will have to be no older than four years, eleven months, one week and one day old!

Full race results by category are published.   Please also view the finish line action in the event photo gallery.

At the risk of spoiling the reader's enjoyment by opening with an awful pun, it was certainly a fair-weather day for racing in Canberra.