Course records were the order of the day, as a brand new loop around Iron Cove made its debut.
The ever-increasing popularity of this area amongst runners, walkers and cyclists, meant that by last year the sheer volume of traffic had turned the traditional out-and-back into something of an obstacle course. The new cycle/pedestrian pathway included with the recent bridge upgrade paved the way for a full loop of The Bay. A detour around the grass playing fields at Callan Park brought the new course to a precise, certified 7 km loop.
With rain forecast on and off for the whole day, only the second lap of the 14 km was "blessed" with a shower â otherwise, a cloudy and cool aspect presented ideal running conditions.
Evergreen Dani Andres led the 14 km field from start to finish, setting an inaugural course record of 51:04. Second home was Male 50-59 star, David Riches in 52:30. William Lonsdale led the Men 60-69 in 1:01:15.
Alyssa Betts took out the women's 14 km in a convincing 58:00, with Athene Chariot also breaking the magical hour barrier with 59:14. Julie Tayles was first among the Women 50-59 in 1:07:40.
The one-lap race was won for the men by Roussos Alexopoulos in a strong 25:32 â the exact same pace as Dani Andres' win in the 14 km â from Hamish Wallace and Jonathan Heron. Brian Radburn took out the Men 50-59 in 29:48, and Witold Krajewski the Men 60-69 in another fantastic run of 28:37.
Elmarie O'Regan (28:46) outlasted Collen Scuter (28:51) in the women's 7 km, with Suellen Stirling (35:51) also winning a close contest in the Women 50-59 from Sylvia Nichols (36:04), while Renee Reynolds took out the Women 60-69 in 41:39.
In the 4 km, the Under 17 Boys staged a demonstration race, with the first 4 across the line. Jarrod Biczo ran a blistering 13:46, a new age group record and only one second outside the all-time course record (the 4 km course used the traditional out-and-back, so runners in this race were challenging well-established records). Ben Moss, Tom Scullion and Luke Schofield all came home in under 15 minutes, excellent running in anyone's language. Daniel Moore was first in the over-17s brigade in 15:03, with Angus Beer taking out the Boys Under 13 in 15:53.
Just as the Under 17 Boys shone, so also the Under 13 Girls blazed ahead of the Female field. Sarah Playford set a new record for the Girls Under 13 of 16:00, while all of the top 6 female finishers came from this highly talented group! Not far behind Sarah were Sianna Steele (16:32), Madeline Playford (17:24), Kirrali Schofield (18:52), Isabella Mardini (18:42) and Tamara Lenthall (19:25) all finishing in under 20 minutes. Zoe Iron was first among the Girls Under 17 in 22:13, and Lucy Milekovic showed the 17 and Overs how it's done in 21:32.
Full results for all races are now published, along with updated course records for the new distances.
A photo gallery can be viewed here.