February Weekend Review

Mark mid-February down on your calendars for a PB attempt anywhere in Adelaide! The weather was absolutely perfect over the weekend, and it was great to see many RunAsOne athletes making the most of the opportunities provided! On Saturday night our home city played host to some world class athletics at ASA stadium, before Semaphore Beach provided ideal conditions on Sunday morning for 60 RunAsOne team mates to attempt a personal best time over 5 or 10km. At both events, it was equally pleasing to see the many RunAsOne shirts and caps supporting our representatives from the sidelines!

On Saturday night, the men’s and women’s 5000m invitational events featured 6 RunAsOne athletes all keen to test themselves against the best middle and long distance runners in the country. The women’s race was first to go, and Izzi Batt Doyle defeated fellow Olympian and national 10km champion Rose Davies (NSW) to win comfortably in 15:13; her third fastest time at the distance. Behind Izzi, Zoe Toland and Issie Hume crossed the line together in a PB time of 17:12! Running with this duo early, Sophie Hlipala was next home and scored the biggest PB of the night running 17:27 to shave 30 seconds off of her previous best time! Inspired by these four, next to run were Riley and Jacob Cocks in a stacked men’s field consisting of over 20 athletes. In one of the deepest, and closest mass finishes ever seen in Australia, Riley finished 9th in 13:45 (PB), but was only 9 seconds off of the winner! A little further back, Jacob finished 15th in a PB time of 14:04 to put himself within reach of the 14 minute barrier. It was a very special night for athletics in this state, and a privilege for all 6 of these athletes to be part of. It was particularly special to have such a large group of team mates in the crowd sharing the excitement of the victories and personal best performances! We look forward to welcoming this event back to Adelaide next year, with the hope that a few other RunAsOne athletes can put themselves in position to be included on the start lists!

        

The very next morning, the team were at it again! On a perfect Semaphore beach morning, our brand new tent was set up in prime position at the start line of the 2022 SARRC Dolphin Run! With 60 RunAsOne athlete registered, it was standing room only under the tent before the gun fired at 8:00am! The first start was the 10km race, and they headed west towards Largs Bay on an out and back course along the esplanade. Bryn Nicholls lead the way for not only the team, but the entire field, as he collected the first place trophy in a time of 32:02. In just his second race back from injury, Clayton Warden Flood ran a 47 second PB to be next home, and just miss the podium in a time of 33:05! Ryan Haylock was next home in 6th place with a PB of 33:55. He was too strong for Pat Hunt in 34:05, and Oscar Bloomfield in a 1 minute 12 second PB time of 34:07! It was particularly exciting to see Pat back running fast again after a long injury layoff. James Fox was next home in a remarkable 2.5 minute PB time of 34:35 to sneak in to the top 10 with a 9th place finish overall! The depth of this team continued in to the next minute on the clock, with Reece Tilbrook storming home for a 1 minute 25 second PB of 35:09! He was followed by PB’s from Matt Warner in 35:25 (1:15 PB), Simon Wegener in 35:50, and Mark Routley in 35:58 (1 min PB!). Just missing the 35 minute group, Justin McDonald had a strong run finishing in 36:06 as he continues to rebuild fitness. He was ahead of Tony Jarrett who scored an age group win for his 36:58! I might get in trouble for this, but that was for the 60-69 age group! Incredible. After Tony, Timon Sideris had the 37’s to himself thanks to a 50 second PB of 37:38! Continuing the string of over 1 min PB’s, Nick Mallia ran 38:35, just ahead of George Blackett who had a strong hitout finishing in 38:41. In a crowded 25 seconds for the team, Adam Wilson realised his goal of breaking 40 minutes by going sub 39 and finishing in 38:46! He outlasted Nick Stokoe who can also be happy with a 15 second PB of 38:59.

With the sub 40 minute barrier the next source of excitement for the growing crowd at the finish line, Tash Jarrett joined her dad Tony as an age group winner, and was 2nd female overall in 39:27 (PB)! Bella Terreri chased Tash home as the 3rd female, narrowly missing the 40 minute barrier but scoring a 2.5 minute PB of 40:44! Bella and Brendan Capper couldn’t be separated on the line, and 40:44 was also an 18 sec PB for Brendan. Jen Robertson then joined the Age Group winners list with a time of 41:16, and she beat home Lauren Rooke (41:31) for 4th and 5th place female overall. This was a post baby PB for Lauren! The biggest PB for the day went to Chris Sproston who was next home in 42:58. This was over 4 mins faster than Chris has ever run! Kristian Nesbit was behind Chris in a PB of 43:36, and ahead of Ben Clark who ran a PB 44:26. Next home, Guillermo Gomez enjoyed a 5km PB en route to a 10km PB of 44:39! Maddie Stewart was next home, and snuck in to the top 10 females overall with a 9th place finish in 46:10! She was just ahead of a close finish between Stephen Goddard (46:33), and Ben Obrien who ran a PB of 46:36! Molly Trumble joined the double PB club on her visit from Melbourne, running 47:01! She was just ahead of an Age group winning performance by Rosey Batt, who also recorded a PB time of 47:26! Remarkably, our next runner home made it two double PB’s for RunAsOne! Anna Kovac flew through the second half of the race to record a 5km PB on her return trip, to pair with her overall 10km PB time of 48:08! The 50 minute barrier was the next target for runners out on course. Andy Syed came close with a PB of 50:16, and will no doubt be eyeing off that milestone next time. Andy finished ahead of Annie McMichael who ran 51:25 in her first ever 10km event! Carla Scragg was equally impressive, recording a 4 minute personal best time of 52:25! She was just ahead of Mayuko Kurashima in 52:45. Lisa Laity recorded a “decade PB” to finish next in 53:43. Behind Lisa, the race for the sub 60 minute barrier was heating up at a similar rate to the temperature! Lorna Krenczeck ran a PB to comfortably finish inside 60 minutes by recording a time of 56:00. Rowan McKeown who was outside that 60 minute barrier last year, was 5 minutes quicker this year, and ran a PB 58:09. Rowan just beat home Lisa Rankin in 58:15 (PB), and was also joined in the sub 60 club by Anne-Marie Quinn (59:09 PB), Denise Rumbelow (59:20 PB), and Shari Bessell (59:27 PB)! Lucy Teicher will be under that next year, after narrowly missing it this year running a PB time of 1:01:42. Behind her, Fi Stokoe ran strongly to finish in 1:07:00, to finish ahead of Megan Norman who ran 1:12:26 to successfully complete another 10km event on a warm day along the beach!

10 minutes after the start of the 10km event, the 5km runners set off on their own quest for a PB. Running 2.5km out and back along the same esplanade strip, the course and conditions proved favourable for many. Matt Ormsby was first home for RunAsOne, and 2nd place overall in a time of 17:52. He edged out Brant Lang who joined Matt on the podium for his 18:10 effort. Jack Blake was 4th home in 18:29, ahead of a gallant sub 20 attempt by Liam McInerney, who finished an agonising 1 second outside of his goal in a PB time of 20:01! Similarly, Tom Weightman will be eyeing off the 20 minute barrier next time after he recorded a big PB of 20:18 with a little pacing assistance from team mate Matt DiMonte! Another stand out performance came from Rio Hamajima who was 2nd female overall. Her time of 20:38 was also a personal best. She was followed home by a close finish between Leon Kurashima (21:40), and Noa Goddard who ran a PB time of 21:42! Rio’s sister Hina Hamajima wasn’t far behind that pair finishing in 22:20, ahead of another RAO youngster Reve Tilbrook who ran 23:25. Sandra Peters was next home in 27:02, ahead of Mariko Hamajima who ran a PB time of 27:59 and is gradually catching up to her daughters! Unfortunately for her, her children are also getting much faster! Karen McCarthy and Jane Shepherdson also had strong runs on the morning, recording finishing times of 34:11, and 35:40 respectively. While we’re on the 5km distance, special mention also goes to Luke Mitchell this weekend, who despite being away, recorded a Naracoorte Parkrun course record time of 16:12.

Overall, it was a very successful weekend for RunAsOne! With a mixture of personal bests, podium places, and age group victories, there is certainly plenty to celebrate at training this week! Specifically, we enjoyed a 67% PB rate at the Dolphin run, which included a 79% PB rate in the 10km! Additionally, 12 of the top 20 men in the 10km were team mates, as well as 10 age group winners, and 28 age group place getters! We look forward to building on this in the next opportunities provided by the fantastic race organisers in this state such as SARRC and ASA.