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 The GIO Women's and Girls' Fun Run by Ewen Thompson - April 6, 1997
On a typically glorious Canberra autumn morning more than 700 participants congregated at Acton Ferry Terminal for the 11th annual 6 kilometre Women's and Girls' Fun Run. Two-time Olympian Susan Hobson was a notable absentee from the elite field as she was running the London Marathon the following Sunday [Sue finished 19th in 2:35:23-ed]. The 1988 winner Joy Terry was also a non-starter "injured again" according to coach Richard Lucas. Joy is a former international with an AA certified 10k road PB of 32:27 in winning the 1989 Canberra Times Fun Run.
Susan's course record from 1996 of 20:05 was not expected to be challenged. "I think it will be a race between Jane (Zeller, a local triathlete), Elaine (Cooper), Robyn Sewell (1996 Canberra Times Fun Run winner) and a girl from Sydney (Tiffany Levette)" said race director Deborah Hoare. This prediction proved pretty close to the mark. At 2km Jane and Elaine were running shoulder to shoulder, with Robyn trailing by 10 metres. There was a gap of 50 metres to Mary-Jane Harding, Jennifer Beer and Fiona Jorgensen. On the return run from the Carillon, Jane pushed the pace which had the desired effect on Robyn who dropped off another 50 metres. Elaine, however was only a stride behind and looking ominously comfortable.
There's a footbridge in Commonwealth Park about 1500 metres from the finish line. Instinct must have taken over for the track trained Elaine Cooper, for this is where she made the break: "I thought I would leave it as late as possible". A decisive surge was turned into a comfortable 20 second winning margin. Coach Glenn Coward was pleased with the outcome, although not the tactics: "When I said leave it late, I meant wait until the last fifty (metres)". Her response to this was: "I didn't want to take any chances and the thought of the prize-money ($500 from GIO Australia) was incentive enough to get away a little earlier". Elaine had previously won the Women's and Girls' in 1995 in one of the closest finishes in race history. Second on that occasion was promising junior Claire Fraser. This year there was no need for the photo finish, and the winning time of 21:31 was a satisfying one second personal best. Robyn Sewell (also a triathlete and Canberra Times winner) finished a lonely third with mountan running expert Fiona Jorgensen beating Levette, Beer and Harding into fourth place.
Gay Thurlow from GIO presented the placegetters with their cheques and trophies after finishing the race herself. South Canberra Tuggeranong Athletic Club were successful in many of the team and age-group categories. Erin Sutcliffe won the 13 to 14 years age-group. Kelly Roberts finished second in the Under-18's. Rosemary Longstaff won the 45 to 45 years age-group: "I was really pleased with my run...maybe I won't retire now. I had a close battle with Kelly (Roberts) over the last half kilometre (Kelly prevailed by one second)". Fiona Jorgensen, Kelly Roberts, Theresa Macgregor and Michelle Ward-Pearson were members of the winning 'Athletic/Sporting Club' team. Karen Daniels-Sutcliffe and Erin Sutcliffe were the "Concise Couple" who won the Mother and Daughter prize. The "Hosking Trio" of Rebecca, Jessamy and Jillian were winners in the 'Sisters' category. First in the Government Departments category were the "Calvery Cruisers". The winning Primary School team were the "Garran Greyhounds" with thei distinctive T-shirts, and the High Schools category was taken out by "St Clares".
Debbi Hoare thanked GIO Australia, supporting sponsors (Instant Colour Press, Win TV, FM104.7, Robinson Building Group, Australian Physiotherapy Association), and Barrel draw donors (Rydges Canberra, The Runners Shop Canberra, The Australian Institute of Sport) in her presentation speech: "...and not forgetting my organising committee of Alice Scott, Annette Sugden, Beryl Lowry, Fiona Jorgensen, Lu Vizard and Dave Cundy."
The prestigious $1,000 junior scholarship was awarded to South Canberra Tuggeranong athlete Kelly Roberts. This was quite meritorious as Kelly was struck down with Chicken Pox ten days before the race. "She was below her best and it was a good effort on her part just to finish" said coach Mike Sainsbury "...the scholarship is a good reward for Kelly's efforts on the track (2:10 and 4:39) and Cross Country Club Summer Series (2nd female)."
Results - Top 30 Finishers:
I think the essence of the Club participation in athletics is embodied in our member's personal enjoyment and achievement of what goals they set for themselves. The fact that they are successful in the normally perceived view is a bonus to them, their reputation and to a lesser extent to that of the Club. Our "nursery" at Fadden Pines Schools XC is the epitome of this spirit. The whole gambit of human emotions are on display every week, striving to do ones best and sometimes falling short of expectations, tears of frustration, smiles of satisfaction, words of comfort and congratulation, disappointments and success from many much younger than ourselves. Yet they are all back the next week smiling in anticipation of doing better than last time.
I read an article the other day about what it was about athletics that set it apart from other sports. Basically it is the ability of all participants to rub shoulders with and at times compete in the same race or event with the greats. I don't think any other sport facilitates this. We carried our successes in the Cross Country Cundy Cup to the track & field season with a limited number of athletes compared with our ostensible membership. However, the forgetfulness of some in not registering did cause the loss of one summer age-group championship, which is unfortunate for the other members of their age-group. I believe the margin was 30 points. It would be a tragedy if this were to occur next season. On behalf of the executive, I congratulate all members on their performances this year and on their support for the club. The executive committee members, officials, coaches, trainers all supported your efforts and I thank all those members.
I think we can work more efficiently in the club, but the load has to be fairly spread and this does not always happen. This coming season has to be different if we are to grow further and provide the opportunities for all athletes. Our record number of junior representatives translated into some $6,000 worth of direct subsidies. This money is extremely difficult to raise and I thank TVRUASC for its continuing support. While the amounts were not all we asked for they never said no. Thanks Bill Milward and Terry Crane. Remember is you are a member of TVRUASC, SCTAC will pay for your membership renewal, but you have to let us know. Brian Wenn continued to support us as is his want and we are extremely grateful for this. Phillip Motorway and Brian Pollock Motors also sponsored specific activities and events injecting significant amounts of money. The chocolates also helped, thank you all you chocoholics. The most exciting event and best fund raiser was the Tuggie Tri which recouped a profit of $2,500. Thanks Simon Toozoff for your efforts with this event, which is a six month organisation task and for co-ordinating the Fadden Pines XC.
The outlook looks promising next year. I can report that TVRUASC has confirmed our annual grant as $4,300, and thanks again TVRUASC for that. So we are on a solid base. The club house is still on the agenda and I am working on some negotiations for another special event/s which may be run in conjunction with each other towards the end of winter. More about that later. Once again thanks everyone, particularly the committee for their work over the year. Let's make this season one to remember.
The 1997 SCTAC Annual General Meeting:
After the election, Peter presented trophies and Runners Shop vouchers to the 96-97 winter and summer season club pointscore placegetters... (if you haven't collected yours yet, contact Peter before the end of June, or the funds will be returned to consolidated revenue). It was also noted that two of our athletes won awards at the ACT Athletic Association Presentation night. Erin Sutcliffe was voted the most outstanding Winter and Summer athlete in the Under 14 age-group. Kelly Roberts was voted the most outstanding Winter athlete in the Under 16 age-group. It is notable that both of these runners are coached by Mike Sainsbury (just thought I'd get in a plug for Mike's group). After the presentation an attempt was made on the World Record for "The Most party pies and spring rolls eaten by athletes per head at an Annual General Meeting"...(The record was achieved, but remains unofficial as there was no drug-testing).
Jim White although suffering from calf cramps managed to beat James White by 2 seconds and also won yet another barrel draw prize of a $25 voucher at the Runners Shop! Greg Gilbert (catering)and Jim Tucker (timekeepeing) were two of the many helpful volunteers on the day. Well done to all SCT runners and following is a list of their results: 14th Geoffrey Monro 79:02, 21st Hugh Jorgensen 80:20, 26th Col Bridge 81:21,
36th Gordon Nightingale 82:34, 48th Fiona Jorgensen 85:02, 72nd Andrew Gardner 87:39, 83rd Ian Colquhoun 89:06, 84th Ted Harrison 89:19, 117th Ewen Thompson 93:22, 123rd Jim White 94:20, 149th Garry Hosking 98:54, 234th Michael Ward-Pearson 112:38.
You are also missing out on the latest SCT Club pointscore results (Winter and Summer) which are updated weekly. You are also missing out on the chance to list your City to Surf PB or have a Virtual run...if you have run 1500m you are eligible! You are also missing out on the musings of Canberra's best athletics writers, including Jim Tucker and Joe "Aussie" Fulton. Need I go on?...Last time I checked, there had been 349 visits to the site since March 15, 1997.
Male: Under-14 2nd, 2636pts. Under-16 1st, 4316pts. Under-18 3rd, 1850pts. Under-20 2nd, 1263pts. Seniors 4th, 2173 pts. All Males 2nd, 12238pts.
Dear Fiona,
PROPOSAL: The club (SCTAC) wishes to celebrate the 30th year of the use of the Lotus Bay course for Cross Country events by requesting permission of the executive of the ACT Cross Country Club to substitute this event for one already in the Calendar. The event replacement would be for the Stirling Park event on 16 August, two weeks after the ACT Cross Country Championships. The event distances would be the same, 3/6K.
The course would use the modified start and finish lines adjacent to the front (lakeside) of the Canberra Yacht Club. This course has been successfully trialed with over 400 school aged runners using it over a four hour period and no one finding it hard to navigate or to run as an out & back event. I attach a copy of the event map, which you will note highlights the facilities such as the Yacht Club, the toilet blocks (3), the picnic tables at the Start/Finish area, the already marked course (which takes just one hour to modify for the extension back to the startline).
The South Canberra-Tuggeranong Club hereby formally tenders to run the event for the Cross Country Club, to promote the occasion of the 30th year of the Lotus Bay course, and to put on a sausage sizzle and hot drinks at the event site. Cold drinks and other refreshments will be available from the Yacht Club during and after the event, with the bar balcony overlooking the start/finish line. This Club will provide course marking, tent, BBQ, gas urn, guest starters, timekeepers, course marshals and recorders at no cost to the XC Club. Revenue will be raised from the sausage sizzle, but hot drinks will as usual be free.
I recommend this for your consideration at the Committee level and request that you give it due consideration.
Yours sincerely
Greg Gilbert (3 June, 1997)
[Note that this proposal has been approved by the ACTCCC and is now SCTAC's to organise]
Scott is a resident of St Andrew's College which has, as the name suggests, a Scottish origin. The 5000m race provided a unique experience for Scott which is probably only experienced in international competition and one which he will remember for a long time to come. At the half way stage in the race three runners were well ahead of the field. These were Scott, representing St Andrew's College, and representatives from Wesley and St John's College. Another few laps saw the Wesley College representative fall back thus making the event a two horse race between Scott and the St John's representative who was an exchange student from the USA College system and who had previously competed in the NCAA Division 1 athletic competions in the United States.
Feeling the effects of the 1500m race, which was held an hour earlier, Scott started to drop back and lost about 30m. With two laps remaining the large number of St Andrew's supporters commenced to sing "Flower of Scotland" in accompaniment to the bagpipes. This stirred some dormant nationalistic feelings (Scott was born in Scotland and came to Australia when he was four years old) and he found some additional energy to pull back the 30 m and eventually won the race by about 30m amid jubilant cheers from the St Andrew's students.
Scott says he has never experienced anything like it before as the St Andrew's supporters lined the track and were encouraging and cheering him in all the way. A football team stopped training in the adjacent oval when they heard the the noise and they also joined in the support.
Scott's aims are now to continue training and compete in a few C.C. races in the Sydney area and when possible to run in ACT races when home on holiday as he did at the Easter break when he won the 5km race at Ginnindera.
I'd like to talk about a particularly strange training session that occurred in late April. I received a phone call from Jim Tucker asking if he could join the group for a run. When we met down at Calwell playing fields, Mike Sainsbury asked Jim and myself to take Michelle Ward-Pearson out for a long warm-up as he was going make a presentation to recognise her selection in the ACT LA team for Nationals. Jim kept us going on the warm-up for so long I was starting to wonder: Is Jim contemplating stepping up from the 800m to the marathon?
We eventually arrived back at the car park to find tables, chairs, food, drinks and friends (some not dressed to run) waiting. I thought to myself: What a lavish presentation... how will it be topped if someone makes the Olympic team? When a cake with a huuuuuuge number of candles arrived, the penny dropped. Except for bending the elbow and stretching the jaws, not much exercising was done on that Thursday afternoon. I won't go on... but to say a sincere thanks to Jim 'Guy' and Mike's Mob. Now that I'm in the over the hill club, the rest of you has-beens had better watch out!
Whilst I'm in thank-you mode, I'd also like to mention Raine Thompson and Doug Fry. Raine is the chief Social organiser with the ACT Veterans Athletic Club. She does a fantastic job, is a nice person, and has the right name! Thanks Raine for accommodating my friends at the April Birthday Event... 'lunch at Cafe Boheme, Red Hill'. It was a great day which they thoroughly enjoyed. Doug is the reason why SCT's winter pointscore is so up-to-date. He collates the results of every Saturday race then emails them to me so I can add them to the Running Writing web site.
Well, that's enough from me...how about something from you for the next issue? Copyright © 1997 - 2008 www.geocities.com/ewen_99/ta039.html |
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