ACT Results from Brisbane

Following are some results for the distance races. No sprints, jumps, pentathlons or other such foolishness!

10000 Metre Run
=======================================================================
    Name                     Age Team          Finals       Age-Grading
=======================================================================
W30 Results Finals                                                    
  1 Greenland, Jeni          W31 ACT         48:07.62   48:07.63 62.16%
W55 Results Finals                                                  
  2 Cullen, Jo               W56 QLD         51:22.15   42:36.96 70.20%
M60 Results Finals                                                   
  2 Vines, Ron               M61 QLD         43:29.67   35:28.45 76.04%

800 Metre Run
=======================================================================
    Name                     Age Team          Finals       Age-Grading
=======================================================================
W30 Results Finals                                                    
  3 Paabo, Penny             W34 ACT          3:00.02    3:00.02 62.93%
W35 Results Finals                                                    
  1 Brichacek, Jenny         W39 ACT          2:17.18    2:14.63 84.14%
M75 Results Finals                                                
  1 Leovic, Rad              M76 ACT          3:20.16    2:12.81 76.60%
M55 Results Finals
  5 Maher, Garry             M58 ACT          2:32.55    2:04.26 81.87%
M50 Results Finals
  2 White, Philip            M50 ACT          2:13.63    1:56.48 87.35%
M45 Results Finals
  1 Morton, John             M46 ACT          2:07.22    1:54.35 88.96%

400 Metre Hurdles
=======================================================================
    Name                     Age Team          Finals       Age-Grading
=======================================================================
M50 Results Finals                                                 
  1 White, Philip            M50 ACT            63.46      53.72 87.09%

1500 Metre Run
=======================================================================
    Name                     Age Team          Finals       Age-Grading
=======================================================================
W30 Results Finals                                                   
  1 Paabo, Penny             W34 ACT          6:25.34    6:25.34 59.81%
W35 Results Finals                                                  
  1 Brichacek, Jenny         W39 ACT          4:48.27    4:48.27 79.95%
M75 Results Finals                                                 
  1 Leovic, Rad              M76 ACT          7:15.76    4:47.43 71.67%
M50 Results Finals
  6 White, Philip            M50 ACT          4:49.19    4:07.18 83.34%
M45 Results Finals                                               
  1 Morton, John             M46 ACT          4:27.15    3:56.89 86.96%

3000 Metre Steeplechase
=======================================================================
    Name                     Age Team          Finals       Age-Grading
=======================================================================
  2 Morton, John             M46 ACT         11:59.83   10:31.58 76.33%

5000 Metre Run
=======================================================================
    Name                     Age Team          Finals       Age-Grading
=======================================================================
W30 Results Finals                                                 
  1 Greenland, Jeni          W31 ACT         21:41.25   21:41.26 66.37%
M60 Results Finals
  3 Vines, Ron               M61 QLD         20:47.12   16:51.79 76.93%
  8 Small, Graeme            M63 ACT         25:35.23   20:21.13 63.74%

M30-69 8k Run CC
========================================================================
    Name                     Age Team          Finals       Age-Grading 
========================================================================
M55 Results                                                         
  8 Moore, Geoff             M56 ACT         41:13.0h   35:08.24 60.66%
M60 Results                                                          
  4 Vines, Ron               M61 QLD         37:03.0h   30:09.97 70.66%
  9 Small, Graeme            M63 ACT         45:40.0h   36:26.80 58.48%

Easter Monday and Championships finishing

It is certainly not chilly here in Brisbane. Canberra will feel freezing when we return next weekend. Well I managed to jog the 8k cross country in 41 mins without too much trouble - course a bit hilly and grass long in places. A four lap course- I crossed the start line after one lap shoulder to shoulder with Arthur Brown and Graeme Small, good team effort that, all in ACT uniform, I hope a photo goes up on the web site as we ran in together after 2k. Then I left them and ran on at 5 min per k for the last 6k. Helped by a good cheer squad of Jo Cullen, Gwen Vines, her daughter Julie, and Jeni Greenland.
They say the championship web site has a photo of me running in the 10k on Friday. If I locate it I will post it RIGHT HERE. Or any taken later, of Team Moore runners .

Good Friday and Good Luck!

Easter is upon us. It arrived very early this year – something to do with the full moon. A number of ‘Team Moore’ members have ventured to Brisbane for the Australian Veterans (Masters?) Track and Field Championships. Amongst them is head guru Geoff Moore! I know Geoff has been dogged by injury during the build-up phase of his training. His 19+ minute 5000m run last week showed he is starting to hit some form. I’m predicting 18:56 in Brisbane for Geoff! Now, I must go and find out if there’s a website for the Championships. Good luck Geoff and everyone else in ‘Team Moore’ over the next four days!

I've found a website. It is here. No results yet! I hope the 10k went well Geoff. 40:20 predicted. My guess 39:47!

Well here I am in Brisbane

....and what a climate for distance running! Today was a maximum of 32 degrees, with more to come over the next few days. And although Friday's 10k run will be at 8:30am, I don't think it will make much difference. For a start, it heats up as soon as the sun rises, from an overnight low of just below 20. Secondly there is no daylight saving time here, so in fact it will be like a 9:30am start (and a 10.10 am finish at the most optimistic!). Bring on some cloud cover, at least!
The first thing I did after arriving at my son's place at Griffin last night, was to go outside with a torch and see if I could spot any cane toads. And sure enough, there was one on the lawn next to the wall of the house. Duly dealt with with a shovel.
But today we went for a swim at Mooloolaba, and NOW I know why people want to live here. Perfect beach, wonderful clear water; and WARM!
I guess I will have to run tomorrow though, rather than swimming again. I haven't run since Gundawindi, and that was a very hot 30 minutes lunch time Tuesday.
I figure I will have to get up around 4am on Friday before the 10k, and IF the achilles holds; IF I hydrate properly, IF I get to the track in time to register and check in an hour before the race; IF I don't get intimidated by the quality of the field, IT SHOULD BE GOOD!
Will keep you posted!

The Quiet Achiever

As I was walking to the back of the shuttle bus queue for the Six Foot Track Marathon I got a huge surprise to see none other than Mick Charlton waiting patiently in line to be transported the start of what would be a very big day out.

He hadn’t mentioned planning to run this event during the many Monday afternoon sessions around North Lyneham. When I think about it, I did notice him running the odd extra 3.1km lap. One particular occasion was the afternoon it bucketed down rain and most people scampered off to the safety of their cars.

I said “Wow – are you doing this?” Which was bloody obvious, he was standing in the queue! I didn’t see Mick at the starting line near the Explorer’s Tree because I arrived on the last bus with a few minutes to spare. I got my next surprise when I finally caught Mick at Caves Road 37 kilometres later. He was doing well and looking in much better shape than the many other walking wounded. This course can bite you if you don’t respect it. I said “Took a while to catch you. You’re doing well”. It had taken well over 5 hours.

I ran as hard as my wobbly legs would let me and opened up a bit of a break. I ran a little scared down the hill to the Caves and sat down as soon as I cleared the crowds around the finish. Mick soon arrived. It had taken him 6 hours 25 minutes. A very long day. The quiet achiever looked fine. I’m sure I didn’t. We’d had a great day.

Racing and the Vets 5000m Championships

A number of medals were handed out at Kowen Forest this morning for the 5000m Track Championships held on Thursday night at the AIS. Over half the runners who competed on Thursday were from ‘Team Moore’ so it was quite a list. Here we go:

M40 – 2nd Colin Farlow 17:29. M45 – 4th John Morton 20:13, 6th Ewen Thompson 21:03. M55 – 2nd Geoff Moore 19:49. M60 – 2nd Graeme Small 24:32. M65 – 1st Tony Booth 21:41.
W35 – 1st Amanda Walker 22:30, 2nd Lisa Wilson 22:57. W45 – 1st Kathy Southgate 18:40 (ACT rec), 2nd Helen Lamour 22:26. W50 – 1st Maria O’Reilly, 20:25, 2nd Kathy Sims 22:14, 3rd Cathy Montalto 22:19, 4th Charmaine Knobel 23:30. W55 – 1st Margaret McSpadden 25:55.

The presentation of awards for the Track and Field season was held shortly after the finish of the 5000m. One of the awards was for ‘The Pennington’. For interstate or international readers of this blog, ‘The Pennington’ is a series of races designed to find the best middle-distance runner in the club. The races are handicaps where you start according to age and sex based on ‘world best’ performances. If the best middle-distance runners in the world competed they all would finish in a tie – the W35 runner would tie with the M55, the W70 and so on.

For 2004/05 the winner of ‘The Pennington’ (and therefore, the best middle distance runner in the club) was Colin Farlow. He actually tied on points with John Morton but won because the rules state that in the event of a tie the winner is the youngest runner.

At the presentation John spoke at length about his great rivalry with Colin. They had trained together and knew intimately each other’s strengths and weaknesses. One race stood out in John’s mind. It was a 1500m event where they both shared the work for the first 3 laps in order to achieve a fast time. After that it would be a race to the finish. They were together with 200m to go and ran shoulder to shoulder around the bend and into the straight. First one then the other would edge a slight lead. They sprinted side by side to the finish with Colin out-leaning John to claim victory. John said this was his most memorable race ever and it defined what racing meant to him.

New Vets Website

I do not know if it has been officially released yet, but the new actvac website appears to be up and running.

Fly! Goose! Fly!

Our athletic club is great for the development of health, fitness, and quality of life, but how do we get the message across to those friends out there who would benefit by joining us? The following story I adapted from an e-book by Danish author Søren Kierkegaard, called "Provocations". (click to link to the website).

Every time wild geese go on their amazing migratory journey, they fly along, not too far above ground, and call out to any geese on the ground to join them in their flight.

When the flight of the wild geese is heard in the air and there are tame geese down on the ground, the tame geese are instantly aware of it and to a certain degree they understand what it means. Some of them even start to run along, beating their wings, cry out in awkward, confused disorder – but they are just mimicking the flying birds, they never lift off.

There was once a wild goose. In the autumn, about the time for migration, it became aware of some tame geese. It thought it a shame to fly away from them, and hoped to win them over so that they would decide to go along with it on the flight. It tried to entice them to rise a little higher and then again a little higher in their flight, that they might, if possible, accompany it in the flight, saved from the wretched, mediocre life of waddling around on the earth as respectable, tame geese.

At first, the tame geese thought it very entertaining and liked the wild goose. But soon they became tired of it, and drove it away with sharp words, censuring it as a visionary fool devoid of experience and wisdom.

In a certain sense there was something admirable about what the wild goose wanted. Nevertheless, it was a mistake, for a tame goose never becomes a wild goose, but a wild goose can certainly become a tame goose. If what the wild goose tried to do is to be commended in any way, then it must above all watch out for one thing – that it itself become like the tame geese. As soon as it notices that the tame geese have any kind of power over it, then away, away in migratory flight.

Our sport is not exactly like this. True, an athlete who is fit and healthy and full of life is as different from the ordinary person as the wild goose is from the tame goose. But for us, there is always hope that a tame goose might become a wild goose.

So if anyone says you are silly and undignified because you are still playing outdoor sport “at your time of life”, you know what to tell them. You are a wild goose and you are proud of it. Resist the temptation to sink back into “wretched mediocrity”!

Fly goose fly!

How different we are!

A Software Programmer, a Hardware Engineer and a Divisional Manager were on their way to a meeting. They were driving down a steep mountain road when suddenly the brakes on their car failed. The car careered out of control down the road, bouncing off the crash barriers, until it miraculously ground to a halt scraping along the mountainside. The car's occupants, shaken but unhurt, now had a problem: they were stuck halfway down a mountain in a car with no brakes. What were they to do?
"I know," said the Divisional Manager, "Let's have a meeting, propose a Vision, formulate a Mission Statement, define some Goals, and by a process of Continuous Improvement find a solution to the Critical Problems, and we can be on our way."
"No, no," said the Hardware Engineer, "That will take far too long, and besides, that method has never worked before. I've got my Swiss Army knife with me, and in no time at all I can strip down the car's braking system, isolate the fault, fix it, and we can be on our way."
"Well," said the Software Programmer, "Before we do anything, I think we should push the car back up the road and see if it happens again."

Alex Geoffrey Osborn

Congratulations to Brad and Jodi on the arrival last Wednesday (09/03/05) of Alex Geoffrey. Proud first-time grandparents Kathy and Geoff Sims haven't stopped smiling - at least now that they have had some sleep!

MARIA'S ACT RECORD

The highlight (for me) of last weekend's Vets Championships was Maria O'Reilly's W50 1500 record. See the blog dated 25 January (in the archives) for a profile of Maria. In that post I said how difficult it was going to be to break any of the records in such a competitive age group. Well, she's done it in the 1500, and on a very hot day too, running virtually by herself.
As far as I know, this is Maria's first individual record.

ACT Veterans Track and Field Championships - full results (so there!)
Day 1 – Friday, March 11
100m Hurdles
W30 Penny Paabo 19.16
Discus
M35 John Donovan 20.72m
M40 Grant Edwards 37.74m
M55 Bob Banens 40.84m
M60 Ray Green 49.87m (ACT rec), John Payne 28.23m, Robin Whyte 24.40m
M65 Attila Spaits 35.09m, Don Fraser 31.64m, Christopher Yardley 19.32m
M75 John Burns 16.41m, Rad Leovic 15.95m
M80 Ewen Drummond 17.71m
W40 Jayne Hardy 35.07m
W55 Trish Thomas 21.24m
W60 Raylea Rudov 20.72m, Jan Banens 19.35m
W65 Jenny Bourke 20.87m
5000m Race Walk
M40 Mark Worrall 28:59.68,
M45 Lachlan Wilkinson 27:24.12
M50 Dez Wildwood 32:05.89
M60 Robin Whyte 28:31.65, Geoff Barker33:53.61
M65 Terry Munro 36:16.15
W45 Debbie Cowell 31:12.43
W60 Val Chesterton 37:34.34
80m Hurdles
M75 Rad Leovic 23.91
100m Hurdles
M50 Conrad Burge 16.06
M65 Don Fraser 19.89
110m Hurdles
M35 Rasalinkam Seeniya 21.68, John Donovan 23.38
Triple Jump
M30 Robert Gerrard 11.09m
M35 Rasalinkam Seeniya 10.22m, John Donovan 8.82m
M40 Andrew Endall 11.57m
M65 Don Fraser 9.41m (ACT rec), Ray Bramwell 8.04m, Warwick Allen 7.03m
M75 Rad Leovic 7.12m
W60 Val Chesterton 5.79m
Long Jump
W60 Val Chesterton 2.81m
Day 2 – Saturday, March 12
100m
M30 Robert Gerrard 13.21
M35 Rasalinkam Seeniya 13.49, John Donovan 14.81
M40 Ken Gordon 12.28, Michael Rutter 13.11
M45 Leo Kennedy 12.05, Kevin Matthews 12.17, Martin Crowe 12.80, Nick Farley 14.20
M50 Conrad Burge 13.39
M55 Peter Gately 15.63
M60 John Payne 13.68, Michael Roche 15.19, Kevin de Smet 17.12
M65 Ray Bramwell 15.39, Christopher Yardley 18.14
M75 John Burns 17.36
W30 Penny Paabo 14.34
W35 Sue Dowling 13.60
W45 Vicki Matthews 14.12
W50 Marlene Reid 14.37, W50 Maureen Rossiter 15.08
W55 Jill Brown 16.41
W65 Consie Larmour 17.64
400m
M35 Rasalinkam Seeniya 1:02.83, John Donovan 1:10.09
M40 Ken Gordon 55.13, Andrew Endall 57.65, David Houghton 58.95, Michael Rutter 1:00.38
M45 John Morton 55.68, Kevin Matthews 58.22
M50 Philip White 56.55
M55 Geoff Sims 59.20, Neville Rodwell 1:07.58
M60 Michael Roche 1:10.87
M75 Rad Leovic 1:26.29, John Burns 1:38.28
W35 Jenny Brichacek 1:00.27
W45 Vicki Matthews 1:08.68
W50 Maureen Rossiter 1:09.67, Marlene Reid 1:09.73
W55 Jill Brown 1:19.04
W60 Francis Harris 1:22.82
W65 Consie Larmour 1:35.03
1500m
M35 John Donovan 6:15.24
M40 Andrew Endall 4:46.19
M45 John Morton 4:29.04, Paul Considine 4:44.36, Don Smith 5:14.86
M50 Ken White 5:06.51
M55 Kevin Chamberlain 5:01.24
M65 Tony Booth 5:41.51, Christopher Yardley 7:56.19
M75 Rad Leovic 7:56.19
W30 Penny Paabo 6:19.39
W35 Jenny Brichacek 4:45.97
W40 Joanne Webster 6:12.12
W45 Kathy Southgate 5:02.19
W50 Maria O'Reilly 5:28.49 (ACT rec), Kathy Sims 5:51.18
Hammer
M35 John Donovan 17.19m
M40 Grant Edwards 46.86m
M55 Bob Banens 38.40m
M60 Ray Green 43.70m, Robin Whyte 21.96m, Bryan Thomas 18.65m
M75 John Burns 20.09m
M80 Ewen Drummond 22.58m
W30 Penny Paabo 20.96m
W40 Jayne Hardy 42.53m
W55 Trish Thomas 25.79m
W60 Jan Banens 36.00m, Raylea Rudov28.18m
W65 Jenny Bourke 22.37m
W70 Mary Wahren 22.20m
Shot
M35 John Donovan 7.48m
M40 Grant Edwards 13.97m
M55 Bob Banens 11.60m, Tim Gulliver 7.88m
M60 Ray Green 13.00m, Bryan Thomas 7.78m, Robin Whyte 7.68m
M65 Don Fraser 9.17m
M80 Ewen Drummond 7.18m
M65 Christopher Yardley 6.41m
W30 Penny Paabo 9.63m
W40 Jayne Hardy 10.37m
W45 Vicki Matthews 7.87m
W50 Maureen Rossiter 6.61m
W55 Trish Thomas 8.56m
W60 Jan Banens 7.88m, Raylea Rudov 7.80m
W65 Jenny Bourke 8.20m (ACT rec)
W70 Mary Wahren 6.04m
High Jump
M35 John Donovan 1.40m
M55 Peter Gately 0.86m
M65 Ray Bramwell 1.23m
M75 Rad Leovic 1.10m
M80 Ewen Drummond 0.80m
Day 3 – Sunday, March 13
3000m Steeplechase
M40 Andrew Endall 12:04.83
M45 John Morton 12:02.20
2000m Steeplechase
M60 Geoff Barker 10:06.87
M65 Ray Bramwell 10:54.94, Chris Yardley 12:12.19
M75 Rad Leovic 12:08.90
1500m Race Walk
M50 Dez Wildwood 8:54.46
M55 Rod Gilchrist 10:01.58
M60 Robin Whyte 8:12.46, Geoff Barker 9:11.66, Bryan Thomas 9:14.01
M65 Terry Munro 10:14.63
W35 Lisa Wilson, 7:40.79
W60 Val Chesterton 10:44.09
800m
M35 John Dovovan 3:51.89
M40 Andrewn Endall 2:13.57
M45 John Morton 2:07.25
M50 Phil White 2:13.35, Ken White 2:21.31
M55 Geoff Sims 2:21.54, Kevin Chamberlain 2:23.49
M65 Tony Booth 2:43.85
M75 Rad Leovic 3:01.91 (ACT Rec)
W35 Jenny Brichacek 2:15.80, Lisa Wilson 3:05.76
W45 Kathy Southgate 2:30.41 (ACT rec)
W50 Maureen Rossiter 2:54.07, Kathy Sims 2:55.84
300m Hurdles
M65 Ray Bramwell 1:03.67
M75 Rad Leovic 1:18.26
400m Hurdles
M50 Phil White 1:02.34 (ACT rec)
200m
M30 Robert Gerrard 27.91
M35 Rasa Seeniyar 27.44
M35 John Donovan 29.91
M40 Michael Rutter 26.41, David Houghton 27.62
M45 Leo Kennedy 24.66, Nick Farley 29.43
M50 Phil White 26.24, Pat Stakelum 27.74
M55 Peter Gately 37.51
M60 John Payne 27.92, Michael Roche 31.57
M65 Ray Bramwell 31.72, Chris Yardley 37.58
M75 Rad Leovic 36.04, John Burns 36.39
W30 Lynette Smith 27.73
W45 Vicki Matthews 29.50
W50 Maureen Rossiter 31.33
W55 Jill Brown 34.39
W65 Consie Larmour 37.67
W75 Gwen Gleeson 45.92 (Est ACT rec)
Heavy Weight
M40 Grant Edwards 14.58m
M45 Andrew Atkinson-Stewart 8.75m
M55 Bob Banens 14.69m
M60 Ray Green 16.23, Robin Whyte 9.52m
M80 Ewen Drummond 9.97m
W40 Jayne Hardy 13.30m
W55 Trish Thomas 9.21m
W60 Jan Banens 13.91, Raylea Rudov 13.45m
W65 Jen Bourke 10.53m
W70 Mary Wahren 7.40m
Pole Vault
M35 John Donovan 1.80m
W60 Val Chesterton 1.50m
High Jump
W30 Lynette Smith 1.48m
W60 Val Chesterton 1.00m
Long Jump
M30 Robert Gerrard 5.28m
M35 John Donovan 4.82, Rasa Seeniyar 4.17m
M40 Andrew Endall 4.82m
M45 Kevin Matthews 5.27m
M65 Ray Bramwell 3.54m, Christ Yardley 2.40m
M75 Rad Leovic 3.22m (ACT rec)
Javelin
M35 Rasa Seeniyar 27.74m, John Donovan 25.10m
M40 Grant Edwards 30.32m
M45 Andrew Atkinson-Stewart 41.00m, Kevin Matthews 35.36m
M55 Bob Banens 50.19m
M60 Ray Green 37.15, John Payne 29.14m, Robin Whyte 27.43m, Bryan Thomas 27.14
M65 Chris Yardley 17.20m
M80 Ewen Drummond 17.23m
W30 Lynette Smith 36.65m
W40 Jayne Hardy 36.86m
W45 Vicki Matthews 21.78m
W50 Maureen Rossiter 14.35m
W55 Trish Thomas 18.74m
W60 Fran Harris 22.78m, Jan Banens 21.32m, Raylea Rudov 18.74
W65 Jen Bourke 23.78m
W70 Mary Wahren 19.73

I did not attend as I had other commitments, although I did manage to fit in a run in the half marathon on Sunday morning - a very late decision! But the 5000 track won't be on until this Thursday evening and I hope to run in that.

Weston Creek Half Marathon

Big "winners" in today's Weston Creek Half Marathon were Ross Gregg and Kent Williams, who were two of the free Canberra Marathon entry barrel draw winners. They both said they hadn't entered, and proceeded to fill in an entry form. That will push some other marathon runners in their age groups back a place!
Our training group results -
24. Kent Williams M60 1:25:56
48. Peter Cullen M40 1:33:08
72. Geoff Moore M55 1:39:11
103. John Kennedy M50 1:45:53
108. Bill Leyden M55 1:46:45
111. John Alcock M55 1:47:55
112. Cathy Montalto W50 1:48:08
135. Alan Duus M55 1:51:18
147. Gabrielle Brown W40 1:54:36
166. Ruth Baussmann W50 1:58:43
184. Margaret McSpadden W55 2:05:29
186. Pamela Faulks W40 2:05:52

AMA championships

John Morton - one of the Canberra athletes competing at the AMA championships in Brisbane at Easter. Others from Canberra include Phil White, Graeme Small, Garry Maher, Bryan Thomas, and myself. John, Phil and Garry are "certain" medallists in their age groups. For the rest of us, it depends on who shows!
(Don't you love the number on John's singlet? When HE looks down at it, it's the right way up!)

Additional - I am hoping to catch up with Mick Konemann, Jo Cullen, and Ron and Gwen Vines while in Brisbane. They all live very near where I will be staying, and I am told Mick, Jo and Ron are all entered in the championships. Mick trained with us here in Canberra and was the fastest member of our training group before he moved away; Ron also used to train with me and Gwen occasionally too; Gwen being Margaret's identical twin sister.

((12 + 144 + 20 + (3 * 4^(1/2))) / 7) + (5 * 11) = 9^2 + 0

A Dozen, a Gross and a Score,
plus three times the square root of four,
divided by seven,
plus five times eleven,
equals nine squared and not a bit more.

This little poem replaces a post on taking ACTION (buses) which I might repost later on ...

THIS WEEKEND'S TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Program: The Program for the Championships is almost complete and will probably be up on the ACTA website - http://www.actathletics.org.au/ - by now.

Change of Time: The Women's Triple Jump has been moved up to the Friday night. There are only two competitors and they will be notified. Late entries will still be available up to two hours before.

Parking: The Brumbies (whoever they are) are playing on the Friday night and there will be very few parking places allocated to us. If you are there too late to obtain one of our usual spaces go to the football car park where you will be permitted to park free (just explain why you are there - it's probably helpful to have your track suit on).

Officials & Volunteers: A number of you have volunteered as officials - Alice will notify by email if possible (or phone) what time and position you have been allocated to. All officials and volunteers must sign on for insurance purposes. Those signing on for Saturday and Sunday will receive meal tickets. Food and drinks will be on sale by ACT Athletics in the Javelin Room.

Sign on & Call Room: ( Hurdle Shed) A reminder that all athletes must sign their intention to compete at least one hour before their events and then return to the Call Room 20 minutes before Field Events and 15 minutes before track events.

Chest Numbers: If you do not already have your chest number they will be available for collection when you sign on. Don't assume there will be enough pins - bring some if you have any.

Uniform: Please wear your uniform if you have one (or borrow if you haven't). We have the best uniform of all the clubs and it looks good to see everyone in it. If you are officiating if would look great if you could wear one of the Vets shirts or any royal blue T Shirt to identify yourself.

Late entries: Late entries will be accepted on payment of late entry fees at least two hours before the event. Late entries cannot be accepted for the Men's Long Jump or Triple Jump, or both Men's & Women's Discus - these events are full and have been closed. Late entries will only be accepted for laned events if there is room in the event and at the discretion of the Competition Manager.

And remember there is NO Track & Field Meeting this evening.
.

What's orange and sounds like a parrot?

.
All right, it's the old parrot joke. The internet is a source of some terrible jokes and this is no exception. What's orange and sounds like a parrot? A carrot. (It must be the way you tell it). But I keep on laughing!
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Where We Train

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Here's the latest information on training venues.

Monday 14 March - last session at North Lyneham
Thursday 17 March - last track meet at Bruce
... then a break from formal training sessions ...
Monday 4 April - first session at Parliament House.
Thursday 7 April - first session at Dickson Oval.
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Common Sense and Self Assurance

There's nothing like being a national champion at 16 years of age.
You will remember when, at the Telstra A Series meeting here in Canberra earlier this year, you saw Lauren Boden run a magnificent 400 hurdles race to break 60 seconds for the first time and to be beaten down the straight by Victoria's Lauren Jauncey.
Well, in the Melbourne A Series meet on 17 February she ran second again to Lauren Jauncey, this time in a new pb of 59.19 seconds.
And next, this weekend she has been down in Sydney competing in her first open Australian Championships. The rivalry with Lauren Jauncey continued. On Saturday they both won their heats; Lauren Boden's time was 59.73, her third run in succession under 60 seconds.
Then in her final on Sunday, Lauren Boden pulled out the big one, clocking a magnificent 58.59 to win the gold medal and turn the tables on her rival.
I see Lauren demonstrating so much common sense in her training, and she always appears to be completely self assured. She is a credit to her parents; it is a privilege to know Lauren and to be able to follow her career from close range; it is great to have her parents running with our training group as well!
Well done Lauren, and enjoy the good times!

Today's Jogalong

In sunny and relatively cool conditions three of our number had strong runs well under 30 minutes - Michelle Wells, Helen Larmour and Charmaine Knobel. Sarah Pau ran just over 30 minutes for her first run on the Weston Park course. A feature of today's race was that several women fell during the run: and several others stopped to assist, so not all the times (when they are published later this week) will reflect actual performance.
One good result I noticed from other runners there today was Karen Daniels who broke 30 minutes for the first time. She has been doing cross training for triathlons which has got her a lot fitter. She only started swimming and cycling in October last year. Something worth thinking about?

Are you swimming upstream?

Probably my biggest passion is music, even bigger than running, and although I don't play any instruments these days, there are quite a lot of contemporary songs and artists I like listening to.
Today I was thinking about all the songs I like, and realised that quite a few of my favourite songs have lyrics about being strong and uncompromising, such as "Walk On" by U2, and many others.
What a great thought - you have set some goals - fitness and exercise say - and you won't be diverted from these goals by any distraction, particularly by people who may want to push you around to fit their idea of what you should be doing.

Here's one of the songs.

Well I won't back down
No I won't back down
You could stand me up at the gates of Hell
But I won't back down
No I'll stand my ground
Won't be turned around
And I'll keep this world from draggin' me down
Gonna stand my ground
And I won't back down.
Hey, baby. There ain't no easy way out.
Hey yeah, I will stand my ground.
And I won't back down.
Well I know what's right
I got just one life
In a world that keeps on pushin' me around
But I'll stand my ground
And I won't back down.
Hey, baby. There ain't no easy way out.
Hey yeah, I will stand my ground.
And I won't back down.
Hey, baby. There ain't no easy way out.
Hey yeah, I won't back down
Hey, baby. There ain't no easy way out.
Hey yeah, I will stand my ground
And I won't back down.
- Tom Petty

Pennington 1500 times

Some but not all of the times from the 1500, as timed by me from a distance. "From a distance, The world looks blue and green.." sorry, Midler'f crisis.

1 John Morton 4.31
2 Colin Farlow 4.26
3 Kevin "you can't keep a good man down" Chamberlain 5.10
4 Maria "faster at fifty" O'Reilly 5.35
5 Ken "five minute barrier" White 5:06
6 Tony "he's back!" Booth 5:42

and Jenny Langton 5:14
Kathy Sims 5:54
Ken Eynon 5:34
Neville Madden 5:30
Charmaine Knobel 6:19

NOT A BAD RESULT FOR OUR TRAINING GROUP! Where have all the training groups gone? "long time passing.." sorry, PPM crisis.
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Final Pennington Results

Well it's all over now bar the shouting. (at the pub to celebrate the outcome, that is.)

The final race in the series, the 1500, was at 7:15 pm today.

After two races, Colin Farlow was one point in front of John Morton, with only today's race to go.
Because Colin is an M40 and John an M45, Colin gave John a start, 8 seconds.

Could Colin catch John's 8 seconds and thus clinch the series? John's recent times were better than Colin's, BUT Colin gained most of that time! The first time he has run faster than John in a race this season, if my memory serves me right. *Can't check! Website gone again!

Additionally, although Colin finished behind John, no-one finished between the two, the score was tied, and Colin won on a count back owing to the simple fact that John turned 45 more recently than Colin turned 40.

What if Damien, Phil, Jenny P. had run?

If I had been John, I would have been rounding up as many other starters as possible.

Well done Colin!

More results to be published tomorrow
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Exercise

Triathlon winners

Some triathlon training group results from Sunday - Cathy Newman, W40 winner also outright winner in the short tri; Annemarie Calnan W45 winner; Ruth Baussman W50 winner. These girls set a fine example of consistent training and a positive and happy approach to their sport. AND I understand Amanda Walker was a member of the winning team!