The transition to the new Princes Park venue went surprisingly well and was quite a contast to the cramped conditions of the old venue. Even the modified race distances due to the closure of the Capital City Trail underpass failed to deter the enjoyment seemingly had by all, with many of the 500 or so runners and family members lingering to enjoy the sun and post-race pancakes.
Due to this closure and consequent course modification to laps of Princes Park, the 15km ended up as a 15.9km run, the 10km a 9.6km and the 5km a 3.8km. Those prefering the 5km loop of the usual circuit will be pleased to know that the July event will be back on the old course.
Back in the early days of the first running boom in the mid-to-late 1970s, the South Melbourne Athletics Club staged its Olympic Tyres Marathon on this circuit and it was well known as a good race for a PB. So it was no surprise that there were many good performances and fast times on this crisp, sunny Sunday morning.
The 3.8km women's race saw an excellent performance from Grace Kalac in 14:44, winning convincingly by 1:27 from Nicki MacFarlane and also taking out the F15-17yrs category. First in the men's race was Harrison Callahan in 13:41, followed closely by Alexander van der Water in 13:48.
The 9.6km was a battle right from the start with Chris Armstrong proving the stronger in the end with a time of 33:59 and beating Cameron Simon by a slender 3 seconds. The women's race was won by Carmel Taylor in an excellent 39:03.
The class performance of the day was saved for the 15.9km run with a seemingly effortless run by Drew Arthurson in 54:49, who is in training for a sub-2:40 marathon by all reports.The women's 15.9km was also a hotly contested race for the first four laps until Kelly Jarrett pulled away from Clare McKay to win in 59:21.
Summary Results
15.9km
Men: 1st Drew Arthurson 54:49; 2nd Rob Finney 58:08; 3rd Peter Hallgren 58:23
Women: 1st Kelly Jarrett 59:21; 2nd Clare McKay 1:00:22; 3rd Sarah Sulaiman Ch'ng 1:01:49
9.6km
Men: 1st Chris Armstrong 33:59; 2nd Cameron Simon 34:02; 3rd Andy Quirk 35:09
Women: 1st Carmel Taylor 39:03; 2nd Jody Gilchrist 42:48; 3rd Ruth Hodge 43:07
3.8km
Men: 1st Harrison Callahan 13:41; 2nd Alexander van der Water 13:48; 3rd Brent Radoslovic 14:32
Women: 1st Grace Kalac 14:44; 2nd Nicki MacFarlane 16:11; 3rd Ellen Hall 16:47
