Runners brave the cold

WITH steady rain in the hours leading up to this week’s Inverloch Park Run, many runners chose to stay in bed and keep warm.
However, 29 dedicated runners and walkers braved the conditions on Saturday morning.
With the finish area under water, the start and finish lines were moved so runners could run towards shelter.
Carl Kennedy, a runner with a holiday home in the area, was down for the weekend and led the field over the modified course, setting a new personal best (PB) and breaking the 49 to 49 age record with a run of 18:28.
He was followed by locals Bill Barry and Tony O’Connell who ran it in PB times as well.
Heather Farley was the first female, running in at 24:45, closely followed by Leanne Ball in 25:05.
There were a total of 12 PBs set on the day. It was suspected runners were running harder to get out of the rain.
A big congratulations goes to the junior runners Addie Pykett and Caelan Owens who both broke the 30 minute barrier for the first time.
A big thank you goes to the volunteers Bill Barbour, Jordan Corson, Stephen Pykett and Heather Sullivan who ventured out and stood around in the cold conditions. The warm drinks at the bakery later were very popular.
Next Saturday the parkrunner of the month of October will be presented at the pre-run briefing. All runners are encouraged to come along and congratulate the inaugural winner.
Briefing is always at 7.45am at the stump.
Men’s placing: Carl Kennedy (VM45-49) of Victorian Road Runners was first over the line in 18:28 – first time in two appearances. Bill Barry (VM35-39) of Wonthaggi Road Runners was second over the line in 19:30. Tony O’Connell (VM45-49) of TXR Runners was third over the line in 20:20.
Current standing in the men’s annual point competition: Glenn Sullivan (Wonthaggi Road Runners) 791 points, Tony O’Connell (TXR Runners) 734 points and Nathan Castle 711 points.
Women’s placing: Heather Farley (VW60-64) was first (10th overall) over the line in 24:45 – first time in two appearances. Leanne Ball (VW45-49) was second (11th overall) over the line in 25:05. Nicole Walsh (VW45-49) of Launceston Athletic Club was third (13th overall) over the line in 27:43.
Current standing in the women’s annual points competition: Addie Pykett 671 points, Jacqui M O’Connell 587 points and Nicole Walsh (Launceston Athletics Club) 581 points.
The following runners recorded the best age grade scores: Carl Kennedy was graded 78.61 per cent for the time 18.28 (first overall). Heather Farley was graded 77.31 per cent for the time 24.45 (10th overall). Tony O’Connell was graded 71.39 per cent for the time 20:20 (third overall).
Of the 29 runners this week, three were first timers and representatives of six different athletics clubs took park.
The Inverloch Park Run started on September 13 and since then 295 different runners, including participants from 16 athletics clubs. They have completed 665 runs covering a total distance of 3425 kilometres and 184 new PBs have been set.

Made it: father and son Ryan (right) and Caelan Owens cross the finish line at the Park Run on Saturday.

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Posted by Sarah Vella on Nov 4 2014. Filed under Sport. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry