It rained. But only for the first lap, and then the sun came out and dried everyone off. Still despite the precipitation it was a great day for the 550+ runners who braved the wintery conditions and there were even a couple of course records broken.

Results and gallery images from the day are now available.

The premier event, the 30km run was taken out by Mark De Campo in a speedy 1:53:34, followed very closely by Mack Clarkson in 1:53:39, with Danny Hawksworth finishing third in 1:55:16. In fact it was a very strong men's field with 9 runners going under the prized 2 hour mark for the 30km.

The women's race was won by Sarah Sulaiman Ch'ng in 2:15:41, and like in the men's race, narrowly ahead of second placed Ruth Kimpton in 2:15:47. Anna Francis picked up the last podium spot in 2:18:51.

There were some great performances amongst the age group runners. These included Peter Hyland who took out the men's 50+ age category in a speedy 2:05:59 to finish 21st overall and the evergreen Judy Wines who won the women's 70+ category in a splendid 3:27:42.

Line honours in the half marathon was taken by Coloe Matthew in a new course record of 1:13:45 which is an excellent time given the windy and slushy conditions. Taking out the minor placings were Nathan Jessop in 1:17:08 and Louis Guihenneuc in 1:18:20.

First place in the women's half marathon went to Bianca Share in 1:30:15 which placed her in 17th place overall.  Kirsten Jackson came in second in 1:32:15 also taking out the women's 40+ age category, followed by Danielle Sansonetti in 1:33:58. Fourth home was Anne Ziogos in a very speedy 1:34:59, who incredibly won the women's 50+ category and also finished 32nd overall ahead of many half her age. Well done Anne.

There were also a number of competitors in the 60+ age group who tackled the 21.1km course. The best of these were Ron Veal in 1:42.55 and Nancy Chorley in 1:49:26.

The 2 lap 10km event was won by Richard Kay in a very swift 32.12. In fact Richard came home so fast that he completely missed the finish chute and was picked up at the 5km split time point instead. Following in his wake were Michael Dowel in 33:50 and David Green in 34:57. The women's 10km race was won by Sarah Hughes in 41:12 followed by Zoe Ferguson in 42:43 and in third place Jen MacGibbon in 46:47.

The star of the 5km event was Heidi Riordan who crossed the line in a new course record time of 18:32 to take out the women's race and also finish outright second. Second home amongst the women was Nicole Hart in 19:52 in an impressive 6th place overall, followed by Monique Protopopov in 22:43.

The men's 5km was won by Sam McLean in 17.03. We think Sam must have missed the start because his net time for the 5km was 46 seconds faster. Sam was followed home by Chris Graffen in 19:28 and Dan Arbib in 19:35.

We were also very happy to see vern Gerlach return to form, crossing the line first in the 80+ age category in 43:00. Congratulations Vern, you are an inspiration.

Our next event is the Sri Chinmoy Yarra Boulevard Half Marathon on Sunday September 12. You can choose from the standard trio of distances, 21.1, 10 and 5km. Enter online.

We look forward to seeing you there or at one of our other upcoming events.

Sri Chinmoy Races