Results (PDF Download)

Sri Chinmoy Royal National Park Trail Marathon, Sunday 19 November 2023, full results by category 81.94 KB

Sri Chinmoy Royal National Park Trail Half-Marathon, Sunday 19 November 2023, full results by category 103.21 KB

Sri Chinmoy Royal National Park 10km Trail Run, Sunday 19 November 2023, full results by category 90.09 KB

Sri Chinmoy Royal National Park 5km Trail Run, Sunday 19 November 2023, full results by category 73.39 KB

Sri Chinmoy Sydney Series 2023 final pointscore 126.46 KB

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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).

Results (PDF Download)

Sri Chinmoy Iron Cove 14km, Sunday 5 November 2023, full results by category 75.13 KB

Sri Chinmoy Iron Cove 7km, Sunday 5 November 2023, full results by category 79.59 KB

Sri Chinmoy Iron Cove 4km, Sunday 5 November 2023, full results by category 56.01 KB

Sri Chinmoy Sydney Series 2023 Pointscore, progress after race 5 110.78 KB

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“You’ve got to be in it, to win it.” The first prize along the way to the finish line, is the starting line!

There’s beauty everywhere, if you have the eye to see; and joy, with the heart to feel.

Hopefully all who chose to stay at home in preference to the bounteous beauty and joy of running at Iron Cove amidst a morning laden with atmosphere and sparkling with surprises, found other ways and means to enrich and fulfill themselves, for a record high number of “no-shows” might otherwise indicate some Sydney runners could be turning a bit soft, inclined towards a cozy cushion at the suggestion of rain.

Yes there was some rain – intermingled with so much else, like a recurring motif in a symphony of goodies. While a few showers certainly dampened the grass and emboldened some puddles along the way, they served not to close the door, but to fling it wide open to the deeper enjoyment and appreciation of the whole experience.

Special kudos to those wise souls who, having missed the online entry deadline, sallied forth under teeming clouds to enter on the morning, by which time a good drenching was a near certainty.

For all the winners, don’t just turn to the top few lines of the results – scan from top to bottom of each page, and offer a silent round of applause for each and every name, every rank itself a winner’s podium.

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Sri Chinmoy Dolls Point Half-Marathon, Sunday 9 July 2023, full results by category 88.38 KB

Sri Chinmoy Dolls Point 10km run, Sunday 9 July 2023, full results by category 94.81 KB

Sri Chinmoy Dolls Point 5km run, Sunday 9 July 2023, full results by category 68.53 KB

Sri Chinmoy Sydney Series 2023 Pointscore, progress after race 4 103.56 KB

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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.

Results (PDF Download)

Sri Chinmoy Iron Cove Half-Marathon, Sunday 11 June 2023, full results by category 96.5 KB

Sri Chinmoy Iron Cove 7km race, Sunday 11 June 2023, full results by category 92.78 KB

Sri Chinmoy Iron Cove 4km race, Sunday 11 June 2023, full results by category 72.39 KB

Sri Chinmoy Sydney Series 2023 Pointscore, progress after race 3 90.88 KB

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Musings from inside the race, from Susan Marshall, #230…

Of all the many steps we take during a race, the one we think of most while running is the one that takes us over the finish. Halfway through today’s half-marathon, my mind piped up with its tired yet constant measuring of how far that finish line was. It’s an old game: the inner squabble between the mind that begs us to let up, and something else – that calls us to run further and faster than before. This is the ironic joy and victory of overcoming the pain and quelling down your own cries of resistance.

We all have a way of whiling away the time while the body does its thing. Being conscious that this was the best thing I would do all day, I tried not to just wish it were over. Afterwards, settled and in a comfortable place, our mind returns to these so-called challenges, marveling in them, poring over the highs and lows, delighting in the joy of our own self-conquest and laughing at the revelation of our thoughts’ impermanence.

I reminded myself that when it was over, I would look back at each moment, searching each one for an experience of consciousness, awareness, hope, enthusiasm and happiness: inner qualities that begin to bloom in our efforts to go beyond. Qualities that would impress themselves onto my life, reshaping me. I opened myself to the experience, engaging with my love of running. I asked myself, why does it make me so happy? I tried to meditate, and become that part of myself that wants to do and grow, and throw itself into the pursuit of unknown experience, beyond what we have already seen and felt.

Self-transcendence brings the awareness of infinite possibility. Once we connect with its inspiration, our ego disappears in a vast and inviting necessity of what more we can become. The petty and mundane hardships of life seem inconsequential battles rendered irrelevant under the greater task of discovering and revealing the great domains of truth inside us. Perhaps this is a vastly overstated account of running round a cove. But just as one longed-for moment of crossing a finish line can inspire months of training, so a single moment within a race can embody the purpose of the pursuit.

…

After decades of Sri Chinmoy races at Iron Cove, race records are rare indeed – yet today uncorked several incredible record-breaking performances –

* Half-Marathon all-comers record: Brendan Fink, 1:12:39
* Half-Marathon, Female 70 and Over: Anne Elizabeth Boyd, 2:32:36
* Half-Marathon, Female 60-69: Raewyn Harlock, 1:41:52
* 7km, Female 70 and Over: Mieke Masselos, 38:08

Congratulations to all involved with this historic occasion.

Results (PDF Download)

Sri Chinmoy Centennial Park Half-Marathon, Sunday 2 April 2023, full results by category 83.64 KB

Sri Chinmoy Centennial Park 7km race, Sunday 2 April 2023, full results by category 82.12 KB

Sri Chinmoy Centennial Park 4km race, Sunday 2 April 2023, full results by category 69.76 KB

Sri Chinmoy Sydney Series 2023 Pointscore, Race 1 74.95 KB

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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.