This week
How it Happened: Shanks Pony Cup, 31 Oct 2026
For those of you were active club members way back 2011, you may recall Neil sending you all over the hill with a tiny map and colouring in little stars. I guess it was a bit like orienteering, except without the professionalism!
This year’s Shanks Pony Cup saw the course instructions pulled out of the archives and then given a little shake-up by Anthony, who seems to take enjoyment from everyone else’s pain. Looking around the gathered crowd at the race briefing, whilst there were elements of excitement among a minority, the rest of us just stared at our maps and wondered what happened to the good ‘ol days were we just followed arrows around a course.
Those who had the most to fear were John, Keith, Aidan and Gavin, all of who struggle to follow the arrows let alone make their way around the hill completely unguided. Post-race it was obvious that others in the gathering of Ferals were just as bad, if not worse. Read on.
The concept of this year’s Shanks Pony Cup was pretty simple. Everyone had a map with a series of check points noted on it and they needed to find as many as they can before returning to the finish line within a set time. To make sure nobody cheats, each check point had a different coloured pencil meaning you had to mark the correct point on your map with the correct colour. Sounds easy? Think again. Anthony decided that all check points are worth different values, with 2 of the 11 points having a maximum score of 10, whilst 1 of them was worth absolutely nothing. The problem was is that competitors did not know the value of each check point, so they could be hunting for a check point that was ultimately a completely forlorn exercise.
And for each part of a minute past the cut off time that you finished, a 2 point penalty applied.
NOTE: make sure you head over to the Ferals Facebook page where a copy of the scoring map resides. It’s makes interesting reading, particularly if you got the check point that was worth nothing.
So, who won?
In the long course, the overall winner was Myles Bunn. Myles managed to get to 8 check points and be back to the finish line before the 45 minute time limit expired, giving him 51 points and no time penalty. Tracey Josling and Graeme Lyons also achieved the exact same result, but being over 3 minutes behind Myles left them with the remaining podium positions. One wonders where regular walker Graeme got the sudden burst of speed from?
First across the line was Jessica Kanaley but she finished WAY too early. 7 minutes too early! She collected 5 check points (including the dreaded 0) but she was left wondering what might have been had she tracked her time a little better.
The best effort for the day belonged to Derek Goullet who managed to get 59 points from visiting 11 check points, but found himself 6 minutes late and copped a 12 point penalty. Derek, do you realise if you skipped the check-point down near Old Aerodrome Road, which was worth only 5 points, you would have saved at least 6 minutes and won the Cup! Hindsight is a wonderful thing.
One Feral who did not score very well at all was poor Lena Sergi, who actually got a negative score. She started off OK and managed to snag a check point that was worth the maximum 10 points. But then things went pear-shaped…literally. For reasons unknown to Lena and to us, she decided to flip her map upside down and was colouring in check points that were on the other side of the hill. Oh dear.
Aidan Fattore knew his race was over before it even started. He stood at the start line and just shook his head, knowing that his navigational skills (or lack thereof) consigned him to the status of also ran. He was asked what his race tactic was…”simple, just go for a run and if I see a red ribbon then I’ll colour in something on my map”. As it turned out, he got 2 check points, including a 10, AND on the correct position on the map. Probably better than he hoped!
And then there was John Johns. Last to return. I’m actually quite surprised though as he managed to correctly find 6 check points. A photo of his score card appears on the Facebook page, covered in blood. We are trying to work out if he was trying to colour in as many check points as possible, all in a nice shade of claret, or if he took a fall. Editors note: John did take a fall but he is perfectly OK – just a bruised ego.
The short course saw only 8 competitors…sad :(
Isaac Fattore, take a bow, our 2026 champion! Issac was a little worried though. After borrowing mum’s watch whilst out the course, he thought he had timed his run to perfection when he crossed the line first. But a quick glance at the clock saw him 1:08 past the 26:00 time limit, costing him 4 penalty points.
Isaac was convinced he had blown it. All he could hope for was for the next nearest runner to have collected less check points, or to be a long way behind in regard to time. As it turned out, he got his way. Just.
Josh Poscoliero collected a score of 33 from 5 check points, but then got slugged with a 20 penalty for taking waaaayyyy to long. Sorry Josh, better luck next time.
So, congratulations Isaac. Is that 2 trophies you are collecting at next weekend’s Jogger’s Dinner?
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The Feral’s meet at the water tower opposite pioneer park for a 5:30pm 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. Take a leap.
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PLEASE BE ON TIME ENTER BEFORE 5:20 RACE STARTS 5:30
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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).
Did Not Finish? We need to know. All non-finishers / short cutters / other issues - report to the race director