JULY-SEPTEMBER 2004      Number 67

The following two emails were received from Stuart during his recent running tour of Europe:

1. Mentroc to Lac Blanc and Return
Had been walking for 6 days through the alps and Andrea had decided she'd had enough, so we were to take the easy route back to Chamonix, down the valley floor, but I was dying to go up to the lake 'Lac Blanc', so decided to do it as a run before breakfast. There was this alpine guide staying at the gite who said it wasn't too steep, but he was a rock climber and mountaineer, so his idea of 'not steep'was not to be trusted! I looked at the contour map and the route showed that I would climb from 1417m up to 2351m in just over 6km, so no idea how this could be 'not too steep'!

I was a bit nervous about the run, because a few days earlier I'd had a really bad attack of vertigo on a ridge top, but I seem to get vertigo when I have a large pack on (must make me feel unbalanced). looking at contour map, seemed to be very steep slopes and some cliff edge running in store.

Started off at 6:45am, a beautiful summer early morning. Got pretty much into the hill climbing straight away, with the track leading gently uphill away from the hostel, climbed gently for a few minutes and then got to the beginning of the steep track that heads straight up the side of the mountain. In the Chamonix valley, the valley runs east-west, with massive mountains flanking to the north and south. My route would take me up the south flank, with views back to the main range on the north side, which includes peaks such as Aiguille Vert (4121m), Aiguille Drew (3754m), Mont Blanc (4807m) just to name a few. The start of the really steep stuff had now began, and it was bloody steep! The switchback began immediately and it was like running up the steep section of Ainslie already, so I went as slow as possible without dropping to a walk. Alpine ferns and summer wildflowers blanketed the sides of the path as I wound my way upwards

My first look at 'forerunner'[GPS watch - ed] showed I had hit 1640m, gees, it seemed I'd been climbing for ages but only gone up 220m so far. The switchbacks were relentless and there were the odd set of rock steps now as it got even more steep. On and on the climb went, 1700m, 1800m, 1900m rolled by as I puffed and huffed my way upwards, occasionally the forest would open out and the scree and rocks would drop away at the path edge and open up views of the valley seemingly miles below. After 1900m, the tree cover thinned out and I could make out what looked like the top of the slope ahead. At just over 2000m, and just above the tree line, the track flattened out.... at last, as my legs were really hurting now

Wow!, I'd hit this flat section of path, which wound gently uphill and flattishly along the edge of the cliffs, with views over the Chamonix valley, 800m below, the morning sun hitting the glaciers on the main range with a brilliant pink and orange light, aiguille vert and drew needling up into the dark morning sky and Mont Blanc, blanketed in ice, towering above, despite my altitude. Soon the wildlife started appearing. There were many Chamois (little deer like animals) and other strange furry creatures, the names of which I can't recall, some of them had big horns! One of them looked like some sort of little wombat with orange fur

The path now wound through spectacular alpine rock-scape up towards the gite at lac Blanc. I could see now the gite up in the distance, it looked only about 40m in altitude above my height, but this landscape is very deceptive and I knew that it was actually another 200m to climb, as my altitude was only 2150 still

As I neared the lac, I could now see the scale of the 'hill'I had to climb to reach the lac Blanc. The track got steep again....real steep!! I thought maybe I was just imagining the steepness due to my fatigue and the altitude, but the rock steps got bigger and then I hit the ladders! Yes, ladders! This broke my stride of course! I was fearful of another vertigo attack, but I was too stuffed to worry about vertigo! nearing the gite at lac Blanc, I could see about 40 people sitting in the glass dining room having breaky, watching by progress with amusement, so I couldn't slow to a walk now, even though every fibre in my legs and lungs wanted to do this. there was a nice hidden (out of site of the gite) bit near the top, so I walked these steps and then managed to run the last little bit up to the balcony of the gite at lac Blanc. The lake was resplendent, with the reflections of the ice covered peaks in the glassy surface, making the climb worthwhile

It took me 61 minutes for the ascent, only 6.2km, 930m altitude gain, with most of this done in 3.7k!! The decent took 32 minutes and was quite fun!! Rolled my ankle on the way down, but it seems to be fine. Scarred lots of wildlife (which hikers were trying to photograph most of the time...whoops!) on the way down. Total run time was 1:33, distance 12.4km, altitude gain 934m. Scenery, 10 out of 10.
I even had a drink out of the lake at the top (which is safe apparently)... very nice

Stuey signing off from Chamonix

2. Chamonix Challenge II
Following on from my Lac Blanc run report, I decided that particular effort was a bit puffy and didn't really do justice to the mountains of the French Alps, so I decided to do one really huge mountain run whilst I was there. I wanted to really test myself and do the biggest uphill run of my life, after all, where in Australia would I find mountains like these? Particularly with walking tracks all over them

I wanted to find a really huge uphill challenge, but the problem was I had to get the run finished by 8:30am because we had to get our stuff ready and get on a train to Nice later in the morning. This meant if I was going to tackle a really big mountain, I'd have to try and find one with a telecabin/cable car down, so I could cut the time down but still get maximum uphill running.
After studying the map, I came up with the plan

The run would start at our hotel in Chamonix, at 1025m altitude, and finish at the peak of le Brevent, at 2525m, an altitude gain of exactly 1500m. I also planned an emergency 'puff cake'option if I was running really late, or feeling completely stuffed of pulling out at the cable car station at Gares de Planpraz, at 1999m altitude. I decided I'd have to get to Brevent by 8:15 at the very latest to get back down in time on the telecabin and cable car. I estimated that the run was about 8-9km in length, so it would be slow going with an average gradient of about 18%. This meant my cut-off time for Gares de Planpraz was about 7:30am. With this in mind I planned to set off at 6:30am

Come morning, after stuffing around, I ended up not getting going until 7am, and my plan of doing the largest mountain run in my life seemed already 'on the rocks', given my time constraints. Anyway, I could get to Planpraz and see how things were going... at worst, it'd still be a 974m altitude gain

After almost 'bonking'on my last run (of only 934m altitude gain) up to lac Blanc, I decided to take it extra easy in the early stages of this effort. So I sort of shuffled my way upwards out of town, but the roads become very steep very quickly in Chamonix and soon found myself huffing and puffing by the edge of town, at the bottom of the cable car station! Luckily this was only 'warming up'breathlessness and I soon started feeling better. There are numerous track intersections on the lower slopes in the forests around Chamonix, so this kept my mind occupied as the track wound steeply upwards, Forerunner was having a few problems in the forest (as usual) and periodically would drop out and then occasionally come back and my altitude would magically jump up 50-80m in one go... very nice

The track, although being steep, was still runnable and was nice soft dirt with few rocks at this stage, so it was easy to keep a nice even pace. Up through 1250m, 1300m, 1400m... onwards, upwards the track wound, with splendid views opening up to my left of the massive rock strewn glacial valley of Combe du Brevent. As the forest started to thin out, Forerunner man started behaving himself, giving instantaneous feedback on pace, distance and altitude. I wasn't trying to worry about altitude too much, as I knew I had a heap-load of it left to 'worry'about if I wanted! After starting out at 6-7 minute km's, my pace had now dropped as the track became very steep. Jees, at this rate I'd never make to Brevent.
At about 1550m, the track flattened out a bit and traversed across a scree slope, with spectacular views down to Chamonix nestled in the valley below, then went into one last pocket of forest before emerging on the other side onto the rock-strewn side of the great valley of Combe de Brevent. From here on the track made a decisive turn, upwards, steeply to the station at Planpraz, 450m above. This 2km section was tough going, 25% gradient and my pace once more dropped over 9 mins per km as I tried to save energy for the 950m of climb still to come if I was to reach Brevent, which at this stage seemed less likely, especially as I now had a clear view of the intimidating cliffs of Brevent at the top of the valley to my left. The track joined a fire trail now, and switch backed its'way ever upwards. A quick look at Forerunner showed 1760m, sigh

Finally, after I seemed to have been caught in some sort of 'groundhog day'of endless switchbacks, I finally reached the cable car station at Planpraz at 1999m. 6km run, 974m climbed. It was now decision time, to pull out now or go on up to Brevent. It was 7:48am, so I was running late due to my late start, but on the other hand, I still had 42 minutes to get to the top of Brevent, and I had now done almost 1000m of the 1500m climb and my legs still felt pretty strong although I was getting a bit thirsty. My whole plan though hinged on being able to get the telecabin down from the top of Brevent, and at this stage, the cable car station was quiet and lifeless, and the cabins of the telepherique were hanging motionless, the sharp morning sun glinting off the polished metal and glass shells. The only sound, apart from my own breathing, was.. well...nothing. Then I heard a door slam in the cable car station and managed to find this cable car dude, in broken French/English together with a lot of hand gestures Imanaged to work out that the telecabin was staring at 8:15...perfect! I still had reservations about the track up to Brevent, as even though it wound around the back of the cliffs, I had noticed when studying the map the night before, that there was still a little bit of cliff and very rocky ground to negotiate on the route...bugger it, I'm going to have a go, you only live once, the weather was perfect and this chance might not come around again

A big adrenaline rush hit as I headed off towards Brevent. The track would around gently for a while, passing the Planpraz chalet before getting very rocky and starting the ascent up the north-east flank of Brevent. The 3 minute break at Planpraz had done wonders and before I knew it I was approaching the chalet at le Clocher du Brevent at 2398m. I came up over a rise, around a corner and then was hit with the most amazing view. I'd hit the ridge top and could now see right out to the west, down to the gentle farm lands in the valleys, almost 2000m below leading down to Geneva. I'd also come to the intersection with the Mont Blanc trail, and now took a left, heading south to the summit of Brevent. It was all rocks now and the track was now reduced to the odd blotch of paint on the rocks, so I had to be careful not to go the wrong way, which tends to be easier when running. I looked at Forerunner and to my delight I was at 2460m now, not much climbing to go. sure enough, the rocks started getting steep, and bg, and then there were a couple of ladders, but not too steep and then rounded a corner and the telecabin station and summit were right in front of me. There was one last little flight of stairs and then the elation hit as I sprinted to the summit and let out a huge COOOOOOOOO MMMMMMMMM OOOOOOOOO NNNN NNNNN!!!

Distance 9.4km, 1500m altitude gain, 1 hour 24 mins of running. OK, it wasn't the worlds'greatest mountain running, it wasn't Everest, but it was my great mountain run and my Everest.
From the summit it seemed you could make out just about every major peak in the French Alps. The air was clear, the sky dark, the sun brilliant. Although the morning air was cool up there, I was shivering, I had an inner satisfaction that was all that I could want.
And because I did it, I had it

Stu.

Being there at the 'Pinnacle'cross country race and running along quite well, my mind too was racing back through all the times SCT has run, performed and achieved so much. Although the club has been incredibly successful over the years, it seems right now is a great time to be a member of SCT!

In the 1980's we had great success in the marathon with Gerard Barrett and Colin Neave. There were the six consecutive 'team of the year'cross country awards for our senior women in the early 90's. There was the representation by athletes like Fiona Jorgensen, Amanda Carey and Miriam Harding in national events and internationally in the World Mountain Running Trophy and World Walking Cups. There was also a long list of junior, senior and age-group victories in track and field

Success means a lot to all of us, but success is not just about coming first. Winning a race is great however the true meaning of success lies not only in the hard hill and trackwork, or in having the motivation to get up in the morning, putting the shoes on and running down the road, or in moving up in places/pts in Interclub competition, or the great socialising after events but in the positive "never say die" spirit that us as athletes can feel and appreciate as this spirit lies within us all!

Of course success comes from the training, racing, results achieved and socializing we all do, but that special 'spirit'sums it all up - it's the pinnacle, the very best feeling. Why? Because it changes our lives! When things are difficult in life at work, at school or at home we don't despair or give up. We just try harder - where there is a problem there must be a solution! Where there's a will there's a way. Whatever the problem we can solve it!! The more we involve ourselves in our sport which we love so much, the more the spirit builds and that great feeling within us strengthens. It takes us ALL TO THE TOP... OUR PERSONAL BEST!! THE PINNACLE!

That feeling whenever you, me or any of us get it just so fantastic, it is the absolute! So see you on the run and see YOU at the TOP.

Geoff Monro
President - September 7 2004

The Yamba Club Relays completed the winter season on Saturday 4 September. On the day our senior men were 'out-gunned'by the star-studded Weston Creek team. If we had won this last event we would have been senior male distance club of the year!
Our senior women also won but as they didn't score points in a couple of rounds the title went to Woden Harriers. Our junior male and female teams were also successful making SCT the 'junior distance club of the year'. A number of members also ran legs for Vets and CCC teams including Jim White, Col Bridge, Nick Mesher, Karen Daniels and Geoff Monro.
The presentation of CCC annual awards was held after the relays in the Yamba Club with many SCT runners being 'Cundy Cup'age-group winners. Full details will be available here soon. Nick Mesher was awarded the 'Most Improved'trophy and Noni Clarke was once again 'Senior Female Distance Runner of the Year'!

Achievements of SCT life member Gerard Barrett:

The following summary of Gerard's long and illustrious athletics career was prepared by Nick Walshe for SCT's 2004 Annual General Meeting and Awards Night.

Gerard has been involved with athletics for 30 years, both as a competitor and a coach

Background:
He began athletics in Queensland at age 15, and in just 12 months in the sport had broken the Australian junior 10,000m record, running an immaculate 31min 29.6sec. Eleven months later, at the age of 18, he regained that record by running 29min 58sec for the same event, and at age 19, ran an astonishing 28min 9sec to win the Zatopek 10,000m.
At the age of 19, Gerard competed in his first marathon, winning the Queensland marathon championship in 2 hours 24 minutes. This victory also gave him the distinction of having won every Queensland state title from 1500m through to the marathon in the space of just 12 months

International Achievements:
Gerard represented Australia at the World Cross Country Championships in 1977, 1979, 1985 and 1987. In 1980, he represented Australia at the Moscow Olympics in the marathon, but unfortunately was unable to complete the race

Local Achievements:
After moving to Canberra, Gerard joined SCT in 1984. His local achievements include:
- Canberra marathon titles in 1988, 1992, 1993.
- Six time ACT marathon representative 1988-1993.
- Australian marathon title in 1992.
- Two time ACT half marathon winner in 1990 and 1994.
- ACT Cross Country Champion in 1987, 1989, 1990.
- Canberra Times Fun Run winner in 1994.
- John Harding Trophy winner in 1992.
- Jack Pennington Trophy winner in 1988, 1989.
- Holds the SCT open male records for 1500m, 3000m, 5000m, 10000m, half marathon and marathon.
- Inducted into the ACT Cross Country Club Hall of Fame in 1995.

Master of dollars Mike Sexton is always on the lookout for the 'free'government finance available to sporting clubs. We've always been known as a running athletics club whether it be on the track or over the country. If Mike's latest venture is successful the balance will shift back towards the field.
Mike has submitted a proposal for the Dept of Sport and Recreation 'equipment grant'which, if successful, will award us with an amount of $1797.48. This money will be used to purchase throwing equipment including javelins, discus, practise hammers and javelins and training videos/dvds. We will also fund the fees to accredit 2 level 1 throws coaches for SCT (if you are interested contact Mike or Allan Bishop).

Mike Sexton has applied for a grant of around $500 from the 'Canberra Community Grant Program'to help finance a planned 'street mile'to celebrate SCT's 50th anniversary in 2005. The project is in it's infancy but Mike has already talked to a friend in the Scouts with the view of using the Sea Scout building on Lake Tuggeranong as a base.
The street mile (or miles) will be run on an 'out-and-back'or loop course from the Scouts. We will use the scout building to display memorabilia from SCT's first 50 years as well as to present awards for the 'miles'. Mike has already gathered many old photographs, uniforms and trophies from our early years to use for a display of SCT's magnificent history.

If your old running singlet is looking a bit faded and tattered you can now purchase a new one from Dianne Shepherd. We now have approximately 4 year's supply of singlets (and a similar amount of crop tops).

Caitlin Harrison, former SCT member (coached by Garry Hosking) and latter Waverley AC (Victoria) member and daughter of Ted, graduated in December from her medical studies. The new Dr Harrison has commenced her intern duties at Box Hill Hospital (where, coincidentally, she was born) in the Emergency. Caitlin has been restricted in her running due to the demands of her clinical training and recurrent stress fractures. However, she hopes to get back to competitive running shortly when she competes in a triathlon with a couple of her fellow new doctors.

The Telstra Australian Cross Country Championships were held on Sunday 29 August at Exhibition Park. The grandstand was a popular base for visiting teams as the event broke the drought with light rain falling most of the afternoon. Ted Harrison's carpet over the access road to the 'car fair'was very muddy by the end of proceedings. There were some excellent results for SCT members of the ACT team and the 'black and white'results don't do justice to their performances. You had to be there to see how great they were against the best runners in Australia. There are some photos available on the SCT website.
SCT Results: Senior Men 12km Open: 52nd Geoff Monro 46:42. (1st Scott Westcott NSW 36:10)
Men 8km Under-20: 10th Michael Hosking 26:46. (1st Liam Adams VIC 25:29)
Men 6km Under-18: 18th Ben Dawson 21:54, 36th Keith Casilles-Southgate 22:55, 38th Alan McGlew 23:05. (1st Matt Pratt NSW 21:00)
Senior Women 8km Open: 18th Noni Clarke 30:32, 19th Kelly Roberts 30:44. (1st Anna Thompson VIC 27:26)
Women 4km Under-18: 21st Jillian Hosking 15:04, 38th Hannah Flannery 15:52, 42nd Sophie Vardos 15:55, 60th Emily Glover ACT 17:40. (1st Madeline Heiner NSW 13:47).

Were held in conjunction with the Australian Cross Country Championships mentioned in the above report. Again there were excellent results from SCT runners with 4th places going to rugby player Declan Wilson and 800m specialist Emily Brichacek who missed bronze by less than 2 seconds. SCT Results:
Girls 3km Under-14: 28th Isabella Havlat 12:34. (1st Emma Jackson QLD 11:33)
Girls 4km Under-16: 4th Emily Brichacek 14:18, 54th Anne Southgate 16:04. (1st Jenny Conder NSW 13:59)
Girls 4km Under-18: 20th Jillian Hosking 15:04, 37th Hannah Flannery 15:52, 41st Sophie Vardos 15:55, 59th Emily Glover 17:40. (1st Madeline Heiner NSW 13:47)
Boys 3km Under-14: 52nd Peter Hosking 12:17. (1st Todd Wakefield NSW 10:35)
Boys 4km Under-18: 18th Ben Dawson 21:54, 36th Keith Casilles-Southgate 22:55, 38th Alan McGlew 23:05. (1st Matt Pratt NSW21:00)
Girls 3km 12 Years: 24th Courtney Kennedy 13:12. (1st Jessica Gilfillan QLD 11:39)
Girls 3km 13 Years: 22nd Isabella Havlat 12:34. (1st Emma Jackson QLD 11:33)
Girls 4km 14/15 Years: 4th Emily Brichacek 14:18, 44th Anne Southgate 16:04. (1st Jenny Conder NSW 13:59)
Girls 4km 16/17 Years: 17th Jillian Hosking 15:04, 30th Hannah Flannery 15:52, 33rd Sophie Vardos 15:55, 47th Emily Glover 17:40. (1st Madeline Heiner NSW 13:47)
Boys 3km 11 Years: 4th Declan Wilson 11:32. (1st T Lang 11:17)
Boys 6km 16/17 Years: 15th Ben Dawson ACT 21:54, 28th Alan McGlew 23:05. (1st Matt Pratt 21:00).

SCT's Jessamy Hosking won the ACT Cross Country Club's Novice Championship held at the Pinnacle on 21 August. Jessamy placed 2nd in the 4km race just 19 seconds behind former Novice Champion Andrea Ilakovac. Under-14 runner Sonja Taylor ran brilliantly to place third. The male Novice Championship was run over the 2-lap 8km course and Nick Mesher was the third 'novice'to finish. Nick placed 9th in the race just behind club president Geoff Monro. Susannah Churchill was 4th in the women's 8k and Brian Wenn with a tender calf muscle injured earlier this year when tripping over the family dog placed 23rd. SCT top three:
4k FEMALE: 2nd Jessamy Hosking 16:16, 3rd Sonja Taylor 18:03, 6th Kayler Torley 19:58. 4k MALE: 1st Mark Shepherd 13:53, 4th Nick Mesher 15:24, 7th Jim White 17:46.
8k FEMALE: 4th Susannah Churchill 39:37. 8k MALE: 8th Geoff Monro 32:28, 9th Nick Mesher 32:59, 11th Hugh Jorgensen 33:18.

'Profile of SCT's Steve Jackson'[by Charlie Modrak - from TA July 1984] Steve Jackson is an SCT member who features prominently in ACTCCC races. He seems to generate a lot of speed with an easy relaxed style. His present training workload should ensure that more PB's will come his way. Time is certainly on his side. Steve has been running for some three and a half years. A bet in 1980 saw him attempt and complete the City to Surf in 78 minutes and a 'Round the Lake'run in 29:34. He decided to take up running and started on January 1, 1981. He continues his story:

"My first target was a sub-3 hour marathon and on 40k a week I just missed the magic mark by 28 minutes (3:28:47) at Nike '81). I upped the kilometres to around 100 a week and then managed a 56 minute City to Surf and a lot of middle of the field placings in ACTCCC events. Finally in September '81, a 2:49:17 marathon in the 'Cities'in Sydney giving me a satisfying 4th place as well!"

"I continued running and had a good season in 1982 which culminated for me on a pleasing note - receiving the ACTCCC 'Most Improved Runner'award. 1983 was a flop with a lot of achilles tendonitis. It was a year to be forgotten except for a second place in the Thredbo Marathon in a time of 3:00:11 which was 2 minutes under the old record. 1984 didn't get off to a good start with a 3:19 in the Nike. However another build-up of kilometres resulted in a 2:47:49 at the Wang Marathon in Sydney. I also had some good performances in ACTCCC races most notable being an 11th place in the Rocky Horror. My 'Round the Lake'time was now down to 15:43."

How does Steve get to the finishing line so quickly?
"A good training week is 100k+, with a speed session of 10x300m, a hill session of 10x100m, a long run of 35km and one or two races." There must be something in his method as he lists some of his current PB's as 50:10 for the City to Surf, 2:47:49 for the marathon and 33:58 for 10km.

Since this story Steve has run 32:17 for 10km, 70:10 for the half and 2:32:17 for the marathon. He now resides and runs in Sydney. [ed]

Everyone knows this is my favourite event and a large contingent of SCT runners joined me on August 8 for the 14km journey from Hyde Park to Bondi. It was a privilege to 'race'Steve Moneghetti who proved his legendary status by placing 3rd (1st Australian) at the crusty age of 41 years. John Winsbury was the fastest SCT runner placing 60th in 47:39. John's sprint was too good for Nick Walshe who was 62nd in 47:44. Stephen Cook was the 3rd SCT runner finishing in 49:00. Hannah Flannery was our fastest female runner breaking her PB by 43 seconds with 60:57. Chris Williams 'had fun'after driving down from Lismore the previous day and managed to secure a 'preferred start'for 2005. The Channel 10 TV coverage featured footage of SCT runners (who will remain nameless) on the start line and during the race.
Results for SCT members and friends:
60 John Winsbury 47:39, 62 Nick Walshe 47:44, 95 Stephen Cook 49:00, 253 Christopher Williams 52:07, 267 Nick Mesher 52:29, 302 Stephen Jackson 52:57, 452 Dale Moore 54:48, 484 Geoff Monro 55:15, 1040 Andrea Ilakovac 59:41, 1123 Keith Mayhew 60:11, 1215 Jim White 60:45, 1259 Hannah Flannery 60:57, 1420 Anne Forbes 61:45, 1768 Ewen Thompson 63:12, 1777 Tanja Gautschi 63:14, 1997 Fiona Hedgecoe 64:08. 48,574 official finishers!

Michael and Jillian Hosking were clear winners at the North Lyneham cross country event on 14 August. Michael won the 3.1km race in 10:17 with Mark Shepherd placing 3rd, Allan McGlew 4th and Keith Cassilles-Southgate 5th. Nick Mesher was the fastest veteran.
Jillian was also an easy winner despatching rival Anna Neumaier to 2nd place on the last hill. Anne Southgate won the sprint finish for third place from Jessamy Hosking. Competitors in the 6.2km race also had to deal with a gale force headwind on the back of the course. Michael 'doubled'placing 3rd ahead of Nick Walshe. Noni Clarke was a little off the hot pace set by Sarah Salmon and placed 2nd while Susannah Churchill was 10th. SCT top three:
3.1k FEMALE: 1st Jillian Hosking 11:49, 3rd Anne Southgate 12:21, 4th Jessamy Hosking 12:22. 3.1k MALE: 1st Michael Hosking 10:17, 3rd Mark Shepherd 10:39, 4th Allan McGlew 10:50. 6.2k FEMALE: 2nd Noni Clarke 23:59, 10th Susannah Churchill 30:12. 6.2k MALE: 3rd Michael Hosking 21:09, 4th Nick Walshe 21:45, 7th Allan McGlew 22:41.

Allan McGlew and Ben Dawson had a 'training run'in the tough Frith Road 5.1km cross country race on 7 August. They ran 18:57 to 'dead heat'over a minute clear of 3rd place. Colin Bridge continued his comeback to fitness placing 8th in 23:17. Kerrie Bremner who is preparing for the Sydney Marathon ran with coach Brian Wenn who was coming back from injury. The 1km U14 race saw Caitlin Hosking placing 2nd (5:27) and Brendon Pearce 3rd (5:35).
Allan McGlew placed 2nd in the 3.2km race with Peter Hosking an excellent 6th. Jessamy Hosking dominated the female race running 13:04 with Emily Glover placing second. Heath Pearce had his first race after a long bout of the flu coming in just ahead of Greg Hosking. Both courses were well marked by race director Jim White. SCT top three:
3.2k FEMALE: 1st Jessamy Hosking 13:04, 2nd Emily Glover 14:54. 3.2k MALE: 2nd Allan McGlew 11:15, 6th Peter Hosking 12:39, 13th Heath Pearce 14:45. 5.1k FEMALE: 4th Kerrie Bremner 25:47. 5.1k MALE: 1st Ben Dawson 18:57, 2nd Allan McGlew 18:57, 8th Colin Bridge 23:17.

SCT now has a magnificent perpetual shield which will be awarded jointly to our first runners in the annual 'Runners Shop 10km'race. The trophy acknowledges the years of contribution to SCT by Brian Wenn as a committee person, president, sponsor and former A-grade team runner. The trophy was presented by Brian after the 10km race at East Basin on Saturday 31 July. Nick Walshe (who ran a PB of 33:49) and Noni Clarke (37:21) will be the first athletes to have their names engraved on the trophy. More results from the 5km and 10km 'fun runs'are below...

SCT had 10 of the top 20 finishers in the Runners Shop 5km fun run on 31 July! Both the 5km and 10km fun runs doubled as CCC junior and senior pointscore events. Michael Hosking placed 2nd behind Corey Tucker in the 5k with a 'moderate'15:45. Allan McGlew was 3rd with Keith Cassilles-Southgate 4th and Nick Mesher 5th. In her best distance race for a number of years Kelly Roberts was first female in the 5km, 16 seconds clear of Jillian Hosking.
Following Nick Walshe in the 10km were Steve Cook 7th and Nick Mesher 19th. Geoff Monro and Dale Moore both had good 'tune-ups'for the City to Surf. SCT top three:
5k FEMALE: 1st Kelly Roberts 18:13, 2nd Jillian Hosking 18:29, 4th Hannah Flannery 19:21. 5k MALE: 2nd Michael Hosking 15:45, 3rd Allan McGlew 16:56, 4th Keith Cassilles-Southgate 17:28.
10k FEMALE: 3rd Noni Clarke 37:21, 19th Karen Daniels 53:34. 10k MALE: 4th Nick Walshe 33:49, 7th Steve Cook 35:02, 18th Nick Mesher 37:40.

The recent achievements of evergreen SCT veteran Kathy Southgate have been broadcast into the loungerooms of every home in Canberra. An advertisement on Channel Ten recently interrupted Australian Idol to announce Kathy as a winner in the "ClubsACT Sportstar of the Year" competition. The year-long competition is organised by ACTSport and recognises elite performances in a number of categories such as ACTAS, Team, Junior and Coaching. Kathy won the June Sportstar Competition in the 'Master'Category for winning the 10km Terry Fox Fun Run outright in 38:54. Well done Kathy!

Organised by the Canberra Sri Chinmoy group was run on Sunday morning 18 July. It clashed with the ACT CCC 10-mile classic so numbers were down a little on previous years. SCT's Charlie Modrak got the better of Jim White in the last 3 laps of the 1 mile per lap course to place 10th overall. Charlie ran a solid 95:51 and placed 2nd in the 50-59 age-group. Jim White was on target for a sub-94 clocking before knee problems intervened. Jim finished 12th overall in 96:48 for 3rd in the 50-59 category. Jim's better half Maria was 3rd in her age-group in 2:07:20.

A number of SCT runners decided to escape the freezing snowy weather in Canberra and ventured north to run various races at the Gold Coast on Sunday 4 July. Unfortunately the weather was even warmer than usual at Surfers Paradise which affected finishing times of many runners especially in the marathon. Here are the results from the official website starting with the youngsters...
Alex Mesher ran 20:10 in the 4km Junior Dash to place 85th and 29th in age-group. Darryl Hill broke the 80-minute barrier with 79:52 for the half marathon. This was a 5 minute PB for Darryl and placed him 2nd in the 15-17 years category and 80th overall.
Kerrie Bremner was just outside her PB in the marathon. Kerrie ran an excellent 3:26:05 placing 14th in age-group and 367th overall. Nick Mesher suffered from an overly ambitious early pace for the weather conditions. Nick passed halfway in 1:26 but faded to finish in 3:11:50 for 26th in age-group and 199th overall. Laurie Irvine ran brilliantly breaking the 3-hour barrier with 2:59:21 after being 1:28 through halfway. Laurie placed 7th in age-group and 109th overall. Ex-SCT member Steve Appleby stepped down from ultras to run 3:07:55. Steve was 7th in age-group and 170th overall. Well done to all SCT runners, see you in 2005!

Ted Harrison as race manager provided ideal conditions for the 4.2km races at Dunrossil Drive on 24 July. North Canberra's Scott McTaggart set the standard with one of the fastest times in history - 12:02 to win by 27 seconds from Daniel Green. Michael Hosking and John Winsbury battled it out to be the leading SCT runner. Michael prevailed in 13:06 from John's 13:12. Ben Dawson had a solid run in 13th place. In the 'B-grade'race club president Geoff Monro had the finishing speed to see off Nick Mesher. Geoff ran 14:59 to place 4th and Nick 15:05 for 5th.
After a short injury lay-off Noni Clarke came back well placing 2nd to Woden's Joy Terry. Kelly Roberts was impressive in 4th place while Jillian Hosking claimed 6th in a sprint finish with Hannah Flannery. In a similar sprint for 12th Sophie Vardos got the better of Jessamy Hosking. SCT top three:
4.2k FEMALE: 2nd Noni Clarke 15:06, 4th Kelly Roberts 15:30, 6th Jillian Hosking 15:38.
4.2k MALE: 6th Michael Hosking 13:06, 8th John Winsbury 13:12, 13th Ben Dawson 13:43.

There were some excellent results from SCT members at the annual carnival:
Elizabeth Hosking placed 5th (5:47) and Caitlin Hosking 13th (7:05) in the Girl's U10 1km race. Jillian Hosking won the U18 Girl's 5km race with a PB of 24:55. Ann Staunton placed 11th in the Women's 5km race (29:11) while Ashley Colquhoun walked a PB of 47:06 to win bronze in the U20 Men's 10km race.

'Oh what a night!'[from TA March 1992]

The HR Heher Shield and the Tuggeranong Hyperdome Shield have come to SCT. If that achievement was not enough, three of our athletes also received scholarships at the TVRU&ASC Sport Awards night. Bob, Rita and Stuart Mee, Amanda Carey, Colin Neave, Fiona Jorgensen, John and Maryann Busteed, your esteemed President and the First Lady were at the TVRU&ASC on the 29th February to witness the spectacular event

'This year it all happened for us'said Brian Wenn. 'Firstly the announcement was made that our women's cross country team, led by Amanda Carey, was the team of the year having won their 3rd successive ACTCCC winter premiership. We thought that the rugby union team would take the award so the announcement was reason for great celebration.'An excited Brian continued to unravel the evening's events at the TVRU&ASC. 'We were still celebrating when it was announced that Maryann Busteed had won the individual sports star of the year. The double made our night!'

Our Club has had considerable success in past years with both Colin Neave and Stuart Mee winning the senior sports star award and Amanda Butler the junior award. However the double this year was something special. Our final success for the evening was the $500 sports scholarships awards. We nominated Paula Edmunds, Ben Battisson and Nicole Myszka and they were all successful. Brian summed it up with 'Somebody up there must like us! But how are we going to top this next year?'.

Nick Mesher proved he has recovered well from the Gold Coast Marathon by placing 5th in the Black Mountain Peninsula 10-mile Classic on 18 July. Nick ran in the lead pack for the first 9km and may have run close to 60 minutes were it not for a strong headwind over the last 4km. His 61:49 was still an excellent result which placed him ahead of big names like Peter James and Trevor Jacobs. Geoff Monro's 5-year plan for the World Masters Games began well with 66:22 for 13th place. SCT top three:
10 mile MALE: 5th Nick Mesher 61:49, 13th Geoff Monro 66:22, 26th Gordon Nightingale 75:21. 5km: Nil! You missed a chance to be 1st SCT runner!

Sonja Taylor recorded her first Cross Country Club short course victory in the Mount Tuggeranong 3km race on 3 July, finishing ahead of Kayler Torley. Stuart Doyle cruised to an easy win in the male 3km race (managing to run slower than Noni Clarke did to win the female race in 2003) and then took on Ben Dawson in the 5km race. Ben and Stu let David Wilson do the pace-setting for the first 2km before running together until the final uphill section (500m to go) where Ben put in the 'big ones'to drop Stu like Armstrong dropping Ullrich on L'Alpe d'Huez.
Noni Clarke had an exceptional run in the 5km race smashing sub-35 10k runner Tiffany Levette's course record by 36 seconds. 11-year-old Declan Wilson ran like a champion in the 3km leading the race early before placing third in 11:07. SCT top three:
3k FEMALE: 1st Sonja Taylor 12:47, 2nd Kayler Torley 13:15. 3k MALE: 1st Stuart Doyle 10:37, 3rd Declan Wilson 11:07, 4th Paul Torley 11:51.
5k FEMALE: 1st Noni Clarke 18:41, 5th Dominique Wilson 24:09. MALE: 1st Ben Dawson 17:01, 2nd Stuart Doyle 17:06, 3rd David Wilson 18:05.

Evergreen Charlie Modrak and promising junior Keith Cassilles-Southgate were SCT's fastest runners at the Cooleman Ridge cross country races on 10 July. Charlie overcame early challenges from Andrew Gardner and Gordon Nightingale by using his hill running ability to crack the 40-minute barrier for the 8.6km race.
In the 5.4km race Keith had to see off super-vet Nick Mesher and Robert Torley to place third, just behind ACT marathon rep Anthony Perry. Jessamy Hosking had one of her best runs of the season finishing just behind Aussie mountain running rep Fiona Jorgensen and ahead of training partner Susannah Churchill. SCT top three:
5.4k FEMALE: 2nd Jessamy Hosking 22:25, 3rd Susannah Churchill 23:12, 8th Kayler Torley 33:07. 5.4k MALE: 3rd Keith Cassilles-Southgate 19:58, 4th Nick Mesher 20:55, 5th Robert Torley 21:37.
8.6k MALE: 10th Charlie Modrak 39:56, 11th Andrew Gardner 40:20, 12th Gordon Nightingale 40:44.

At the moment I'm sifting through Charlie Modrak's collection of newsletters which date back to the early 1980's. I'll be selecting stories which catch my eye to publish on these pages, thus giving the X-generation some idea of what happened way back in the 'old days'of SCT. Stay tuned...

Stuart Doyle came, ran and almost conquered the Weston Park cross country races at Weston Park on 26 June. In the 4k 'warm-up'race he couldn't quite match it with Michael Hosking. Then in the Rosemary Longstaff 8k Trophy Race his victory plans were drowned in LBG when surprise entry, AIS young gun Michael Shelley, thrashed the field by nearly 4 minutes. Stu did however claim the scalp of John Winsbury. Allan McGlew and Nick Mesher both ran excellent 'doubles'in the 4 and 8.
Noni Clarke was denied the prestigious Rosemary Longstaff Trophy by Woden's Sarah Fien who amazingly continued on to also win the 16km female race. Our best runner in the 16km Jack Pennington Trophy race was Nick Walshe, 6th in 59:26. Hugh Jorgensen placed 15th in 67:32 but unfortunately SCT only had four finishers, two short of the six needed to form a senior team. SCT top three:
4k FEMALE: 2nd Jillian Hosking 16:08, 4th Hannah Flannery 16:42. 4k MALE: 1st Michael Hosking 13:28, 3rd Stuart Doyle 14:03, 4th Allan McGlew 14:16. 8k FEMALE: 2nd Noni Clarke 31:46, 7th Susannah Churchill 36:12. 8k MALE: 2nd Stuart Doyle 29:24, 3rd John Winsbury 29:38, 5th Allan McGlew 30:22. 16k MALE: 6th Nick Walshe 59:26, 14th Hugh Jorgensen 67:32, 25th Jim White 76:00

2003 was supposed to be the last CCC event at O'Connor Ridge before the onslaught of bulldozers. A hardy but small crowd were back again braving some of the worst weather of the 2004 winter. Stuart Doyle jumped ahead in the SCT winter pointscore competition with a double victory he dedicated to the 'Save the Ridge'group. It was a battle of the two 21-year-olds in the female 2.5km with SCT's Jessamy Hosking finishing just six seconds behind Andrea Ilakovac. Charlie Modrak scored one of his highest ever CCC placings - a 2nd, just ahead of Jim White! SCT top three:
2.5k FEMALE: 2nd Jessamy Hosking 10:10. 2.5k MALE: 1st Stuart Doyle 9:50, 2nd Charlie Modrak 10:51, 3rd Jim White 11:26.
5k FEMALE: Nil. 5k MALE: 1st Stuart Doyle 18:17, 5th Geoff Monro 20:19, 6th Hugh Jorgensen 20:44.

The alarm went off at 4:50am on Sunday 12 September. I was on the road at 5:30 to pick up Jim White for our day trip to Wagga Wagga to run in the City to Lake Fun Run

The 260k drive was uneventful except for many near misses with birds - mostly Galahs. They were feasting on grain at the road's edge. The countryside looked fantastic after recent rains - green and lush, dams full and lots of standing water. Totally different to the brown, dusty drought conditions on my last trip to Wagga Wagga

We arrived just before 9am and entered (free!) along with a dozen or so other 'out of towners'and then drove the 9km course to the finish. Here the organisers had arranged for two buses to transport runners back 'down town' to the start. Thankfully the buses were heated as it was an unseasonably cool day. We were back at the start with half an hour to go until the 10:30am start. I met up with mum who at 78 years of age was walking the course again along with hundreds of others. We jogged over to a nearby carpark to look at the display of MGs which were in town for a national convention. We then jogged around the beautiful park near the lagoon and 'tested' the first few hundred metres of the main street course which had been blocked to traffic

This was the 33rd annual 'City to Lake' and had attracted over 2000 runners, walkers and cyclists (who rode off 10 minutes before the run). I have great affection for the run as it was my first race (besides school events) as a teenager. The run was started by Sally Shipard, a local 19-year-old who competed in soccer at the Athens Olympics. She was wearing number 1, fired the gun from the back of a truck, joined the run and won it in 36:15.

Jim was wearing a running singlet in red Bombers colours so after the start I could spot him disappearing down the main street just off the lead bunch. I passed 1km in 4:07 and was surprised when I appeared to be catching Jim after 2 kilometres. Soon after we were on the long drag of a climb up to the 'Top Shop'at 4k's. It was on this climb that I was amazed to catch and pass Jim. I knew Jim was in good form having run 1:36 in the Vets Half Marathon. From then on I was 'running scared' knowing Jim's reputation for downhill running. After the 'Top Shop' the course is pretty much downhill or flat going. I was worried when the 5th kilometre passed in an agonisingly slow 4:18 but we were running into a cold headwind which may have been hampering Jim's downhill progress

I followed Mona's advice ('don't look back') so as not to give Jim the idea that I was worried and feeling tired. I did sneak a look when we turned a sharp left corner with about 400m to run and was shocked to see the Bombers shirt just 50 metres back. It was time to begin my 'Calwell trained' kick finish. I made it! At last, 'winning' in Wagga Wagga. A victory over my long-time rival Jim White reversing our placings from 2002. I was also pleased with my time - 38:38, just 8 seconds ahead of Jim. It was Jim however who took the glory, being presented with a bronze medal for placing third in the 50-59's. We're both keen to return in 2005 but don't tell anybody else about this fantastic fun run! We have enough competition already.

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