This week
How it Happened - Winter Race 3, May 10
Johanna the Goanna smiled upon the 77 runners that had gathered for the run, obviously pleased with the healthy turn out. And perhaps happy the white smoke had appeared and the Conclave had done their job and elected a new Pope, and that finally the federal election was done and dusted.
A sunny clear day, greeted the runners, no smoke anywhere. Dry and dusty conditions ensured participants would not face any possible intervention from death cap mushrooms.
Ron, the Speaker of the house, gave his usual informative and entertaining briefing.
No absentee runners had registered their absence, which is fine. However, the scrutineers/committee members may need look into this issue for members with excessive non-attendance counts.
Talking of absenteeism. It was a ‘’day for old pennies’’ as Ron welcomed back Ian Forrest, whose last appearance on the hill was on the 16th April 2011. Not a bad break, 14 years should be ample time to get over those niggling injuries. Welcome back Ian. We expect you to return to the form that won you the 2010 Winter Comp.
Connor Moore presented the 26 week run award caps to Adrian Baird & John Farronato. And also, to Anthony Trefilo from Franks Service Centre who sponsor the award. So, Adrian and John haven’t missed a run so far this season. Mmmm, might be time for them to consider a new hobby or holiday as they are making the rest of us feel uncommitted or lazy.
At the end of his race briefing Ron instructed all the runners to move across the road for the official opening of the gate to the Feral equipment storage container. This is a truly marvellous piece of construction completed by John Johns, Ron Anson and Jeremy Woodhouse. In a very moving ceremony Feral elder John Johns blessed the gate with a bottle of soft drink. And Ron who was known to be a bit of a ‘’Swinger’’ in his younger days demonstrated how smoothly the gate swung. Governor General Her Excellency the Honourable Ms Sam Mostyn AC, had been booked to perform the opening, bad sadly a last-minute constitutional duty caused her to cancel.
There were quite a few extra walkers this week, mainly old blokes yakking about their ailments, injuries, troublesome spouses and the shortage and price of eggs.
No disqualifications, all runners seemingly registered their votes correctly.
In the long course Anthony Salmon took the honours, continuing his improved form of late, his previous win was only back in Race 4 of the Bacchus comp. This new lease of life is perhaps inspired by the great form of his Hawthorn team. He now leads the comp having unseated the previous leader, Harrison Palmer.
Coming in second was Shaye Palmer, a recent convert to the long course with a big improvement from her last run. Coming in third, only 1 second behind Shaye was Geoff O’ Callaghan who could be heard sucking in the big ones and putting in a big effort.
Well done to Callum Vecchio who made his debut in the long course and came in 8th position with a very respectable net time of 34 mins, 44secs
Fastest male was Jaidyn Roach with a net time of 23 mins,25 secs.
Fastest female was Sharon Carreri with a net time of 34 mins, 6 secs.
In the short course, the Fattore boys repeated last week’s effort with Reuben first and Isaac second. Current comp leader Spencer Zandona came in third and will have to work hard to maintain his current lead in the comp.
Fastest male was Isaac Fattore with a net time of 16 mins, 34 secs.
Fastest female was Sophie Bailey with a net time of 18 mins, 23 secs
Thanks to Moreno ‘’Antony Green’’ Chiappin on his fabulous computer, for sorting the numbers and results, aided no doubt by his fancy software program.
Congratulations to Chris Barbagallo who clocked up his 1000 kilometres on the hill. Chris generously provided refreshments to celebrate the occasion. The drinks were very conducive to many stimulating discussions including how the election of the new pope and the newly elected federal government might affect the club. The drinks also acted as an excellent painkiller for the above-mentioned old blokes.
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With the end of daylight saving the Feral’s meet at the water tower opposite pioneer park for a 4:30pm start. Please be there 10 minutes earlier to register. Whether it’s your own wellbeing or wanting the kids to get some outdoor exercise you are welcome as a sprinter, jogger or walker. Tracks are well marked; safety is of prime concern and there is lots of social fun after. The best part of being a Feral is enjoying the company of like-minded people.
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PLEASE BE ON TIME ENTER BEFORE 4:20 RACE STARTS 4:30
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Things to Remember each week
Runners must wear tags when participating in Feral events. Apart from the timing, it is a saftey measure. The tags serve to monitor those runners who have commenced their run and are still out on the track. It is not appropriate to turn up on the Hill on a regular basis without wearing a tag.
Zero start times
Zero handicaps are only for the slowest runners and for the walkers, so if you do not fit this description and you are given zero, please enquire with the race director. It is not usually our mistake, just that prior circumstances have dictated a zero which may need to be changed back (see below).
Also, if you have a Short course handicap (say 8min) and you want to walk, we prefer if you walk off that handicap (8min) ... you won't finish far behind, and it saves us a lot of time and possible mistakes in adjustments to and fro (see above).
We do allow Long course walkers to start off zero ... just let the race director know ... otherwise it is disq
Did Not Finish? We need to know. All non-finishers / short cutters / other issues - report to the race director
Instant Results ... we are putting the results online, at the finish line, so your loved one can know what mood you're in before you get home. (Will it be a hot bath or a cold shower? Champagne, or a beer in the dog house?) However ... be aware that these are preliminary results and will almost always change when joggers are added, deleted and edited. You may drop a few places, rise a few places, or even, heaven forbid, get disq'd. So if the fine details matter to you, drop back again later.