Victorian Mountain Running Championships
Ferntree Gully
Sunday 26 April
Quality Performances in Trying Conditions
The weather forecast for the 2009 Victorian Mountain Running Championships was enough to unsettle even the most seasoned of mountain runners: gale force winds, thunderstorms, possible hail and snow on the Victorian Alps. Thankfully what eventuated yesterday in Ferntree Gully was better than forecast, and while cold with the occasional shower, it was a rewarding run for those who braved the conditions. In the Junior Women’s single lap race, Knox’s Jessica Cox was first across the line in a time of 22.30 ahead of a tight battle for second between Kimberley Duthrie (Frankston; 23.30) and Rachel Bullard (Knox; 23.36). In the Junior Men’s race over two laps, Traralgon’s Jesse La Greca led the way for a time through the mid-section of the race, but in the end early leader Jordan Nelson (Knox) came back to win in an impressive time of 36.28. Jesse Greca was second with Dominic Sutton (Inv) third. In the Open Women, Traralgon’s Kathryn Ewels dominated the field, winning in a time of 40.46, ahead of Megan Szirom (Frankston) and Sarah Lester (St Stephens). The Open Men’s race, held over 3 laps of the arduous course, saw last year’s bronze medallist, Jogi Mori of Richmond, step up for the win in an impressive time of 57.34. Second in the Open Men was David Green (Inv), followed by Vince Patton (Knox) and Kurt Hourigan (Frankston). In the men’s 40+ race, invitation runner David Carson was first across the line in 64.24, followed by Tony Dell (Richmond) and David Lau (Malvern). A special mention to the two finishers in the Men’s 60+ race, South Melbourne’s Keith McIntosh and Tony Krantzche from New South Wales, who braved a brief but nasty Antarctic blast on the top of the course to finish in 27.40 and 33.42 respectively.
Report by Vince Patton.
Athletics Victoria produced a video of the Championships which is on Youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJvUqqRqBck. There is also a link from the Athletics Victoria website www.athsvic.org.au
The Ferntree Gully course will be the venue for the Australian Mountain Running Championships on 7 June.