33rd Half Marathon and 2nd 10km Community Fun Run

Half Marathon

The 33^rd running of this iconic Canberra running event was conducted in perfect weather albeit rain had been forecast. However, the drizzle stopped just as I pulled the gear trailer to a stop near the race finish line at 05:30 and it remained clear all day, not raining until 11pm that night. It is an undulating and challenging course, all run on bike paths, with no road crossovers, thus it is a safe and extremely scenic course with views over Lake Burley Griffin for most of it.

There weren’t as many hot air balloons overhead this year but a few could be seen throughout both events, adding to the scenery.

For the first time in the event’s illustrious and long history we used electronic timing. Distinctive timing bibs for each race had been purchased and a number of overseas runners bought their bib after the race to keep as a souvenir. The timing system worked well and we will keep that feature as part of our future events. Electronic timing allowed us to upload results onto our Facebook page in real time for the first time. We also introduced engraved Canberra Redbacks medals for the second and third runners in the half marathon and for the each of the 10 year age group winners. The male and female winners of the half marathon got to hold the perpetual trophy for a little while and then returned it to have their names engraved on it. They each received an engraved ‘keepsake’ trophy.

Congratulations to the first three male and female place getters in the half marathon:

Position	Name	Bib	GunTime	ChipTime
1	Michael Roeger	113	01:07:27	01:07:26
2	Glen Sturesteps	129	01:19:52	01:19:51
3	Liam Ryan	114	01:21:41	01:21:40

1	Monique De Abreu	42	01:25:12	01:25:10
2	Emily Stacey	127	01:32:12	01:32:08
3	Margie Morrison	92	01:35:35	01:35:31

Readers may recall that the event was cancelled in 2017 and consequently many of our previous participants drifted away to other events and numbers were low in 2018 when we restarted the series. Last year there were only 69 individual entrants and two relay teams competing in the half marathon. 30% of participants were female. This year the numbers increased to 160 and 8 respectively. 36% of the field were female. Confidence is high that participant numbers will increase significantly again in 2020.

Congratulations also to the age group winner and runners up:

Place	Age Group	Name	Bib	Gun Time	Chip Time	Pace (min/K)
1.	Female 40-49	Serena Lawlor	79	01:47:31	01:47:26	5:05
2.	Female 40-49	Oneeka Robb	111	01:47:56	01:47:48	5:06

1.	Female 50-59	Anita Scherrer	115	01:47:02	01:46:52	5:04
2.	Female 50-59	Pam Muston	95	01:52:38	01:52:34	5:20

1.	Female 60-69	Clare Wall	137	01:53:03	01:52:59	5:21
2.	Female 60-69	Jennifer Kellett	70	01:54:46	01:54:38	5:26

1.	Female 70-79	Susan Archer	2	01:50:26	01:50:21	5:14

1.	Male 40-49	Ben Crabb	33	01:22:07	01:22:06	3:53
2.	Male 40-49	Scott Martin	85	01:23:28	01:23:25	3:57

1.	Male 50-59	Jeff Grey	59	01:26:46	01:26:44	4:06
2.	Male 50-59	Dave Graham	57	01:29:06	01:29:01	4:13

1.	Male 60-69	Peter Clarke	28	01:36:13	01:36:08	4:33
2.	Male 60-69	Brian Weiss	140	01:39:13	01:39:10	4:42

1.	Male 70-79	Michael Wilson	144	02:09:37	02:09:28	6:08
2.	Male 70-79	Daniel Cole	30	02:12:41	02:12:29	6:17

With eight (8) relay teams contesting the half marathon competition was bound to be fierce.

Bricat	Jen Bright	Isaac Muscat
Creekers	Belinda Read	Wayne Read
Dusty’s	Peter Daly	Colin Reid	Jason Phong
Fit CC	Rachel Haynes	Clementine O’Sullivan
JT Multisport	Kim Cayser	Estelle Canellas	Vicki Resch
Millers	Nathan Miller	Erin Miller
Squish Squash	David Baussmann	Lorraine Rae
Two Young 70plus	Margaret McSpadden	Caroline Campbell

Team Bricat, comprising mother and son, ran out the victors in a very smart time of 1.26.43

Place	Name	Bib Number	Time	Pace (min/K)
1	Bricat	201	01:26:43	4:06
2	JT Multisport	205	01:41:34	4:48
3	Dusty’s	203	01:42:57	4:52

10 Km Community Fun Run

A 10Km Community Fun Run event was introduced last year to try and tap into the Park Run market.

However, only 31 participants entered, which was disappointing. However, participant numbers increased to 55 this year. An impressive 58% of these were female. Hopefully this number will increase over time. One such participant was Graham Burke who readers might recall ran his 23^rd Weston Creek half marathon last year making him the leader over Jim White who has run 22.

The full results can be found elsewhere on the web site but congratulations to:

1	Adam Leane	1032	00:38:14	00:38:12	M40-49
2	Andrew Leigh	1033	00:38:58	00:38:56	M40-49
3	Iain Johnstone	1028	00:42:10	00:42:08	M40-49


1	Lilian Anderson	1001	00:40:43	00:40:41	F20-29
2	Ellen Bradley	1005	00:43:58	00:43:56	F30-39
3	Vanessa Haverd	1024	00:44:38	00:44:36	F40-49

The event could not be run without the help of lots of volunteers and I thank all members of the Canberra Redbacks who assisted before and/or on the day, especially the Caley family. Thanks also to our sponsor, Nick Walshe of The Runners Shop, and Craig Wisdom, of the Kingston Physiotherapy who provided four barrel draw prizes.

Robbie Costmeyer

Assistant Event Organiser

21 April 2019