Although the showers had evaporated, the cool southerly breeze made for unseasonable conditions for Saturday's races. The fields seemed to be affected by the school holidays, with many regular runners absent. The other notable feature was the instances of race leaders running off the circuit.
Ryan Woolley (13.54) won the Boys 14 year title, just reward for perseverance. Throughout this season, he's been the bridesmaid to either Hogan Green or Steven Smith. Lately Woolley has discovered tremendous confidence and his supremacy would have been more impressive had he not taken a wrong turning, 50 metres before the finish line.
A desperate chorus quickly had him going in the right direction. Hogan Green's second placing tied him in the handicap series with absentee Eric Speakman.
Mark Harris (18.11) and Abbey Green (20.59) won their respective under 14 year titles while Katie Harris (16.52) displayed the benefits of the coaching of Alan Potts, with a 55 second improvement on last year, to claim the Women's 16 year title. Katie Harris also won the handicap series by a single point from Aleesha Heywood, another absentee.
Daniel Wallis (17.10) and Stefan Smith produced the race of the day. Only one second separated them at the finish, with only a thoroughbred sprint from Wallis killing Smith's hopes of claiming the Junior Men's title. Steven Smith (17.37) exhibited plenty of tenacity to stay close to the leaders. All three had missed the turn onto Hetley Crescent and lost about 35 seconds rectifying the error. The main benefactor was Caleb Milne (18.14), who gained maximum handicap points although ultimately he still had to share this trophy with Steven Smith.
Cheryl Simpson (22.24) powered away from her opposition to comfortably claim the Masters Women's crown, while Shayna Heywood (24.15) demonstrated a hopeful return to her previous best and took the Junior Women's title.
Rebecca Young (25.08) continued her steady improvement and took the maximum handicap points, while Gina Finlayson (26.04) won the club's Senior Women's title with a strong effort. Another absentee, Marilyn Brown finished top of this section of the sealed handicap series, two points ahead of Sheila Smidt.
Shane McCormack (35.07) forged another awesome effort to win the 10km race and with it the Masters Men's road title. Kevin Fisher duelled with McCormack until the 6km mark but after that points failed to absorb the increasing surges. Fisher finished 10 seconds in arrears but still had the satisfaction of claiming the Senior Men's crown. In third place was the enthusiastic new club member from Korean. Choi (36.56) has quickly benefited from his training sessions with Wayne Smith's young charges. Craig Mathers (37.18) held on for fourth, just ahead of a gaggle of four runners separated by only 20 metres. An aggressive run by Nathan Clark-Little (37.28) was recognized with the Runner of the Day award. The strong effort by Eric Phimister secured the necessary handicap points to claim the Peter Black Memorial Trophy for the season.
In the final race of the day, Brendan Speakman (7.40) retained his Boys 12 year title, withstanding a strong challenge to edge out Daniel Smith (7.46). This was a huge 44 sec. improvement from last year by Smith. Nine year old James Harris (8.30) produced another solid effort in difficult circumstances and was rewarded with the handicap series victory. Harris was the only club member to finish with maximum overall points in the sealed handicap series.
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