Published results are provisional. Please advise any errors or anomalies to [email protected] or phone 0404 071 327.

It is always a challenge to race along one of the most popular and well-used recreational routes for walkers, joggers, cyclists, scooter-riders and pram-wheelers in a busy city. Nevertheless, when the air is cool and still as it was this morning, there is hardly anywhere better to run – crowds or no crowds – than around Iron Cove on a Sunday morning.

A decent-sized (not too large, not too small) and good-natured field enjoyed 3 distances – Half-Marathon, 7km and 4km – either challenging their personal limits, racing against or with friends or simply making the most of their Long Weekend Sunday morning.

Category winners were:

4km

Girls Under 13 – Emma Felsman, 16:47
Boys Under 13 – Roque Rendic, 18:12
Female 17 and Over – Jennifer Simpson, 21:34
Male 17 and Over – Ryo Hitaka, 18:17

7km

Male Under 50 – Tom Reckinger, 23:53
Male 50-59 – David Carson, 29:37
Male 60-69 – Brian O’Grady, 33:03
Male 70 and Over – David Iverarch, 38:25
Female Under 50 – Kaori Hirakawa, 28:09
Female 50-59 – Zoe Melling, 34:45
Female 60-69 – Roslynn O’Grady, 54:30
Female 70 and Over – Merridy O’Donnell, 47:58

Half-Marathon

Female Under 50 – Rachael McCarthy, 1:21:49
Female 50-59 – Sara Stace, 1:33:55
Female 60-69 – Kylie Lewis, 1:53:37
Female 70 and Over – Anne Elizabeth Boyd, 3:05:36
Male Under 50 – Edward Shiell, 1:15:34
Male 50-59 – Mark Arbib, 1:26:32
Male 60-69 – Scott Norrington, 1:40:57

 

Names oftentimes carry a significance far beyond that intended by the namer. Whoever named Royal National Park was intending to honour British royalty – yet the name “Royal” is more than apt, for this extraordinary haven so proximate to our largest metropolis, is indeed royalty among National Parks.

A record field for this event turned out on a morning that pleased every sense and sensibility of the body, heart and soul.

While the races started in order from longest (marathon ) to shortest (5km), it was the shortest which finished first and provided the day’s earliest headlines. First to return from his foray into the bush was Xavier Brown, breaking his own course record for the Boys Under 17 set last year, with a flying 18:47, ahead of Kade Burgess’ 19:50, in the same age group.

Next runner home was the spirited Emma Felsman, who broke a 9-year-old record for the Girls Under 13 with her 3rd-placed outright time of 22:35, not far ahead of her father Marcus, who won the Male 17 and Over with 23:18. 

The other categories were won respectively by Piper Kiely (Girls Under 17) in 29:00; Emma Trehy (Female 17 and Over ) with 29:08; while Toby Burton won the Boys Under 13 in 33:01.

Michael Truscott was the standout runner of the 10km field, winning the Male Under 50 with a substantial margin in 40:38, from Chris Vallely’s 42:13 and 3rd placed William Clark with 42:31. Andrew Alexander took out the M50-59 with 49:35; not far behind Shin Hattori, fastest among the M60-69 with his swift 48:14.

Samantha Taylor won the women’s 10km race in 49:52, from 2nd placed Stephanie Crossley with 50:01 and Lise Kempler’s 50:17. Just behind them was 1st placed F50-59 whirlwind, Roisin Boyle in 50:33. In the F60-69 it was Joan Feeney leading the way with 58:16; while Jennifer Rankine took home the main prize in the Female 70 and Over with 1:09:14.

The largest field of the morning assembled at 7am for the Half-Marathon – one full out-and-back length of Lady Carrington Drive, preceded by a shorter 2km warm-up to make up the distance to the required 21.1km.

Greta Truscott was a superb front-running winner of the women’s race, her strong and graceful 1:31:28 a full 5 minutes ahead of 2nd placed Kathy Costa’s 1:36:39, with 3rd going to Cheryl Greenaway with 1:44:51. The F50-59s was won by Yvonne Richards in 1:53:49, ahead of Leesa Bennett with 1:54:51 and Kellyanne Hinchcliffe in 1:57:40. Catherine Rowney was the sole flag-bearer for the F60-69s, taking the main prize in 2:34:49.

Like Greta in the women’s race, Matthew Geleta ran an inspired race to outpace the field in 1:20:40 over this challenging course; well ahead of Matt Berrington with 1:24:24 and Craig Kernow’s finish of 1:26:48. 3rd place overall was taken by the impressive Matt North whose 1:26:01 was best among the M50-59s, from Peter Grimison’s 1:43:07 and Charles Nicoll with 1:44:15. The most impressive run however came from Quiang Richard Zhang, whose nimble-footed 1:39:11 set a new course record for the Male 60-69 category; while Byung Kyu Lee took out the M70 and Over with 2:43:20.

While all this activity was happening in the “shorter” races, the marathoners were running and running … and running… Luke Jeffery finished a very happy winner in 3:03:46, from 2nd placed Christopher Winterbourne’s 3:09:49. Next home was Mark Gregory, winning the Male 50-59s with 3:16:43, ahead of “vegan runner” Soonchul Shin with 3:21:42; whileest in the M60-69s was Jung Lee with 4:06:10.

Alexandra Dunn-Delvaen won the women’s marathon in 3:42:49, ahead of Natasha Schmidt with 3:58:36 and Xindan Zeng’s 4:17:01; while Nadene Sermon was 1st F50-59, running the marathon with her son Jared in 5:12:57.

It didn’t rain, and it wasn’t too hot or cold – but gosh was it windy! The biggest foe of fast times turned up in full force this morning, with 70km gusts buffeting runners all around the 7km loop course. The wind didn’t deter the largest field to assemble for a Half-Marathon at a Sri Chinmoy Iron Cove event this decade, in an encouraging sign of the continuation of Sydneysiders’ rediscovered love of running.

A cheerful cohort of Japanese runners not only provided wonderful atmosphere and tremendous support – they backed up their cheering with fantastic performances to fill several of the podium placings across various categories.

Matthew Gibson lasted strongest in the men’s Half-Marathon field to record an impressive win of 1:14:45, ahead of Timothy Broxup with 1:17:08 and Craig Gilbertson’s 1:17:35. In the Male 50-59, it was Paul Davis who took the win with his front-running 1:22:56, from Akira Suzuki’s 1:26:19 and Soonchul Shin with 1:26:37; while Benito Setoue took out the M60-69 with 1:58:18.

The women’s Half-Marathon saw Caroline Chong run a superbly controlled 1:28:43 to win the race, with Jo Franklin (1:30:57) and Madeleine Hoff (1:32:01) filing the podium placings of 2nd and 3rd. 4th and 5th places among all the women belonged to superb runs from the winner and runner-up of the F50-59 category – Britt Welander clocking an amazing (in the conditions) 1:33:37, from the impressive Sara Stace with 1:34:21. Meanwhile in the F60-69, Teresa Setoue placed 1st with 2:11:07.

The one-lap 7km race saw David Kennedy (24:52) hold off Michael Norris (25:26) and teenager Charlie Naughton (25:42) for a convincing win. David Winning was fastest among the M50-59 with 28:46, from Martin Richards’ 29:18. However the star of the race was new inductee to the M60-69 category, Richard Sarkies, who ran a phenomenal new course record 27:34, to sit alongside his still-standing M50-59 record – a full 5 minutes ahead of his nearest rival in the M60-69, Tetsundo Kato with 32:38. Brian Rayburn took out the M70+ in a more-than-respectable 42:19.

The women’s 7km race was well won by Kaori Hirakawa with 29:46 on the clock, ahead of Valeria Angulo with 31:00 and Corinne Buchan who ran 31:16. Roisin Boyle took out the F50-59 with a fantastic 33:03, with Rits Ikeda not far adrift with 34:31. Merrily O’Donnell meanwhile won the F70+ with 48:31, only 20 seconds ahead of Jill Farrer’s 48:52.

The 4km race saw Boys Under 13 winner Tobias Farruggio first outright with 17:08, with next place taken by Girls Under 13 winner, Emma Felsman’s 18:00 (ahead of her dad, Marcus Felsman, 1st in the M17+ with 18:39). Carmen Ogilvie took out the F17+ with 22:16.

Many insisted that last year’s (2023) Sri Chinmoy Royal National Park trail races were held in the best conditions ever. That is, until this year (2024)…

Superlatives were being bandied about amongst the timing crew at the finish line this morning, yet none came close to capturing the quintessence of perfection embodied in the rare alignment of the locale, weather (agreeable humidity, pleasing temperature, friendly percentage of cloud and foliage cover, slightness of breeze, optimum oxygen and negative ion quotient), season, occasion, purpose and outcome – a happy harmony of outer beauty and inner opportunity – for it is one thing to be blessed with perfect conditions, and quite another for such a large group of diverse people to so perfectly harvest the manifold bounty of those perfect conditions.

That this would be a special, memorable day was confirmed by the first 2 runners across the finish line – Oliver Fyfe broke his own record from last year by running 19:56 to win the Boys Under 13s in the 5km race, finishing behind only Xavier Brown, who won the Boys Under 17 (and the race outright) with a new BU17 record time 19:37.

Emma Felsman ran with all her heart to win the Girls Under 13 (and the female race outright) with a wonderful run of 24:50; while Rada Mulhere won the Female 17 and Over in 28:07; and Aleix Vazquez took the Male 17 and Over with 22:52.

The best performance in the 10km race was offered by Adelaine Ho, who split the 1st and 2nd placed males with her winning 44:29, just behind Justin Verus’ outright win of 44:18, and edging out 2nd male Luke Carey’s 44:30. John Hayes was fastest in the M50-59 with 50:54, though overshadowed by the faster M60-69 category, where Michael Wilding with 47:26 had his work cut out to hold off 2nd placed Kieron Blackmore with 47:42.

Behind Adelaine in the women’s race, Esther Au was next with 49:24, with Corinne Buchan taking 3rd in 52:50. Michele Leeming took 1st place in the F50-59 with 53:44 ahead of a close finish for 2nd and 3rd between Jakki Agostino (55:09) and Louise Brewer (55:12). Joan Feeney was just behind these ladies, winning the F60-69 with an impressive 55:25; while Mieke Masselos again shone in the F70+ with her 1:07:21.

By far the most popular distance today proved to be the Half-Marathon, and why not? The 10km and 5km runners only saw and enjoyed portions of the delightful Lady Carrington Dr, while the Half-Marathoners got to savour its full distance and glory – and met with all the drink station attendants along the way – in both directions.

Peter Richardson (1:24:30) held off 2nd placed Christopher Winterbourne (1:24:46), with Claudio Matoso completing the podium placings with 1:29:31. Meanwhile, Stephen Barlow had taken out 1st M50-59 with an swift 1:27:19. Geoff Barnes was fastest among the M60-69 in running a super 1:37:31, while Ian Garrett took out the M70+ with 2:20:31.

Em O’Sullivan won the women’s race comfortably, her 1:30:37 placing her 6th outright in a dominant display. Emma Overmyer (1:46:23) and Kathy Costa (1:47:38) were much closer in the race for 2nd and 3rd placings. Nadine Serman led a close field in the F50-59 category, her 2:00:02 good enough to keep her ahead of the chasing pack of Donna-Leigh Jackson (2:00:32), Kathy Johnsun (2:00:41), Bron Evans (2:01:01) and Belinda Louey (2:01:44). Pamela Blaikie won the F60-69 with her excellent showing of 2:22:19.

The marathon runners made the most of everything – their trip to Royal National Park, Nature’s beauty, the provisions of the drinks stations and their own capacity to enjoy, to push, to struggle, to suffer, to surmount and to triumph.

Luke Jeffrey looked the most composed of all the field, his calm demeanour belying his winning time of 3:07:32. Next home was M50-59 winner, Akira Suzuki with 3:20:40. Then another Male Under 50, Jason Hweeler, with 3:23:11, followed by another two M50-59 runners, Soonchul Shin with 3:23:40 and Sung Hun Lee’s 3:28:29. Jianwei Liu took 3rd place Male Under 50 with 3:29:58. Leon Barnard was 1st home in the M60-69 with 43:14:40; while Rod Rainey established a new Male 70 and Over course record with his fine run of 5:03:45.

Susan Marshall won the women’s race with 3:48:54, from Akiko Akashi with 4:05:32 and Ellie Wiseman ’s 4:41:45; while Hiroko Vasilas ran 4:18:01 to take out the F50-59 category, from Yvonne Richards’ 4:21:02 and Margriet Wooldridge with 4:49:57.

Every race has its runners and its volunteers, and for each, it is a full-on commitment…

The Half-Marathon started and the race began – for those wearing numbers, to get home fastest: for those wearing gloves, to fill enough water cups for oncoming runners.

When the 4km runners departed, the drama commenced – for those moving swiftly, of suffering and success; for those standing still, to make sure entries were accurately processed and placegetters would be correctly named.

The 7km started and the battle began – for those cantering, a tussle for the podium: for those catering, a bluster of wind vs barbecue, cold air coming from the harbour thieving the flames needed to make over a thousand pancakes.

On this clear, sunny morning, all races were run and won; all dramas played and resolved; all battles concluded victorious.

With Sydney’s burgeoning running boom, the largest field in over a decade enjoyed this Iron Cove classic – and with it, new superstars.

Christine McGrath in the Under 50 women’s Half-Marathon ran a new record 1:23:51; and Eliza Smith in the Girls Under 17 4km, set a new bar at 15:55.

Congratulations one, congratulations all!

Due to works along the event route of Lady Carrington Drive, this race was forcibly postponed twice – from May, to July, and then to November. Though by accident, the first time this race has been staged outside of the Winter months, proved a happy and popular outcome. With more daylight hours enabling an earlier start, the shaded course protected from the full impact of the sun, the time spent upgrading the track surface proving very well worth the effort, runners were able to enjoy the full panoply of Nature at ease – constant quadraphonic birdsong amidst a cathedral of green, lyre birds skitting alongside the runners, even a diamond python sunning itself across the full length of the path.

Only rarely is the Marathon here run in under 3 hours, yet today race winner Luke Jeffrey (2:58:23) and 2nd placed Peter Richardson (2:59:09) both claimed that feat, while in the women’s Marathon, Sarah Hammer won in 3:35:46, from Fiona Mellink’s 3:48:01. Leanne McLaughlan took out the Female 50-59 with 4:39:27, and the redoubtable Jane Trumper, the F60-69 in 5:18:31. Jeremy Smith claimed the M50-59 with his 3:43:57, David Campbell won a tight race in the M60-69 in 4:07:07 from Leon Barnard’s 4:08:39; and the heroic Ray James took out the M70+ with 6:20:03.

Helena Hayes ran the race of the day, setting a new women’s record in the Half-Marathon of 1:28:58, placing her 9th outright. The Half-Marathon attracted the largest field and greatest depth, in speed, characters and diversity. Helena’s finished 6 and a half minutes clear of 2nd placed Georgina Beech in 1:35:17, with Monique Andrea claiming 3rd in 1:40:16. Nadine Sermon was fastest in the F50-59 with 2:02:30; while Jennifer Rankine took out the F60-69 in 2:30:31.

Jonah Newton won the men’s Half-Marathon in an excellent 1:20:55, from Ilya Levchenko’s 1:22:15, ahead of a bunch of 4 runners all within half a minute of each other – Chris Lightfoot, Jack Beckinsale, Dean McNamara and Keith Hong all clocking 1:23 and change. Steve Temmo won the M50-59 with 1:35:49; and Zhang Quang the M60-69 in 1:40:57.

Winning the 10km women’s race today in 47:11, saw Eileen Cantwell claim the overall Sri Chinmoy Sydney Series pointscore championship, having placed in the top 3 in all 5 races of the Series. Next home was Natasha Hammond in 49:56, ahead of Joanne Rolland’s 50:35. Jo Tornatore-Gallo won the F50-59 in 57:27; though Joan Feeney in the F60-69 was ahead in 56:13; and the irrepressible Mieke Masselos won the F70+ in 1:00:07, winning her 5th race of the Sri Chinmoy Sydney Series for 2023 and thus taking the 70+ crown with a perfect 50 pointscore.

Angus Pearson was the only runner home in under 40 minutes on the demanding 10km course, winning the men’s race in 39:49, from 2nd placed David Winning’s 43:18 and 3rd Chris Vallely with 43:47. Stephen Mitchell claimed the M50-59 main award with 52:12; though Stephen was eclipsed by Michael Wilding taking home the M60-69 prize in 47:02; while a stellar field 5 gentleman athletes tackled the M70+, with Rob Ellis winning in 49:36, completing his 4th win in as many starts in the Sri Chinmoy Sydney Series this year – though it was the consistent David Iverach who claimed the Series award, his 52:36 earning another 2nd placing today and with 5 races completed, enough points to hold off Rob in the pointscore championship.

Regan Burnett (M17+) won the 5km race in 20:21 – but he had a job to hold off the fast-finishing Oliver Fyfe, whose 20:36 eclipsed his own course record for Boys Under 13.  Next home, Taylor Mulhere was also running in the Boys Under 13, ahead of Boys Under 17 winner Rafi Tudjman in 22:25.

The Girls Under 13 winner, Sybil Mulhere won the women’s race outright in 27:34, just ahead of F17+ winner and 2nd placegetter, Cailie Challenor (27:38) and Rada Mulhere (27:39).

This time one year ago, we were attempting to process and describe the worst conditions any of us had ever experienced at a running event. By contrast, the 2023 Sri Chinmoy Dolls Point races served up an occasion devoid of extremities, a middle-of-the-road event on a reasonably fine day (with moderate winds not reaching the levels forecast), witnessing a medium-sized field returning respectable times, with moderately enthusiastic participants and supporters enjoying quite good pancakes at the finish of it all. What a relief! Always on the look out for the sensational, the phenomenal, the extraordinary – there are times when we must appreciate the median, the average and the workaday, for such occasions provide the screen on which is projected life’s more vivid colours, the backdrop against which our more intense dramas are enacted. So, for today, let’s be grateful, and celebrate in polite, muted tones!

This is not to say that today was without its impressive peaks – 2 course records were eclipsed, many runners achieved personal bests including several first-time Half-Marathon finishers – congratulations to all! – AND the fried bananas atop the pancakes were an exceptional treat.

The 5km race saw a spectacular new Boys Under 13 course record set by the flying Xavier Zahra with his 18:36 placing 2nd overall behind Male 17 and Over winner, Dustin Litster’s 17:30. Melody Song was fastest of the Girls Under 13s with 29:07, while Alissa Barker took out the Female 17 and Over category in 23:46.

10km is one of the world’s standard favourite road racing distances, and this one provides the added challenge of the climb in both directions over the imposing Captain Cook Bridge. Mieke Masselos continued her record-shattering year with an impressive new course best in the Female 70 and Over category of 55:03. Doris Mitchell won the F60-69s with 58:34, and Rita Kazzi cruised home with the F50-59 main prize in 51:20. Winner of the women’s race in the Female Under 50 was Jessica Carroll, whose winning 42:00 saw her cross the line a full 2 and a half minutes clear of 2nd placed Eileen Cantwell’s 44:33, with Natasha Hammond taking 3rd in 45:19.

Meanwhile, Craig Gilbertson ran a similarly solo effort in the Men’s race to win the Male Under 50s by 2 minutes in 35:29, from Adam Reid’s 37:38 for 2nd, with Kevin Kuechler in 41:36 for 3rd. Dan Condon took out the M50-59s with 47:13; Grant Nicholls the M60-69 in 46:06; and a resurgent Rob Ellis the Male 70 and Over with a sharp 50:36.

The largest field of the morning toed the line for the longest distance, with 110 runners fronting for the 21.1km Half-Marathon. Martin Vu led from the get-go and never looked back, forging into the wind to set a shining example for the field with a fine 1:20:46, from Henry Brunskill’s 1:24:09, with Declan McNerney filling out the podium places in 1:28:37. Christine Wang played the same role to the women’s field, winning by a similar margin, her 1:36:12 victory coming ahead of Morgan Yuen’s 2nd-placed 1:40:08, and Jennifer Lowry, in 1:40:55 taking 3rd.

The M50-59 category boasted half the numbers of the Under 50 category, an extraordinary showing demonstrating running’s ever-increasing popularity with the so-called “veteran” age groups. Matthew Beech took the title in this cohort with 1:30:49 (placing him 4th outright), from Martin Cosby’s 1:33:39 and 3rd placed Jai Yet Yuen in 1:35:47. The F50-59 saw Shannon Whiteley take the win with a fine 1:46:39, from Bron Evans’ 1:53:18 and Barbara Hemingway in 3rd with 2:06:42. Gregory Leamon claimed the M60-69’s in 1:51:56.

PERFORMANCE 0F THE DAY – One of the most impressive achievements in all of the Sri Chinmoy Sydney Series up till now, has been Helen Stanger’s amazing Female 60-69 record for the Half-Marathon at Centennial Park, of 1:44:05 set back in 2012. Today, on a course which was part quagmire and heavy going at best, and with every other winning time in each category of all 3 races being well off record pace, Raewyn Harlock surpassed Helen’s record with an incredible run of 1:42:53 – and in the process, won the women’s Half-Marathon race outright, in itself an historical achievement. Just a week after Camille Herron’s trail-blazing new 48-hour World Record of 435 km in Canberra, Raewyn is similarly soaring to new heights on behalf of not only all women, but everyone who aspires to transcend their boundaries in any field, anywhere, at any age. Raewyn, your thrilling run today has inspired our deep respect, admiration, joy and awe – long may you continue!

On a morning which saw intermittent deluges from the early hours before first light peeped from behind further ominous blanketing banks of darkening rainy-stuff, it turns out that to reach the starting line proved to be a significant victory – with over one third of all entrants not arriving at that primary destination. Ironically, once the actual running started, the skies released barely a drop from their copious stores, holding back further blessings till the packing up was nearly done.

Hot on Raewyn Harlock’s heels, winner of the Female Under 50 race was a flying Nikki Tulliani with 1:43:12, just edging out Stephanie Bian’s 1:43:46, with Jilly Collins taking 3rd in 1:47:52. Susan While was best among the Female 50-59 with 2:13:30.

With the course passing the start/finish area twice each lap, spectators get 6 glimpses of the action over the 3 laps of the Half-Marathon, to follow the tussles for podium spots among the leaders, as well as numerous other contests unfolding throughout the field. The men’s race saw several changes up front, with Angus Pearson finally drawing away to win in an impressive 1:21:24, from Maurice Kelter of Ireland – who had come across the race by chance while on his morning run through the park, and entered at the last minute – with 1:22:30, sprinting to the line to hold off a charge from Craig Gilbertson who claimed 3rd a mere two seconds later, in 1:22:32.

Steve Temmo was 4th male home, and fastest among the Male 50-59s with 1:37:05, from Eddie Guo’s 1:40:15; Lars Lindvuist, running with his son Martin, took out the Male 60-69 category with a sterling run of 1:39:12; while the indefatigable Bob Fickel (175 Half-Marathons and 302 Marathons to his name) claimed the Male 70 and Over award with 2:49:41.

Chris Vallely took out the 7km men’s race in 29:08, though not too far ahead of the Male 50-59 winner, Shane Maundrell whose 29:38 stood him in 2nd place outright. Mark Bligh’s 32:09 to take out the Male 60-69 category also placed him in the top 5; while David Iverach took out the Male 70 and Over in 36:17, despite still recovering from Covid. Eileen Cantwell was in amongst the leading men home, to claim the premier women’s prize with 32:36; while Sha Zhu took out the Female 50-59 with 42:42; and Sally Warneford the Female 60-69 with 42:24; and Mieke Masselos the Female 70 and Over in 45:27.

The 4km race saw a close finish between Boys Under 13 1st place-getter and outright winner, Oliver Fyfe in 16:41, from Girls Under 13 winner, Eliza Smith (16:52). Eliza’s sister Ruby, running in the Girls Under 17s, was next in 18:31, ahead of Oliver’s brother George (18:35), with Terry Couchman coming next to claim 1st place in the Male 17 and Over category. Caroline Fyfle brought a third medal home for the family, with 1st place in the Female 17 and Over in 20:06.

Pursuing the dawn, a creeping fog claimed Iron Cove, as though veiling the day’s prospects. Yet this mask held no mystery, for all apps foretold a sunny day – and a sunny day we would have. After months of incessant rain, Sydney stepped forward to show its Springtime finest.

Today’s Sri Chinmoy Half-Marathon was notable for the performances of those just commencing, and those continuing long running careers. The male winner, Hayden Redfern, was participating in his first ever race, having taken up running only 3 months ago, and impressed all with a fine debut of 1:18:02, to win 4 minutes clear of the field. Katie Rogers, the women’s winner, was likewise running her first ever Half-Marathon, showing immense promise to win by a massive 18 minutes in a superb 1:27:48. Next home among the women were Sabina Rogers in 1:55:38, and Michelle Fitzpatrick with 1:56:38. The podium finishers in the men’s race after Harden, saw a close tussle between Darren Lake in 1:22:17 and Matt North with 1:22:23.

The stars came out and shone brightly at the upper end of the age categories today, with Anne Elizabeth Boyd establishing an inaugural F70+ course record of 2:36:38, just one week after running the Sydney Marathon. David Iverach holds most of his age group records for most courses of the Sri Chinmoy Sydney Series, but had never run the Half-Marathon distance at Iron Cove. He rectified that today, duly setting a new M70+ record of 1:52:37. The final finisher had also run the furthest distance – David Vuaghan started today’s Half-Marathon needing only 4km to complete his virtual “Around Australia” run which has taken him no less than 5 years to complete – and added a further 17km for good measure. That’s an amazing effort, David!

Kaye Johnson won the F50-59 category with a wonderful 1:43:52, and Razz Wilkins the F60-69s in 2:00:27. Jon Schol was fastest among the M50-59 in a slick 1:38:45, with Christopher Jones taking out the M60-69s in style with 1:44:28.

It seems that runners nowadays are staying fitter and runner faster, for longer. It has been a distinct trend in recent years, that course records for older age categories have been challenged and eclipsed more and more often, by significant margins. The one-lap 7km race, for those who enjoy speed or just like to be home early, saw outright wins to runners in more mature age categories.

Raewyn Harlock already owns the F50-59 record for this distance, and today stepped up to take the F60-69 course best time and win the women’s race outright with a simply stellar run of 30:42. She makes it look easy! Sophie Collett was impressive in winning the Female Under 50 category in 31:05, with the next two finishers representing the Female 50-59 category – Sachiko Spears winning her age group with 32:04 from Zoe Melling’s 33:00. Next were FU50’s Mayumi Jomkamsing’s 35:11 and Rebecca Karantonis in 35:25. The other standout performance in this distance was Kathy Stanley, claiming a fine new course record for Female 70 and Over of 47:35.

The men’s race saw a fine win from the Male 50-59 category to Greg Churchill with 26:49, ahead of 1st placed Male Under 50, Nicholas Foale in 27:54. Next was another in the M50-59, Trevor Thomas with 28:00, then Ian Tattersall’s 28:26 and David Winning’s 28:33 in the MU50. Andrew Panos took out the M60-69 with 43:32, and Brian Rayburn the M70+ in a princely 38:31.

Louise Graham was in a class of her own in the 4km “sprint” race to run away in a new course record time of 15:31, from the Female 70 and Over category. Next home was Boys Under 13s winner, Oliver Fyfe with a fine 16:52. Yuya Sugiyama took the Male 17 and Over in 20:43, with Emma Sugiyama taking out the Girls Under 13 in 21:00, and Isabella Vincent Delgado, the Girls Under 17 with 22:02.