#65 cover
Tuggie Athlete - it's paper!
JANUARY-MARCH 2004      Number 65   

North to Alaska
- by John Winsbury

Girdwood, Alaska - After enjoying several days of race preparation in unseasonably crisp, clear, sunny weather, athletes from around the globe were presented with an icy reception for the 19th World Mountain Running Trophy on September 20-21. More than 250 athletes representing 27 countries came to compete in the event. In the early hours of Saturday morning snowflakes the size of fifty-cent pieces began to fall. By day's end, thick snowfall left over 5 inches of white at the top of Mount Alyeska. The junior men's and women's races began the day's competition on an trail which had been quickly declared the toughest yet, made even more challenging with the majority of the uphill section of the course turned into a single track. I found myself holding the Irish flag cheering for several juniors as we did not have any juniors in the Australian team. The afternoon brought heavier snowfall and a further drop in temperature. Our three Senior women lined up for a 7.7km race where survival was the highest priority. Racing flats would normally be the shoe of choice but for this race a trail shoe with knobbly tread would reign supreme. All three got the top of the course together, Louise Fairfax, however, fortunately brought a pair of shoes with knobbly tread and was able to navigate the downhill gaining precious time to finish 46th in a time of 48.34. Susan Clark came in 63rd (54.28) and June Petrie 64th (54.43). Melissa Moon from New Zealand won the race convincingly in a time of 39.02, with a 39-second gap to second place.

As the next day dawned athletes looked anxiously towards the mountain to see what mother nature had in store for the open and senior men's races. Mount Alyeska's upper slopes were shrouded in fog and snowing lightly. Our team manager Bert Pilgrim got to prove he is made of the tough stuff and ran in the open men's race coming in 12th in a time of 68 minutes. Bert provided us with important knowledge about the condition of the course. Basically, the thin trail up the mountain was a mix of mud, slush and grass lined by a blanket of white. The downhill gravel section was clear of snow for most of it. This meant that I had to make use of the downhills to gain position. I had gone over this course several times since arriving in Alaska. Each time I became more confident that I could be competitive, but when the snow began to fall I knew that my chances were now slim unless I could get my hands on a pair of fell running shoes. I spent part of Saturday night and Sunday morning searching for a pair to no avail. Kevin laws managed to find a pair and so he lent me his racing flats that had some grip at the front.

Before I knew it I was in the pen with a 30-minute wait until the gun went off. I completed my race preparation and tried to keep warm. The air was electric. Everyone wanted to get into it. Having your race last adds to the tension. I remembered the look of relief on the girl's faces when it had finished. The Australian senior men's team consisted of Ben du Bois, Steven Page, Kevin Laws and myself. There were 115 competitors from 27 different nations. Each country had a starting lane with their best runner at the front. We drew lane 18, right in the middle of the pack, so as you could imagine it was hard to gain a good position unless you were in the front and were willing to sprint for the first 600 meters. With 5 minutes to go we were in our lanes and wishing each other the best of luck.

The sound of starters gun echoed through the air and we were off, jostling for position. I was quickly covered in mud from those in front of me. I was locked in the middle of the pack, getting pushed from all sides with no gaps in sight. I began to get annoyed with my situation so I had to find an escape route. I found a small gap and charged forward. I could see Steven up ahead but there were at least 30 runners between us. I ran on the edge of the fire trail to try and gain position. Twenty meters ahead the trail narrowed into a single file track and it was a long line of runners in front of me. The pace began to slow and the challenge became apparent - to stay upright and pass slower runners without stepping out onto the snow. By the time I reached the top of the course I was getting frustrated, with every step just fighting just to stay upright. The course was a lined by a sea of spectators complete with cowbells and light snowfall. It reminded me of scenes from the 'Tour de France' where there is barely any room for the competitors. The last few meters before the top was just a mud bath and it was impossible for me remain upright. I scrambled my way to the top to the sound of screams from my fellow Aussies. I took a look down at the trail and saw Steven nearing the turn around point. I put on the speed down the hill to try and bridge the gap. We had to run back up half of the mountain before continuing to the bottom. I passed 6 athletes on the way down to the turn around point and was still relatively fresh with adrenaline pumping through my veins. I used every available bit of grass to get some push off and began to make up more ground. Got back up to the top quicker than I thought I would and began the long decent. I started to increase the speed with some hesitation but figured that it was my only chance at improving my position and giving the race my all. I was gaining on him with every stride and by the bottom I had passed 12 runners and was hot on his heels. We had one last 600 eter hill before the final downhill which was where he became aware of me and we charged forward pushing each other faster passing more runners with each stride. Pushed out the last kilometre with all we could muster. Steven put 4 seconds on me in the final meters. I crossed the line a very happy man.

I ended up placing 71st in a time of 59.34. Marco De Gasperi from Italy won the race, in a time of 50.29. He was the champion of the previous last up and down. So, the final result for the Aussies was as follows: 42. Ben du Bois 56.57, 70. Steven Page 59.29, (71. John Winsbury 59.34) and 81. Kevin Laws 1.02.11.

Spent the afternoon in the Spa relaxing and yabbering to friends and then attending the closing ceremony. The next morning I headed back to Anchorage for two more days before flying out. Went to the local running shop and bought some great studded racing flats for a discounted price, the only catch was I had to do 20 chin ups. Since arriving back home I have had the time to reflect on the race and I believe I was very lucky to have such an opportunity with such unique conditions. I learnt many important lessons that will assist in my mental preparation for future races. I would like to thank SCT for their financial support in my endeavours and the Australian Mountain Running Association.


From the Top

From the top of a tree high on a mountain overlooking the city of Cebu I feel like I' m on top of the world looking down on creation. We all know that feeling when we have trained, raced or worked very hard to see a dream become a reality. There is no better feeling! Like winning a race or pointscore medal or trophy and setting a new personal best. Achieving goals and making dreams a reality are very worthwhile but sometimes the journey is so hard it may seem that a goal or dream may never happen - particularly if you are an athlete living in Cebu, Philippines.

Thurstow's story is typical of many athletes living in the Philippines. Although he has times of 15:01 (5k), 31:15 (10k) and 67:41 (21k) his living conditions are not conducive to achieving these times or improving on them. Thurstow, 32, lives at the sports stadium in a back room with other athletes who all live in similar conditions. They sleep on very poorly made high jump crash mats with no carpet, washing machine or television. A loud radio, very noisy neighbours or often workmen who are working in the stadium will wake them up early in the morning!

So when you go to sleep on a proper bed with a good mattress, wake up with carpet under your feet, don' t have to use a bucket for your shower, put on your machine wash of clothes, be very thankful and grateful that you' re blessed to be in Australia the lucky country - and run for your life! Just as the athletes of the Philippines do literally and also face up to never ending challenges just to survive.

Geoff Monro - President, March 2004

More Tales from an International Athlete
- by Geoff Monro

When you travel overseas you will find that customs, colloquialisms and other manners of behaviour can be quite interesting and very different as I was to find out during my Christmas holidays in Cebu - Philippines.

Arriving a couple of days before Christmas it was great to catch up with a few of the athletes I had met in April '03 and even better to spend time with my fiancée Agnes - I was really looking forward to the next four weeks and anticipating a really great holiday!

On that first morning in Cebu it was good to know that some things are the same all over the world as I went out for my run it wasn't too long before, yet again, I am finding money! A 10 or 25 'centavo' and $1.30 'fpeso' on the first day, still on the run and back to those curious customs and manners of behaviours. There I was running along playing dodgems with the cars - it's a bit like Russian roulette over here as many drivers change lanes without indicating and drive all over the road. If you're a pedestrian here, well, good luck as you're going to need it! As I'm running along people are yelling "run joe" and "ride joe". Feeling motivated by this encouragement I run strongly feeling good but I found out a few days later that although some were cheering me on, others wanted me to give them a ride!

One of the great things about life in the Philippines is their belief as the church and religion is very strong and families are close which is something I missed when growing up in Canberra. In January each year a religious festival is held called the Sinulog which is 10 days of bands playing at night and many other festivities - basically a week without sleep! One of my favourite places to run was in a very hilly part of the city which was home to the wealthy with many big houses - the locals called it "Beverley Hills". As I run through Beverley Hills admiring all the big houses no matter how hard I look there is no Nick Nolte or Eddie Murphy. A couple of days and many more hills later I still haven't found them - oh, well, maybe in another '48 hours'! At least I'm finding money on every run and everywhere I walk - a total of $25 in 18 days!

Two days later I'm going through the Beverley Hills area again in the Chinatown section. Passing the mini Great Wall of China (about 100m long) and the Taoist Temple there is still no sign of the movie stars. Ah well, maybe in "Another 48 Hours" or maybe I should just ask a "Beverley Hills Cop". After so much hillwork and Sinulog festivities I needed a break and Agnes said she knew of a great place to visit. So far we had enjoyed many different things - dining in the big super malls, ten pin bowling, movies and dancing - "Yes I can dance" but I can't sing although it's a good song anyway. I know I can dance but right now I needed a break so where did Agnes take me? A place called "Mountain View", great - more hills!

Mountain View was a beautiful place, very high and out of the city. You can stay in a cabin for just 700 pesos ($18.50AUS) per night. There is an entertainment area, a bar and karaoke! Now, I can't sing, but after a few local San Miguel beers my voice (well, my courage) was ready to go. Karaoke singing is great fun and as I was singing and dancing along to the music everyone is laughing and my score on the Karaoke machine says 99/100 - wow! I'm impressed. Then everyone says the machine is a good liar! After torturing the crowd I decided to run some of the hills near the resort. That was a great idea as I was able to find more money and a spectacular view. After running a couple of big hills and climbing 420 very big steps I reached the top where there was a 20 metre statue of Jesus Christ on the cross and boy did I thank god that I'd made it and finally there were no more hills!

Although I was finding plenty of money that wasn't the only reason why Agnes and myself were able to enjoy Cebu so much. The Australian dollar is worth 40 of their dollars. That made movies A$1.50, restaurant lunches and dinners were from A$1.00 to A$5.00, beer was A30cents, Coca-Cola was A45cents (so I drank more beer!). A$9.00 will buy a brand name pair of jeans and A$30 a pair of New Balance running shoes!


Hosking breaks yet another Walk Record:

Jillian Hosking slashed seven seconds from the ACT All-Comers U18 and U20 1500m Walk record at ACT Interclub on 6 March! Jillian's 6:17.45 broke the 1992 records of Cheryl Webb. Jillian is closing in on the ACT Open All-Comers record of 6:10.8 held by Sue Cook. When Sue set this record in 1984 she was amongst the world's leading walkers.
In other results Sonja Taylor broke her own U14 club javelin record by over 2 metres (24.98m) and Leo Kennedy shaved 0.01 seconds from his veteran club 100m record (12.79). Josh Hatch was our fastest 100m runner on the day with 12.23 while Jade Sutcliffe was the fastest female (12.80). Dale Moore broke his veteran club 400m record (58.33) while distance runner Andrew Bishop ran 57.61 to set a PB in the same race. The 1500m races held in cool conditions produced a number of PB's... Mark Shepherd with 3:57.94, Craig Tipping with 4:21.23, Noni Clarke with 4:33.21 (just outside Penny Garner's club record) and Sophie Vardos fast approaching the '5-minute-barrrier' with 5:05.41.

Funding applications have been approved:

The committee has approved most of the funding applications for the 2003. All-Schools. Unfortunately treasurer Mike Sexton is in WA on business for a few weeks so cheques won't be posted to members until after the April committee meeting.

Our AGM and Awards Evening:

Has been tentatively scheduled for Wednesday May 12 at the Lanyon Club (same venue as last year). The starting time is 7.30pm and further details will be advertised on the website at a later date and invitations will be posted to members before the night.

Prestigious Coaching Award to Garry Hosking:

Garry Hosking was a most deserving winner at the Tuggeranong Valley Rugby Union & Amateur Sports Club Annual Sports Awards held at the Lanyon Club on Saturday 18 February. Garry won the 'Chisholm Sports Club Shield' for outstanding coaching achievement in a competition amongst the 53 affiliated sporting clubs. This was the fourth time a coach from SCT has been the 'outstanding coach of the year' in the 13 years since the award was initiated in 1991. Allan Bishop won the award in 1992 with Mike Sainsbury winning in both 1997 and 1999.
SCT had four successful nominations to the 'final selection stage' - Noni Clarke (outstanding senior individual), Jillian Hosking (outstanding junior individual), Jane McGlew (outstanding contribution by a volunteer) and Garry Hosking. Our other nomination wasn't successful but Michael Hosking was presented with a new TVRUASC tertiary education scholarship and we had one other 'continuing' scholarship.

National Silver Medal for Michael Hosking!

The 'Telstra A-Championships' were held from 26 to 29 February at the Homebush Sydney Athletic Centre (site of the 2000 Olympic Games). Michael Hosking was a silver medallist in the U20 3000m Steeplechase by being the 2nd Australian to finish behind Qld's Jayden Russ (9:10.68) and NZer Shafat Salad (9:12.24). Michael ran 9:25.68 - a PB which coincidentally erased Stuart Mee's 21-year-old U20 SCT club record by 12 seconds. Stuart still holds the Open SCT 3km steeplechase record with his 8:49.89 recorded in 1990.
Wade McMahon was also a silver medallist at the 'Nationals' throwing 38.39 metres in the Javelin Throw Ambulant competition. In the Discus Throw Ambulant Wade placed 5th with 32.92 metres. Sprinter Jade Sutcliffe was also in action recording 13.02 to place 4th in Heat 1 (w-3.6) of the U20 100m. In Heat 3 (w1.2) of the U20 200m Jade placed 8th in 25.68.
Greg Hibberd had two 8th placings: In the Mixed Seated Discus Greg recorded 22.08 metres and in the Mixed Seated Shot Put a distance of 9.02 metres.

SCT takes out ACT Mountain Championships:

SCT has taken out first place in the men's open teams category at the ACT Mountain Running Championships held on Sunday 22 February at Mt Coree. The SCT team of John Winsbury, Stu Doyle and Geoff Monro on 15 points defeated the Weston Creek team (Quayle, Sawkins, Jacobs) on 18 points. John Winsbury (61:28) placed 2nd to Dave Osmond with Gareth Candy (who is soon to re-join SCT for the winter) placing 3rd (62:21). Stuart Doyle finished 5th (63:39) and Geoff Monro 16th (72:00). Hugh Jorgensen was slightly over par in 24th (80:40) while Jim White had a good run to place 5th in the M50 8km race (61:15). Ex-SCT runner the legendary Fiona Jorgensen won yet another ACT Mountain Running Championship by 2 minutes with 51:06 for the 8km course.

JP's Record in first 3km Steeplechase!

Jenny Brichacek ran her first 3000m Steeplechase at ACT Interclub on 14 February and demolished Rosemary Parker's 18-year-old SCT club record. The pace for the record attempt was set up by the barefooted Geoff Monro. The usual crowd of spectators at the water-jump were cheering on Jenny and the runners in the 2km race. With an extra 'technical' coach or two assisting the inspirational Ted McLean, Jenny cleared the 35 barriers and sliced a minute off the record by running 12:23.31 which qualified her for the Open National Championships! In other events... Pole vaulter Scott Dziubinski ran 7.46 in the 60m. Anthony Sexton ran SCT's fastest 100m with 11.39. Leo Kennedy ran an excellent 12.67 which was denied record status because of an illegal tailwind. Angie Blackburn had a great shoulder to shoulder battle with Zoe Buckman in the 400m finishing just behind her older rival in 56.47. Simon Evans broke the 50 second barrier for the one lap sprint with 49.92.

SCT wins ACT 4x1500m Relay Championship!

Our senior men took out the ACT 4x1500m relay championship on a hot 14 February with a dominating display which left rivals Woden Harriers over a minute in arrears. The team of Mark Shepherd, Craig Core, Phil Curran and Nick Walshe ran 17:16.8 which was less than a minute off the ACT record.
Our female 'A' team ran 21:57.5 to place second to Woden Harriers. Other SCT teams were our 'B' team (3rd in 19:46.6) and 'C' team (4th in 21:14.3).

ACTCCC Summer Series Race 1:

Was held at the Boathouse on 3 February over the usual out-and-back 5km course. Here are the SCT results:
WOMEN - 3rd Jessamy Hosking 20:21, 17th Michelle Greenwood 22:27, 21st Michelle Lomas-Travers 23:16, 22nd Kerrie Bremner 23:23.
MEN - 5k, 8th Gareth Candy 18:03, 15th Andrew Bishop 19:01, 27th Chris Sainsbury 20:12, 29th Hugh Jorgensen 20:17, 42nd Charlie Modrak 21:20, 48th Jim White 21:56, 53rd Brian Wenn 23:22, 54th Colin Bridge 23:39.

ACTCCC Summer Series Race 2:

Was held at Weston Park on 10 February over an out-and-back 5km course to Dunrossil Drive. Here are the SCT results:
WOMEN - 1st Noni Clarke 18:13, 3rd Kelly Roberts 19:04, 5th Jessamy Hosking 20:33, 16th Kayler Torley 23:24, 18th Sussanah Mennen 23:37, 27th Michelle Lomas-Travers 26:08.
MEN - 5th Chris Williams 17:01, 8th Gareth Candy 18:01, 9th Allan McGlew 18:02, 15th Stuart Doyle 18:35, 24th Chris Sainsbury 20:08, 33rd Hugh Jorgensen 20:38, 40th Charlie Modrak 21:15, 46th Jim White 21:48, 47th Paul Torley 21:55, 55th Brian Wenn 22:33, 65th Greg Hosking 24:29.

ACTCCC Summer Series Race 3:

Was held at Eddison Park on 17 February over a 2 lap 5.3km cross country course. Here are the SCT results:
WOMEN - 2nd Kelly Roberts 19:32, 3rd Jessamy Hosking 21:06, 14th Michelle Lomas-Travers 24:54, 15th Kayler Torley 25:02.
MEN - 2nd Nick Walshe 17:28, 6th Gareth Candy 18:20, 11th Stu Doyle 18:53, 12th Andrew Bishop 19:10, 21st Robert Torley 20:07, 25th Chris Sainsbury 20:26, 37th Charlie Modrak 21:44, 43rd Paul Torley 22:11, 44th Colin Bridge 22:18, 47th Heath Pearce 22:27, 49th Jim White 22:30, 50th Brian Wenn 22:33, 60th Greg Hosking 24:09, 82nd! T Harrison 31:25.

ACTCCC Summer Series Race 4:

Was the 7.1km bike path run around Lake Ginninderra on 24 February. Here are the SCT results:
WOMEN - Zero women (was it too long or far away?).
MEN - 4th Nick Walshe 23:38, 9th Gareth Candy 25:01, 26th Hugh Jorgensen 28:00, 38th Colin Bridge 29:04, 42nd Charlie Modrak 29:45, 45th Jim White 30:13, 46th Brian Wenn 30:20.

ACTCCC Summer Series Race 5:

Was the 5km bike out-and-back bike path run from Acton Ferry Terminal on 2 March. Here are the SCT results:
WOMEN - 3rd Kelly Roberts 19:21, 4th Jessamy Hosking 20:23, 11th Michelle Lomas-Travers 23:04.
MEN - 5th Nick Walshe 16:19, 7th Ben Dawson 17:08, 16th Gareth Candy 18:22, 27th Hugh Jorgensen 19:48, 33rd Colin Bridge 20:22, 42nd Charlie Modrak 21:02, 44th Jim White 21:12, 49th Brian Wenn 21:25.

ACTCCC Summer Series Race 6:

On Tuesday 9 March it was the popular Women's and Girls' 5km fun run course from Stage 88 to the Carillon and return. Here are the SCT results:
WOMEN - 2nd Jessamy Hosking 20:10, 8th Michelle Lomas-Travers 22:19, 13th Kayler Torley 23:22, 30th Karen Daniels 26:37.
MEN - 12th Stuart Doyle 18:06, 17th Robert Torley 18:47, 22nd Hugh Jorgensen 19:39, 32nd Colin Bridge 20:40, 36th Jim White 21:14, 37th Charlie Modrak 21:19, 38th Brian Wenn 21:31, 39th Paul Torley 21:36, 49th Greg Hosking 23:22, 67th! Ted Harrison 28:00.

ACTCCC Summer Series Race 7:

On Tuesday 16 March it the 'mental test for hill runners' with 3 laps of Black Mountain Peninsula. Here are the SCT results:
WOMEN - 3rd Kelly Roberts 20:00, 5th Jessamy Hosking 20:37, 13th Michelle Lomas-Travers 22:25, 14th Michelle Greenwood 22:34, 30th Kerrie Bremner 25:42.
MEN - 7th Gareth Candy 17:48, 11th Stu Doyle 18:22, 21st Hugh Jorgensen 19:44, 29th Colin Bridge 20:27, 32nd Paul Torley 20:45, 40th Jim White 21:22, 42nd Heath Pearce 21:28, 43rd Charlie Modrak 21:32, 65th Brian Wenn 25:42, 72nd! Ted Harrison 27:48.

SCT women win relay championship!

It came as a bolt from the blue when an SCT women's team won the ACT 4x400m Relay Championships at ACT Interclub on 7 February. The members of the team were Angie Blackburn, Jenny Brichacek, Anna Brichacek and Emily Brichacek. All are coached by Ted McLean and they won the relay in 4:13.8. In other events on the day Tom Havlat was SCT's fastest male sprinter running 24.5 for the 200m. Jade Sutcliffe was the second fastest female sprinter on the day with 25.6 while Jessie Pritchard placed 6th in 26.0.
Jenny Brichacek broke Marlene Reid's long standing SCT veteran record for the 200m with a time of 27.8. Noni Clarke ran a PB in the 800m (2:13.3) finishing just ahead of Emily Brichacek. Phil Curran also ran an 800m PB (2:02.6) while Mark Shepherd won the 'A' 800m in 1:57.5 and Ashley Colquhoun the 5000m walk in 25:09.8.

The Wombat is Running!

For 2004 there is a webpage of the Wombat's running diary. Take a look and see what it takes to be so slow that bored spectators nod off in the stands waiting for the Wombat to finish his race.

SCT's Summer Pointscore Competition:

Philip Curran is leading SCT's T&F Pointscore Competition on 545 points. Complete (provisional) results are available on the website. There may be some changes as it appears points are no longer awarded for the 60m and the tables for some other events have changed compared to last season. I am waiting to receive the final tables from ACT Athletics.Double points were awarded at the ACT Track and Field Championships.

SCT at the Telstra A-Series:

There were many great performances by SCT members at the A-Series held on 30 and 31 January! Excellent work was done by all our volunteers including Dot Mills, Sophie Feint, Margaret Mesher, Allan McGlew, Anita McGlew, Jane McGlew, Karen Daniels, Alan Bishop, Ewen Thompson, Christina Ivansson, Linda Taylor, Sonja Taylor, Ian Colquhoun and Greg Gilbert. (have I missed anyone?)

We were well represented by competitors starting on the Friday night with the ACT 3000m and 5000m Championships. In the 3000m race SCT runners collected five medals... Justine Shepherd won gold for U18's (12:01.52) placing third to two Victorians. Kayler Torley was the U16 silver medallist (12:01.74) and Peter Hosking the U16 male bronze medallist (11:31.31). Philip Curran was the U18 male silver medallist (9:32.43) with Allan McGlew collecting bronze (9:51.06) and Robert Torley placing fourth (10:20.76).
In the Open 5000m SCT would have won team gold if there had been such an award. This was so despite the absence of Stu Doyle (who was being a 'Lozza' groupie across the road). Mark Shepherd placed 4th in 15:18.83 just ahead of John Winsbury (15:21.69) who was running his first 5k. Nick Walshe suffered from the fast early pace and finished 9th (16:02.87) with super-vet Dale Moore coming 10th (16:40.39). Michael Hosking was the ACT gold medallist for U20's in a PB of 15:47.01.

In the Saturday A-Series events Garry Maher kicked of proceedings in the Vets handicap 200m in which he displayed the style of the possibly great 800m runner he could become. Jade Sutcliffe raced in Heat 1 of the Open 100m and was ahead of Jana Pittman for 30 metres but finished 9th in 12.58. Greg Hibberd placed 3rd in the Mixed Seated Shot Put with a put of 8.87 metres. Noni Clarke ran in the 3000m against the cream of Australian women distance runners. Noni's race was hurt by trying to go with the fast early pace set up by winner Benita Johnson who won in 8:55. Noni faded badly in the last kilometre to run a disappointing 10:23.78. This meeting was the first time in Australia that the women's steeplechase had been run with full A-Series status. In a field of ten steeplechasers Jillian Hosking placed 7th in her first attempt at the 3000m distance. Jillian's 11:48.53 set an inaugural SCT club record for Under-18's. The race was won by ACTAS athlete Marnie Ponton in World leading time of 10:23.21.

ACT Athletics Presentation Dinner:

The Board of Directors of ACTAA has confirmed Saturday 01 May 2004 for the ANNUAL PRESENTATION AND AWARDS FUNCTION. ACT Athletics are now calling for volunteers to organise this important night. For further information contact Elizabeth Simpson at the ACT Athletics Office on (02) 6247 1504.

Fadden Pines back from the Ashes?

Your committee is looking at the possibility of resurrecting the popular Fadden Pines schools cross country competition. We need expressions of interest from intending competitors and helpers.
To gain the insurance cover we will require all Fadden Pines runners to become registered members of SCT (a cost of $25 for the winter season for individuals, which will be the only cost to run a season at Fadden Pines). If you are interested in running or helping at Fadden Pines, please email our registrar Nick Walshe ASAP so numbers can be tallied. We are also looking for one (or two) people to fill the vital roll of 'Fadden Pines Co-ordinator'. Without a co-ordinator the ashes of Fadden Pines will remain in the dust. If you or your parents help at Fadden Pines you can use this information on your travel funding application!

SCT runners dominate the 800m!

No, I'm not talking about the many brilliant performances from our PB hungry juniors. Overwhelming domination came in heat 7 of the 800m at ACT Interclub on 20 January when all competitors except for one lonely embarrassed soul were wearing the gold and black colours of SCT! What a nightmare for the poor overworked place judges.
There were quite a few PB's and Season's Bests in the quicker 800m heats... Mark Shepherd (1:57.31) and Emily Glover (2:13.25) were impressive with fast 2nd place finishes. Phil Curran ran 2:02.63 and Ben Dawson 2:04.35. In the 3000m race Noni Clarke ran a solid PB of 9:49.50 which qualified her for the Telstra 'A' Series. Michael Hosking was our fastest male runner with a PB of 8:49.23. Not far behind was club registrar Nick Walshe with a season's best of 9:04.67.
In other events U16 sprinter Josh Hatch burned up the track with a 24.58, Jade Sutcliffe won the U20 event in 25.48 and Scott Dziubinski cleared 4.50 metres in the pole vault.

Australian record to Hibberd:

It was announced at Interclub on 13 January that SCT's Greg Hibberd had broken the Australian record in his AWD category in the discus with a throw of 19.30 metres. Congratulations Greg!
There were many other excellent results on the night... Jillian Hosking took 11 seconds from Elise Cole's club U18 2000m steeplechase record winning the event in 7:46.50. Jessie Pritchard won the U18 100m in 12.70. Noni Clarke in a rare attempt at sprinting came from behind to defeat Kelly Roberts in heat 4 of the 400m running 60.52 to 60.59. Noni had run the 1500m earlier in the night in 4:39.23. Sonja Taylor set a club record in the U14 80m hurdles with a time of 18.87. Our best male sprinter was once again U18 athlete Anthony Sexton running 7.30 in the 60m and 11.47 in the 100m. Simon Evans ran 50.05 to place 5th in heat 1 of the 400m. Michael Hosking ran a 3-second PB in the U20 1500m with 4:03.36. Dale Moore ran an excellent 4:28.98 to be the fastest veteran. In other events Ashley Colquhoun won the 1500m walk in 6:29.98 and Michael Hosking the 2000m steeple in 6:10.71.

Great 10k results for SCT runners:

SCT's Nick Walshe, Stu Doyle and Dale Moore were competitors in the inaugural 'Gerard Ryan 10,000' at ACT Interclub on Tuesday 6 January. After 25 wet and windy laps Nick came away with the bronze medal in 34:22.22. Nick's sprint over the last 500m left him just 3 seconds behind silver medallist Vince Craig from Weston Creek. North Canberra rookie Anthony Haber won the race in 32:32.05 with Woden's Jackie Gallagher taking out the 'Susan Hobson 10000' in 34:45.48. Dale Moore took over 3 minutes from Conrad Shepherd's club veteran record with an excellent PB of 35:43.10.

"Bluett finds keen Doyle snapping at his heels"

Was the large headline in the Monday December 22 edition of The Canberra Times. The story under the 'Orienteering' section raved about how Stu almost defeated international orienteering star Grant Bluett in the 18km Tour de Mountain race the previous day: "Bluett is a former ACT resident and ACTAS athlete who has been based in Sweden for several years. He has regularly placed in the World Park Tour and won the World Games orienteering championships. The surprise of the race was M35 South Canberra Tuggeranong runner Stuart Doyle who closed rapidly on Bluett over the last few kilometres and finished just 21 seconds behind. Doyle has been beset with injuries in recent years but can now look confidently to being very competitive in 2004." Stu reckons that this may have been his lifetime '15 minutes of (newspaper) fame'.

SCT runners high up in Black Mountain Challenge:

Woden Harriers' annual 5km 'fun run' to the summit of Black Mountain was held on Sunday 14 December. World Mountain Running Trophy rep John Winsbury had a good 'training run' to place 4th in 19:07 just ahead of Craig Core and Stu Doyle. The race was won by national steeplechaser Scott McTaggart who in running 17:07 just missed Gerard Ryan's course record. Following are the full SCT results:
4th John Winsbury 19:07, 5th Craig Core 19:25, 6th Stuart Doyle 19:53, 19th Hugh Jorgensen 22:33, 32nd (F4) Jessamy Hosking 24:41, 34th Heath Pearce 24:58, 35th Charlie Modrak 25:18, 42nd Jim White 26:12, 43rd Peter Hosking 26:21, 61st Greg Hosking 28:41. There were and amazing 130 finishers in what is regarded as the toughest fun run in the ACT.

Beautiful one day, Gold and Silver the next!

The sun was certainly shining on SCT athletes competing at the 2003 IGA Australian All-Schools T&F Championships as they collected an amazing total of 9 medals for the ACT Team. The 4-day carnival is the peak athletics competition for schools in Australia and was held at QE11 Stadium from 11 to 14 December. Jillian Hosking grabbed first headlines in the Canberra Times with 'Golden day on the track for Hosking'... "The ACT junior athletics team got off to a golden start at the Australian All Schools Championships in Brisbane this week. Jillian Hosking claimed gold in the under-18 3km walk on Thursday night, finishing 12 secs faster than her nearest rival. Hosking claimed the under-16 title last year and was a year younger than most of the competitors in Thursday's event." Jillian broke Jantien Saltet's 1989 ACT U18 record by 22 seconds.

Sensational middle distance runner Emily Brichacek won gold in both the 800m and 1500m U14 events. Emily's 800m winning time of 2:13.64 was less than half a second away from the 10-year-old ACT record held by Claire Fraser. Michael Hosking won silver medals in the U20 5000m and 2km steeplechase. Jade Sutcliffe won silver in the U20 100m and bronze in the 200m. Emily Glover won silver in the U20 800m. Angie Blackburn won silver in the U16 400m from Zoe Buckman and broke Zoe's ACT U16 record with a great PB of 55.95. Angie later teamed up with Emily Glover, Emily Brichacek and Zoe Buckman, to set a new ACT U18 and U20 record of 3:50.55 for the 4 x 400m relay.

Girls Results: 800m U14: 1st Emily Brichacek 2:13.64. 1500m U14: 1st Emily Brichacek 4:47.58. 3000m Walk U18: 1st Jillian Hosking 13:47.46. 3000m U18: 9th Jillian Hosking 10:37.19. 400m U16: 2nd Angeline Blackburn 55.95. 200m U16: 5th Angeline Blackburn 25.19. 100m U16 Heat 3: 6th Angeline Blackburn 12.59. 100m U20: 2nd Jade Sutcliffe 12.50. 200m U20: 3rd Jade Sutcliffe 26.21. 800m U20: 2nd Emily Glover 2:14.11. 400m U20: 4th Emily Glover 58.30. 400m U20 Heat 2: 6th Megan Kehoe 62.69. 800m U20: 8th Megan Kehoe 2:23.85. 100m U18 Heat 1: 6th Jessie Pritchard 12.73. 200m Heat 2: 8th Jessie Pritchard 26.31. Long Jump U18: 7th Jessie Pritchard 5.31m.
Boys Results: 2000m Steeplechase U20: 2nd Michael Hosking 6:04.85. 5000m U20: 2nd Michael Hosking 15:50.27. 800m U20: 5th Mark Shepherd 1:58.22. 1500m U20: 4th Mark Shepherd 4:06.75. 3000m Walk U18: 6th Ashley Colquhuon 14:17.02. 5000m Walk U20: --Ashley Colquhuon DQ.


Just Read It. (The editor's diary)

A little further than 800 metres...

This old guy's track season is almost over. For the first time in many years I'll miss the ACT Championships in order to run/walk/stagger along 45 kilometres of the 'six foot track' from Katoomba to Jenolan Caves. I decided to include this 'scenic bush run' as part of my program to finish the Canberra Marathon in April.

My motivation to race middle distance has waned lately due to the continuing injury problems of my main adversary Jim Tucker and the weariness of marathon training. The Sunday long runs with 'coach of the year' Garry Hosking have been going well and are quite enjoyable. Strangely I've also been running some quite good (for an old guy) interval sessions lately. This encourages me to perhaps run a couple of Vets track races to try for those season's-best times. The marathon is the main thing now and I'm looking forward to catching up with (and finishing miles behind) one of SCT's best junior runners - Chris Williams!

Yes, for some peculiar reason young Chris has decided to make his marathon debut just a month after his 18th birthday! The jump from 800 metres to 42.2 kilometres doesn't seem to worry him and I know that he's gradually built up to the 33km training runs needed to finish a marathon in relative comfort. Although maths wasn't his best subject he even knows that a marathon is equivalent to 105.5 laps of the track! Chris is now studying at Lismore University but will be proudly running for the big SCT men's team when he lines up at Telopea Park on 18 April.

A final reminder to members of the importance in supporting our Annual General Meeting and Awards Night which will be held in May. Consider putting up your hand when nominations are called for the 04/05 committee. As your president Geoff once famously said "many hands make SCT work".

Ewen W Thompson ... 7 March 2004

Copyright © 1997 - 2009    www.sctathletics.com/ta065.html




HOME
ABOUT SCT
RECENT PHOTOS
FEMALE RECORDS
MALE RECORDS
TUGGIE ATHLETE
RUNNING WRITING
MORE SCT NEWS

Search site:
 
PicoSearch


LINKS
SITE NEWS
ABOUT THIS SITE



Apply for Record

$$ Assistance Form

Contact SCT

V.E.A.D.F.

Interclub Results

Summer Pointscore

Winter Pointscore

T&F Championship

Fadden Pines CC

Guestbook Entries

Visitor Stats