My apologies for Week Twenty’s report & results not making it to our webpage due to a few technical problems, and therefore have combined the two weeks.
Entering our 6th month of activities for the season means a new quote of the month for August which expresses a very important point. “In a run it doesn’t matter whether you come in first, in the middle of the pack, or last. You can say ‘I have finished.’ There is a lot of satisfaction in that.”
In sharing this quote by Fred Lebow I wish to share a little of the history of the author.
Fred Lebow (June 3, 1932 – October 9, 1994), born Fischel Lebowitz, was a runner, race director, and founder of the New York City Marathon. Born in Arad, Romania, he presided over the transformation of the race from one with 55 finishers in 1970 to one of the largest marathons in the world with more than 51,000 finishers in 2016. He was posthumously inducted into the National Distance Running Hall of Fame in 2001.
Lebow ran in the inaugural marathon in 1970, finishing 45th out of 55 runners with a time of 4:12:09. He ran his last NYC Marathon on November 1, 1992 in celebration of his 60th birthday, after being diagnosed with brain cancer in early 1990, with his friend, nine-time NYC Marathon women’s winner Grete Waitz, with a time of 5:32:35.
During his career he completed 69 marathons in 30 countries. Along with the NYC Marathon he also organized the Empire State Building Run-Up, the Fifth Avenue Mile, and the CrazyLegs Mini Marathon (a 10K road race), which was the first strictly women-only road race. Lebow was also president of New York Road Runners for twenty years.
His memorial service at the finish line of the New York City Marathon attracted a crowd of more than 3,000 mourners, which at that time was the largest memorial gathering in Central Park since the death of John Lennon.
As I have the privilege of observing the finish of our various distances conducted each week, I enjoy seeing the satisfaction on each competitor as they finish. Our very youngest right thru’ to the mature runners, are all winners, simply because they have finished ! Maybe in a different order each week, which possibly has a lot to do with a handicap start or who improves the most, or has run a bit slower, these are all contributing facts, but not as important as being able to say “I have finished”.
Weather wise Week Twenty and Week Twenty One were completely different, as readers will be aware. With extremely very low temperatures and gale force winds blowing across Willandra start line on Saturday 10th August, organisers were not expecting any members to show up. How wrong we were , 12 very brave competitors arrived and didn’t intend to allow the conditions to stop them from having the satisfaction of being able to say, despite the conditions, “I finished”.
A really commendable effort to our 11 members and John, Jill Tuckerman’s cousin visiting from England. Results have been recorded in finish order, each scoring the maximum 10 points ! Not sure if the times could be contributed to ‘wind assisted ’ or not. However congratulations to young Matilda Hewatt who bettered her 1k time and Josef Pichler who also ran a good PB in the 4k.
The ANSW & NSWLA Short Course XC Championships were conducted on Saturday 3rd. August at Rydlemere. Victory Runners is very proud of our only competitor Evie Hill who was competing for Shoalhaven LA’s in the U10 years 1.5k event. This young nine year old finished in 6th. place in a good time of 6.01.0 minutes. Great running Evie.
On the home course for Week 20, there were some notable improvements, especially in the 4k. Section 1 winner, Jon Schol ran a PB after a morning cycling in training for his tour of Ireland and competing in a number of Triathlons during August. We wish Jon and Razz a very enjoyable experience as they undertake this Irish adventure and look forward to their return home to Australia in late August.
Section 2 of the 4k was again a great race down to the finish. Go marker Courtney Harrison just managed to hold off Josef Pichler over the finish line, who was chased by back marker Cameron Harrison, both managed to finish on the same time with less than 30 seconds separating the next five finishers. Great effort girls and guys.
Our younger competitors in the 1k, 2k & 3k continue to impress with an obvious enjoyment of competition and doing their best. All these are listed in the results and their enthusiasm certainly ensures our future.
With the Australian Cross Country Championships being contested at Dapto ( Kembla Joggers XC course) on Saturday 24th. August, Victory Runners will not be holding a competition day at Willandra. This will give members the opportunity to travel to Dapto and witness the event . Victory Runners has one competitor, Hailey D’Ombrain in the U14 3k, plus Ivy Boothroyd who may be known to some having trained at Willandra before the State XC. In addition to this, coach Andae Kalemusic from Ulladulla has seven of her teenagers from the Limitless Track squad named in the State team. All these athletes have competed at Willandra in their school events and would be great to support them as a club at the National Championships.
Week Twenty Two will be held on Saturday 17th. Also we are in the process of planning our final Winter activity for a date in September with a Presentation afternoon. Date TBA.
10th. August 2019 ~ Willandra
1k Distance
| Name | Time | Points |
| Matilda Hewatt | 6.33 | 10 |
1k Walk
| Name | Time | Points |
| Karen File | 10.06 | 10 |
| Kirsten Pichler | 12.42 | 10 |
2k Distance
| Name | Time | Points |
| Marley Hewatt | 12.12 | 10 |
| Johanna Pichler | 17.05 | 10 |
4k Distance
| Name | Time | Points |
| Reuben Pichler | 20.04 | 10 |
| Josef Pichler | 20.35 | 10 |
| Cameron Harrison | 20.42 | 10 |
| John Woolliscroft (UK visitor) | 21.06 | / |
| Paul Jennings | 24.20 | 10 |
| Jill Tuckerman | 26.49 | 10 |
| David Tuckerman | 26.52 | 10 |
3rd. August 2019 ~ Willandra
1k Division
| Name | Time | Points |
| Holly Matthews | 5.17 | 10 |
| Annalise Schilko (Vis.) | 5.20 | / |
| Layla Burbage | 5.32 | 8 |
| Ashley Spicer | 5.40 | 6 |
| Cailin Burbage | 6.15 | 5 |
| Jai Burbage | 7.55 | 5 |
2k Division
| Name | Time | Points |
| Ruby French | 13.01 | 10 |
| Johanna Pichler | 13.33 | 8 |
| Charlie Braddick | 20.15 | 6 |
| Ann Pearce (Vis) | 21.39 | / |
Walk Division
| Name | Time | Points |
| Elaine Davis – 1k | 14.17 | 10 |
3k Division
| Name | Time | Points |
| Kevyn Davis | 22.00 | 10 |
| Matilda Schilko (Vis) | 14.52 | / |
| Ayden Spicer | 13.22 | 10 |
| Cohen Matthews | 15.35 | 8 |
| Elizabeth Hastedt | 22.51 | 6 |
| Amelia Hastedt | 25.58 | 5 |
4k Division – Section 1
| Name | Time | Points |
| Jon Schol | 19.28 | 10 |
| Cristine Suffolk | 18.18 | 8 |
| David Tuckerman | 21.19 | 6 |
4k Division – Section 2
| Name | Time | Points |
| Courtney Harrison | 22.16 | 10 |
| Josef Pichler | 21.18 | 8 |
| Cameron Harrison | 19.58 | 8 |
| Linda Hastedt | 30.00 | 5 |
| Natasha Spicer | 21.33 | 5 |
| Jill Tuckerman | 25.34 | 5 |
| Di Court | 26.12 | 5 |
| Jacinta Corbett (Vis) | 23.37 | / |
| Leela Matthews | 29.04 | 5 |
| Ros. Matthews | 26.44 | 5 |