As day follows night and the flower blossoms from the bud, so another year of the Sri Chinmoy Sydney Series comes to a close, with a lovely run around The Bay at Iron Cove of 14km, 7km and 4km.
Stand-out performance in the 14km race came from Raewyn Harlock, racing in the Women 50-59 category, whose 56:25 not only led home all the women and all the men 50-59, but came in 5th outright. Amy Gumley took out the Women Under 50s with 58:01 from Kaye Johnson (1:00:52) and Elizabeth Pittaway (1:04:10).
Gary Mullins ran with a small pack through the first half of the race before breaking away in the second lap to finish in 51:11 from Anthony Alston (51:20) and Pete Conway (51:57). Victor Correa once again took the honours in the Men 50-59 with an excellent 56:33; with John Hoffman taking out the Men 60-69s in 1:08:27.
16-year-old Hamish Wallace continued his dominance in recent Sri Chinmoy events with a stellar run in the one-lap 7km race of 23:37, from Daniel Watchorn (25:52) who just out-ran Vincent Touchard (25:54). Alistair Watchorn ran well in 29:40 to take out the Men 50-59 category; with Ric Giddins winning the Men 60-69 in 31:32; and Edward McMaster the Men 70 and Over in 52:39.
Isabelle Crouche was the stand-out runner in the women's race, winning in 27:04 from Sophie Handsaker (27:56) and Annabel Hickey (28:26). In the Women 50-59, first place went to Monica McNamara (33:23); while her namesake Sue McNamara (36:33) took out the Women 60-69, only 10 seconds behind.
The 4km race saw an almost-dead-heart between Boys Under 17 runners and twins, Luke and Jayden Schofield, crossing the line together in 13:55. Angus Beer ran a fine 14:24 to take out the Boys Under 13s from Ned Denton (16:53) and James Smith (17:23). William Yang's 15:40 set the mark for the Men 17 and Over.
In the Girls Under 13s, Renee Lewis ran 16:41 to take first place from Isabella Mardini (17:20) and Hannah Woolf (21:50). Milly Denton meanwhile took out the Girls Under 17s in 17:52 from Sraah Durante (19:40 ) and Louisa Grundy (22:50); while Kirsten Todd won the Female 17 and Overs in 21:02.
Full results by category are published, along with a photo album from around the course.
The Sri Chinmoy Sydney Series will return in the New Year, with more of the same favourites and a few new venues offering a rich menu of varied challenges for Sydney runners in 2014.