The Victorian Race Walking Club

VMA AND VRWC RACES, ALBERT PARK, SUNDAY 19 SEPTEMBER 2004

This week we hosted the Victorian Masters Roadwalk Championships and we were lucky enough to witness two wonderful performances

Brenda Riley broke her own Masters W60 10 km World Record with a time of 55:12.0. Earlier this year at Albert Park Brenda had recorded 55:17.9 to break the record by over 30 secs. Now she has taken a further 5.9 secs off that time. Brenda just gets faster each time she races – not bad for a 64 year old!

Heather Carr celebrated her move to the W55 age group with a new Masters W55 10 km Australian record. Her time of 57:20 broke Gwen Steed’s 1998 record that stood at 57:59. Bad luck Gwen but no records last forever!

VMA Women 10 Km Championship
18 walkers faced the gun in the womens race and nearly all were rewarded with medals. With ages ranging from 41 to 75, they were spread over the full range of Masters age groups and we saw some fine walks apart from those of Heather and Brenda. At the top end of the age groupings, Jean Knox inspired everyone with her great walking while Mandy Emmett, Carmel Drennan and Alison Thompson, at the other end of the spectrum, were all close together in times and staged a good battle.

W40    1    Mandy Emmett        41    60:06
W45    1    Carmel Drennan      45    60:47
W50    1    Alison Thompson     51    59:32
       2    Janet Holmes        51    60:13
            Marlene Gourlay     52    DQ
W55    1    Heather Carr        55    57:20      New Australian Record
       2    Liz Feldman         56    59:07
       3    Celia Johnson       56    64:40
W60    1    Brenda Riley        64    55:12     New World Record
       2    Gwen Steed          60    63:13
       3    Sylvia Machin       63    64:44
       4    Beverley Hugo       64    78:41
       5    Marlene Petroff     62    81:53
            Heidi Engel         62    DQ
W65    1    Marlaine Stanway    66    68:10
       2    Margaret Beaumont   66    74:26
       3    Shirley Coppock     68    78:23
W75    1    Jean Knox           75    78:28

VMA Men 20 KM Championship
A disappointingly small field fronted for the 20 km event which is always a tough ask for the masters walkers. Colin Heywood had his first race for some time and was untroubled to take fastest time. Alan Lucas also walked strongly for a sub 2 hour performance. Ken Walters celebrated his 72nd birthday on Sunday with a fine 20 km walk – his first in some time.

M50    1    Colin Heywood       50    1:50:26
M55    1    Alan Lucas          56    1:56:23
       2    Russ Dickenson      58    2:08:37
M70    1    Ken Walters         72    2:15:58
       2    Col Silcock-Delaney 71    2:33:14

VRWC 10 km walk
1. Kylie Irshad        54:21
2. Simon Evans         54:49
3. Tony Johnson        58:16
4. Ian Beaumont        80:07
5. Bob Gardiner        DNF (4 km in 24:03)

VRWC 5 km walk
1. Erin Adamcewicz     25:41
2. Sandra Geisler      25:43

VRWC 1 km Under 12
1. Hilary Brazel       13:37

VRWC RACES, ALBERT PARK, SATURDAY 11 SEPTEMBER 2004

While hail and torrential rain fell elsewhere, Albert Park cleared for our races and near perfect conditions greeted our competitors. We welcomed US walker Kevin Killingsworth who was over from Marin RaceWalkers in San Francisco. Kevin decided to test himself over the 5 km distance and had a great battle with Heather Carr. Heather just held him out and they both finished not far behind Alan Lucas. Kevin was rewarded with a 20 sec PB so will have good memories from his trip

Chris Erickson was fastest overall with an even paced 51:36 for 10 km. David Dos Santos made his first appearance since Canberra and showed that he has kept his fitness up pretty well. The Under 12 race saw a great battle between Mietta Feery and Tommy Harrison. Mietta’s time of 10:41 was just a few seconds outside her PB and Tommy’s time of 10:46 was a big PB. It is good to see our young walkers on the improve.

10 km Open
1. Chris Erickson           51:26
2. Duncan Knox              57:53
3. Bob Gardiner             57:57
4. Tony Johnson             57:28
   Robin Wood               DNF    (6 km in 41:16)

5 km Open
1. Alan Lucas               26:32
2. Kevin Killingsworth      26:42
3. David Dos Santos         27:40
4. Russ Dickenson           27:46
5. John Bunker              28:07
6. John Morrison            31:04
7. Geoff Barrow             32:37
8. Stuart Cooper            32:51
9. Bruce Conboy             35:28
10. Ian Beaumont            39:12

1. Heather Carr             26:42
2. Liz Feldman              27:50
3. Janet Holmes             28:43
4. Gwen Steed               29:30
5. Carmel Drennan           29:34
6. Celia Johnson            31:50
7. Marlaine Stanway         32:39
8. Margaret Beaumont        35:54

5 km Under 15
1. Natalie Laurie           29:03

2 Km Under 12
1. Mietta Feery             10:41

1. Tommy Harrison           10:46

1 km Under 9
1. Chloe McNicol-Davidson    7:18

VRWC RACES, ALBERT PARK, SATURDAY 4 SEPTEMBER 2004

With the winter season all but over, only a small group made the weekly pilgrimage to Albert Park for a spot of walking but we still saw some good performances.

Paul Kennedy made his first appearance for the winter (dusting off the cobwebs for the summer season) and showed good form to take fastest time of 39:13 in the 8 km event.
Trevor Mayhew also walked very well for 42:01 but was heard muttering “too slow” to himself at each laptime – gee, I wish I was still walking that fast!
Liz Feldman was the fastest of the women with a 30 second PB time of 45:44. Liz is doing lots of work in preparation for a crack at the VRWC 50 km on October 24 and I look forward to seeing a great first up effort. Not many of our women have a go at the 50 km so she is a bit of a trend setter – good on you Liz.
Shaun Burgess shadowed Paul Kennedy for the first lap and was rewarded with a 4 km PB time of 21:19. Shaun is one of a number of our young walkers who have had great winter seasons.
Mietta Feery was back in action after a great walk in the AA Under 14 3 km walk in Canberra last weekend. She was our fastest Under 12 walker today with a speedy 12:01.

Open 8 Km Walk       Time
1. Paul Kennedy      39:13
2. Trevor Mayhew     42:01
3. Alan Lucas        43:49
4. Russ Dickenson    45:58
   Robin Wood        Ab


1. Liz Feldman       45:44
2. Janet Holmes      47:32
3. Gwen Steed        48:46
4. Carmel Drennan    49:59
   Celia Johnson     Ab


Open 6 km Walk
1. John Bunker       33:50
2. John Morrison     36:12
   Gordon Onley      DQ

1. Sandra Geisler    31:41

Under 15 4 Km Walk
1. Shaun Burgess     21:19

1. Amy Burren        26:29

U12 2 km Walk
1. Mietta Feery      12:01
2. Emily Payne       13:08

U9 1 km Walk
1. Sarah Burren       6:34
2. Jasmine Irshad     7:54

VRWC RACES, ALBERT PARK, SATURDAY 28 AUGUST 2004

Saturday was the last opportunity for walkers to gain points in our handicap, fastest times and style award competitions so the races were keenly contested. Amongst the best performances of the day were those of Marlaine Stanway, Cassandra Raselli and Chloe McNicol-Davidson but it is always difficult to single out particular walkers when everyone gives their all.

Open 10km Race Women                 Hcp
1. Mandy Emmett             61:56    3
2. Janet Holmes             63:07    2
3. Marlaine Stanway         67:22    1

Open 10km Race Men                   Hcp
1. Trevor Mayhew            54:09    4
2. Alan Lucas               56:19    2
3. Bob Gardiner             59:25    1
4. Russ Dickenson           59:50    3
5. Robin Wood               70:31    5

Open 5km Race Women                  Hcp
1. Kylie Irshad             26:30    10
2. Sandra Geisler           26:47    3
3. Heather Carr             27:16    7
4. Brenda Riley             27:21    8
5. Eda Girgin               27:50    5
6. Gwen Steed               29:28    2
7. Carmel Drennan           30:07    9
8. Margaret Beaumont        35:53    4
9. Jean Knox                36:04    1
10. Shirley Coppock         39:08    6

Open 5km Race Women                  Hcp
1. John Bunker              27:12    1
2. John Morrison            30:55    4
3. Bruce Conboy             34:35    2
4. Ian Beaumont             39:27    3
    William Kennish         Ab   

Under 15 3km Race Girls              Hcp
1. Anne Whitworth           18:35    1
2. Amy Burren               19:22    2
   Regan Lamble             Ab.   


Under 15 3km Race Boys               Hcp
1. Timucin Girgin           16:56    3
2. Nicholas Mirarchi        17:46    2
3. Jason Elms               21:56    1

Under 12 2km Race Girls              Hcp
1. Regan Lamble             11:00    3
2. Hilary Brazel            11:01    2
3. Cassandra Raselli        11:04    1
4. Josephine Mirarchi       16:51    4
   Taylor Brogan            Ab   


Under 12 2km Race Boys               Hcp
1. Ergenekon Girgin         10:59    2
2. Damien Elms              15:10    1

Under 9 1km Race Girls               Hcp
1. Sarah Burren              6:32    2
2. Chloe McNicol-Davidson    6:41    1
   
Open 3km Non handicap Race
1. Bradley Elms             21:23   

VRWC RACES, ALBERT PARK, SATURDAY 21 AUGUST 2004

The season is drawing to a finish but we still had a good turnout of walkers, some of whom were having a final hitout before the National titles in Canberra next weekend. Club captain Andrew Jamieson was the fastest walker of the day, pursued by Kylie Irshad and Erin Adamcewicz for the first 4 km.  Sarah Alexander walked well over the longer 10 km distance but most walkers opted for the shorter distance options of either 6 km or 4 km.  William Kennish and Shaun Burgess were fastest over 4 km, with Shaun taking the honours.

10 Km Open Handicap - Women
1. Sarah Alexander        59:50
2. Janet Holmes           61:24


10 Km Open Handicap - Men
1. Andrew Jamieson        48:08
2. Alan Lucas             55:53
3. John Morrison          65:30
   Russ Dickenson         Ab. (6 km in 34:24)

6 Km Open Handicap - Women
1. Sandra Geisler         33:21
2. Eda Girgin             33:50
3. Liz Feldman            34:44
4. Mandy Emmett           36:02
5. Gwen Steed             36:04
6. Marlaine Stanway       38:36
7. Margaret Beaumont      43:13   

6 Km Open Handicap - men
1. Bob Gardiner           33:30
2. John Bunker            33:41
3. Tony Barrett           35:31
4. Robin Wood             41:56
5. Ian Beaumont           47:14

4 Km Under 15 Handicap - Girls
1. Amy Burren             25:46
   Anne Whitworth         DNF (2 km in 12:06)

4 Km Under 15 Handicap - Boys
1. Shaun Burgess          21:30   
2. William Kennish        21:51
3. Timucin Girgin         22:51
4. Nicholas Mirarchi      23:49
5. Ergenekon Girgin       24:18

4 Km Open
1. Kylie Irshad           20:31
2. Erin Adamcewicz        20:37
3. Carmel Drennan         23:49

The young walkers had their usual battle before Mietta Feery won out, with Mietta, Hilary Brazel and Cassandra Raselli all beating 11 minutes for the 2 km. Chloe had the better of Jasmine this week and both of these very young walkers have improved markedly over the season.

2 Km Under 12 Handicap
1. Mietta Feery           10:45
2. Hilary Brazel          10:54
3. Cassandra Raselli      10:57
4. Nicole Hallett         12:18
5. Emily Payne            13:12
6. Josephine Mirarchi     16:08   

1 Km Under 9 Handicap
1. Chloe McNicol-Davidson  6:40
2. Jasmine Irshad          7:10

6 Km Unjudged Fitness Walk
Shirley Coppock           47:05

VRWC RACES, ALBERT PARK, SATURDAY 14 AUGUST

It was easily our worst day of the winter season so far from a weather perspective. Bitter cold strong winds and rain made it survival of the fittest for both competitors and officials. A small group of determined walkers fronted and results were as follows

10km Open Handicap        Time        H’cp Place   
1. Alan Lucas             57:06         1
   Robin Wood             Ab

1. Janet Holmes           62:19         1
   Emma Gray              Ab.

5km Open Handicap
1. Sandra Geisler          26:37        3
2. Heather Carr            27:37        4
3. Sarah Alexander         28:14        5
4. Gwen Steed              30:02        2
5. Liz Feldman             30:43        7
6. Marlaine Stanway        32:12        1
7. Margaret Beaumont       38:00        6

1. Mark Donahoo            26:33        6
2. Bob Gardiner            27:46        1
3. John Bunker             29:04        4
4. Tony Barrett            29:54        3
5. John Morrison           30:30        2
6. Ian Beaumont            39:52        5
   Gordon Onley            Disq

3km Under 15 Handicap   
1. Anne Whitworth          19:26        1
                   
1. Shaun Burgess           16:02        1
2. Nicholas Mirarchi       18:23        2
3. Jason Elms              23:28        3

3km Open
1. Erin Adamcewicz         15:23

2 km Under 12 Handicap   
1. Mietta Feery            11:28        2
2. Cassandra Raselli       11:52        3
3. Taylor Brogan           14:38        4
4. Josephine Mirarchi      16:26        1
                   
1. Damien Elms             15:18        1

1 km Under 9 Handicap   
1. Sarah Burren             6:41        2
2. Chloe McNicol-Davidson   7:08        1

ATHLETIC VICTORIA ROADWALKING CHAMPIONSHIPS, ALBERT PARK, SUNDAY 8 AUGUST 2004

We had more races than you could poke a stick at on Sunday with AV, AV Country and VRWC championships on offer. It was a busy time keeping tabs on everyone but we got through it with a minimum of fuss. Thanks to those club members who offered their services and helped with the various tasks that come with such a big day.

One of the few disappointments of the day was the dirth of competitors in the Open Men 30 km walk. This is one of the blue riband events on the calendar and it is normally keenly contested. But this year for various reasons (a combination of some walkers being injured and others saving their big effort for the National 30 km in three weeks time), we had only 2 starters. Andy Jamieson walked strongly to his first ever Victorian championship – at 58 years of age and after many years of trying. Andy was only 30 seconds outside his Masters M55 World Record for the 30 km distance and I am sure that if there had been a few walkers around him, he would have set a new World standard.

Open Men 30km Championship   
1. ANDREW JAMIESON          OSC    49.40     99.55    2:32:35
   DUNCAN KNOX              ATE    60.24     Abs

Again, many of our good female walkers were unavailable for various legitimate reasons so this event also saw a reduced field size. Kylie Irshad was expected to make the pace but was carrying an injury and surrendered the lead early. That left new club member Carma Watson (ex New Zealand) to take her first ever Victorian title with a very good walk. All 3 girls found the distance a tough ask on the day and Carma, Kylie and Justi were all exhausted at the finish. But it was good to see them all finish – it just shows once again that walking is a tough event and our walkers are a tough bunch.

Open Women 20km Championship    Club    10km    20km   
1. CARMA WATSON             ATE    54.30    1:51:59   
2. KYLIE IRSHAD             RWD    56.39    2:02:02   
3. JUSTIJANA ROSEMAN        ATE    62.41    2:13:24   
   SANDRA GEISLER           RWD    60.50    Ab

The under age events saw plenty of good walking and country walkers were to the fore. Emma Gray (Geelong), Kyle Bryant (Bendigo) and Jess Rothwell (Bendigo) shared the golds with Melbourne walkers Siobhan Donovan, Rhydian Cowley and Regan Lamble. There were plenty of PBs (Shaun Burgess and Sarah Alexander were two that I know of) and I look forward to seeing lots of these walkers at the Nationals in Canberra in 3 weeks time

Under 20 Women 10km Championship
1. EMMA GRAY                ACW    10.58    22.28    33.49    45.05    56:13
2. FAUVE JACOBS             DKN    11.19    22.54    34.25    45.55    57:16
3. KYLIE VANDENHEILIGENBERG KNA    13.21    27.41    42.11    56.40    70:38

Under 18 Women 8km Championship
1. SIOBHAN DONOVAN          KNA    10.32    21.42    33.10    44:26   

Under 16 Men 5km Championship        
1. KYLE BRYANT              SBE     9.53    20.22    25:32   
2. DAVID RANGER             EKA     9.55    20.42    26:17   
3. SHAUN BURGESS            ACW    10.18    21.33    27:13   
4. JOHN PLATT               EKA    12.02    24.58    31:18   

Under 16 Women 5km Championship 
1. JESS ROTHWELL            SBE     9.53    20.22    25:21   
2. SARAH ALEXANDER          BOH    10.19    21.18    26:34   
3. EDA GIRGIN               ATE    10.34    22.21    28:14   
4. KATIE LOVUS              KNA    11.48    25.16    31:45   

Under 14 Boys 3km Championship   
1. RHYDIAN COWLEY           KNA    10.31    15:52   
2. TIMUCIN GIRGIN           ATE    10.58    16:41   
3. JOSHUA PLATT             EKA    11.59    18:32   
4. JACK PALFREYMAN          SBE    13.17    20:27   

Under 14 Girls 3km Championship  
1. REGAN LAMBLE             ANW    10.20    15:38   
2. NATALIE LAURIE           ANW    10.50    16:30   
3. RACHEL TALLENT           BYC    11.27    17:13   
4. ALICIA NEYLAN            BOH    11.59    17:48   

We also hosted the Victorian Country championships. This was a last minute decision by Athletics Victoria and country based walkers really had to choose to do either the Country or the State events as they were over different distances and at different times. But some walkers were able to race concurrent events by mixing different age groups (very ingenious) and some like David Ranger and John Platt event walked two events one after the other. Hopefully next year the Country championships can be scheduled as a carnival in its own right and country walking will get the recognition it deserves. We had a good chat on the day with Tony Williams, the convenor of the Victorian Winter Committee and he is keen to rectify the current situation.

Under 20 Women 5km Country Championship
1. JESS ROTHWELL           SBE     9.53    20.22    25:21   

Under 18 Men 5km Country Championship  
1. KYLE BRYANT             SBE     9.53    20.22    25:32

Under 18 Country Women 5km Championship     
1. SIBON FUZZARD           SBE    10.17    21.26    26:41

Under 16 Men 3km Country Championship
1. DAVID RANGER            EKA    10.31    16:22
2. JOHN PLATT              EKA    11.31    17:19

Under 16 Women 3km Country Championship
1. JESSIE PALFREYMAN       SBE    10.18    15:32
2. JACINTA POLMEAR         BYC    12.19    19:17

Under 14 Boys 3km Country Championship
1. JOSHUA PLATT            EKA    11.59    18:32
2. JACK PALFREYMAN         SBE    13.17    20:27

Under 14 Girls 3km Country Championship
1. RACHEL TALLENT          BYC    11.27    17:13

We also had our own VRWC club championships for the Under 9 and Under 12 walkers and Mietta Feery really blitzed the field with a big PB win in the Under 12 division and fastest time overall while Sarah Burren won the Under 9 event.

Under 12 Girls 2km Championship
1. Mietta Feery            10:35
2. Hilary Brazel           11:07
3. Cassandra Raselli       11:17
4. Nicole Hallett          11:47
5. Amy Burren              11:59
6. Emily Payne             12:15

Under 9 Girls 2km Championship   
1. Sarah Burren            13:55
2. Chloe McNicol-Davidson  14:34
3. Jasmine Irshad          14:57

And last but not least, we had our usual suspects who just wanted a club walk for the weekend and thought that 5 km sounded just the ticket. Tony Johnson is certainly getting fit again – watch out Masters walkers!

Open 5km
1. Tony Johnson            27:58
2. Mandy Emmett            29:14
3. Janet Holmes            29:21
4. Gwen Steed              29:22
5. Celia Johnson           31:37
6. Robin Wood              33:18

VRWC EVENTS, SATURDAY 31 JULY 2004, ALBERT PARK

We expected a quiet day but 43 walkers turned up for what turned out to be a very interesting day’s racing.

VRWC 8 Km Open Handicap
The long race of the day was the 8 km handicap and Tony Johnson and Janet Holmes showed best form against their projected handicaps to take the honours in that department. Tom Barnes (at 22 year of age) and Brenda Riley (at 64 year of age) took the fastest time honours to show that age is no barrier to fast walking. Murray Dickinson and Alan Lucas continued their weekly battle with Alan getting the better of Murray on this occasion. Russ Dickenson must have done another PB but the handicapper was obviously expecting this and the performance could still only get him 3rd place.

1. Tom Barnes           9:10    18:28    27:44    36:50    5
2. Alan Lucas          10:49    21:43    32:44    43:51    2
3. Murray Dickinson    10:49    21:59    33:18    44:53    6
4. Tony Johnson        11:04    22:26    33:52    45:23    1
5. Russ Dickenson      11:15    22:44    34:21    45:56    3
6. Duncan Knox         10:48    22:52    35:20    46:50    8
7. Bob Gardiner        11:57    23:34    35:25    47:35    4
8. Ian Beaumont        15:35    31:40    47:46    63:53    7

1. Brenda Riley        10:35    21:35    32:49    44:03    2
2. Liz Feldman         11:32    23:06    34:51    46:30    4
3. Janet Holmes        11:50    24:07    36:26    48:43    1
4. Margaret Beaumont   14:47    29:40    44:30    59:32    5
5. Jean Knox           15:13    30:41    46:40    62:15    3
6. Emma Gray           10:32    21:44    DNF

VRWC 4 Km Open Handicap
As usual, we had our share of walkers who chose to do the shorter distance and some good times were recorded, especially by the women. Erin Adamcewicz walked strongly for her fastest time but very good performances were also seen from John Morrison, Gordon Onley, Gwen Steed and Marlaine Stanway (who is having a top season).

1. John Morrison       11:32    23:47    2
2. Gordon Onley        14:36    29:15    1
3. Bradley Elms        15:05    30:22    3

1. Erin Adamcewicz      9:58    20:50    6
2. Heather Carr        10:23    21:22    4
3. Sandra Geisler      11:04    21:50    3
4. Mandy Emmett        11:25    23:08    7
5. Gwen Steed          11:33    23:18    1
6. Celia Johnson       12:12    24:49    5
7. Marlaine Stanway    12:39    25:22    2
8. Christine Griffiths 17:54    35:45    8

Our younger walkers were having a final hitout before the Victorian championships next weekend so we saw some fast walks. Good luck to everyone next Sunday.

VRWC 4 Km Under 15 Handicap
1. Shaun Burgess       10:39    21:37    1
2. Tim Girgin          11:08    22:36    2
3. Nicholas Mirarchi   11:33    23:42    3
4. Jason Elms          15:43    34:21    4

1. Eda Girgin          10:50    21:41    1
2. Anne Whitworth      11:15    23:59    2
3. Alicia Neylan       11:49    24:43    3
4. Amy Burren          12:47    26:02    4

VRWC 2 Km Under 12 Handicap
1. Ergenekon Girgin    10:56    2
2. William Kennish     11:11    3
3. Damien Elms         15:18    1

1. Hilary Brazel       10:59    4
2. Cassandra Raselli   11:10    2
3. Nicole Hallett      12:19    3
4. Josephine Mirarchi  15:26    1

VRWC 1 Km Under 9 Handicap
1. Sarah Burren           6:41    2
2. Chloe McNicol-Davidson 6:52    1

VRWC EVENTS, SATURDAY 24 JULY 2004, ALBERT PARK

Once again, we had handicap starts and a small group of walkers braved the wintery conditions and keenly contested the events on offer.
The 10km handicap for men was a particularly exciting race with Russ Dickenson having to better his PB by over 30 seconds to hold off the fast finishing field. Duncan Knox passed Alan Lucas with 20m to go to take second place and they both had to really push the final 200m to hold out Andrew Jamieson. Well done to Mark Donahoo on some great handicapping.
Most of the women chose to do the 5km Handicap race with Sarah Alexander walking fantastically for 27:03 (certainly her best walk for the season) and it took all of that to catch Marlaine Stanway just before the finish. A special mention for Siobhan Donovan who walked her first 8 km, recording an excellent 43:26.

10km Handicap                Start time   Finish time  Actual time
1. Kylie VANDENHEILIGENBERG   6:52        77:37        70:45     (F/T)
2. Margaret BEAUMONT          5:58        79:40        73:42
   Siobhan DONOVAN           11:22        Ab (8 km in 43:26)

1. Russ DICKENSON            19:24        77:12        57:48
2. Duncan KNOX               22:51        78:05        55:14
3. Alan LUCAS                22:03        78:07        56:04
4. Andrew JAMIESON           30:24        78:10        47:46    (F/T)
5. Ian BEAUMONT              00:00        80:33        80:33

5km Handicap
1. Sarah ALEXANDER           11:52        38:55        27:03
2. Marlaine STANWAY           6:46        38:58        32:12
3. Heather CARR              12:09        39:07        26:58    (F/T)
4. Gwen STEED                 8:50        39:09        30:19
5. Liz FELDMAN               11:22        39:19        27:57
6. Christine GRIFFITHS       00:00        39:55        39:55
7. Katie LOVUS                9:17        40:37        31:20
8. Janet HOLMES              10:25        41:36        31:11

1. Bradley ELMS               5:11        38:43        33:32    (F/T)
2. Bruce CONBOY               5:25        40:16        34:51

3km Handicap
1. Anne WHITWORTH             4:15        21:54        17:39    (F/T)
2. Alicia NEYLAN              4:27        22:40        18:13
3. Daina NIELSEN              5:03        23:48        18:45

1. Jason ELMS                00:00        21:40        21:40
2. Shaun BURGESS              6:27        22:25        15:58    (F/T)
3. Nicholas MIRARCHI          5:02        22:38        17:36
4. Rhydian COWLEY             7:10        23:25        16:15

The U9 and U12 walkers had a mass start rather than a handicap start and handicap winners were worked out after the finish. Cassandra Raselli had a close win over Taylor Brogan and Hilary Brazel in the Under 12 Girls event while Damien Elms and Chloe McNicol-Davidson had their events all to themselves.

2km Under 12                Actual time  Expected      Difference       
1. Cassandra RASELLI        11:14        10:48         0:26
2. Taylor BROGAN            13:39        13:11         0:28
3. Hilary BRAZEL            10:55        10:23         0:32
4. Nicole HALLETT           12:12        11:27         0:45
5. Regan LAMBLE             10:27         9:41         0:46    (F/T)
6. Josephine MIRARCHI       16:52        16:02         0:50

1. Damien ELMS              15:36        15:01         0:35    (F/T)

1km Under 9
1. Chloe McNICOL-DAVIDSON    6:53         5:59         0:54    (F/T)

AV AND VRWC CHAMPIONSHIPS, SUNDAY 18 JULY 2004, ALBERT PARK

A total of 64 walkers braved cold and windy weather for these annual A.V. Open, A.V. Schools and VRWC racewalking championships. I include a selection of photos with this newsletter and will post more in next week’s newsletter.

AV 20 KM OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP - MEN
A great battle developed between young walkers Chris Erickson and Tom Barnes in the A.V. Open 20 Km championship. Chris eventually made a winning break at around 15 km and went on to win his first Victorian 20 km title with a 29 second PB of 91:33. Tom held on for second place and his time of 92:07 was a 4 minute PB. Both walked very fairly and strongly and it was unfortunate that there could be only 1 winner. The only other finisher was VRWC club captain Andrew Jamieson who is short on training but never short on guts and determination.

1 ERICKSON, Chris     ATE   9:14 18:26 27:35 36:38 45:46 54:52 64:01 73:09 82:21  91:33
2 BARNES, Tom         GHY   9:14 18:26 27:35 36:38 45:46 54:51 64:01 73:20 82:41  92:07
3 JAMIESON, Andrew    OS    9:43 19:30 29:18 39:14 49:06 59:03 69:14 79:28 90:39 101:58
  MIDDLEMISS, Travis  RWD  10:05 20:35 31:25 42:17 53:58 DNF               
  KNOX, Duncan        ATE  11:26 22:55 34:13 45:27 56:35 DNF               

AV 10 KM OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP - WOMEN
Kylie Irshad convincingly won the AV Open Women’s 10 km title, adding to her AV 15 km title win in May. NZ walker Carma Watson has now joined Athletics Essendon club and walked very well for second place. She is coming back after a long layoff and we should see continued improvement over the next few months as she gets her walking legs back. With Sandra Geisler below par, Erin Adamcewicz was able to take the bronze with a walk that confirms she is on her way back to top shape after some recent illness.

1 IRSHAD, Kylie       RWD  10:10 20:25 31:05 41:45 52:14
2 WATSON, Carma       ATE  10:26 20:55 31:24 42:00 52:40
3 ADAMCEWICZ, Erin    ATE  10:14 20:49 31:48 42:40 54:14
4 LOONE, Rachael      ACW  10:38 22:22 34:07 45:14 55:58
5 MAJOR, Annette      EAG  10:59 22:17 34:06 46:32 58:50
6 DRENNAN, Carmel     KSB  11:52 24:08 37:10 49:02 61:52
  GEISLER, Sandra     RWD  10:26 21:04 32:22 DNF   

 The AV Schools championships were also held on Sunday and we saw good fields, especially in the Under 16 events. We hope that next year AV will add Under 14 races to the Schools Program. In their absence, a lot of our younger walkers raced well above their age groups in the Under 16 division but certainly acquitted themselves well.

Alas, no Under 20 boys fronted but Fauve Jacobs had a very comfortable win in the Under 20 Girls Schools event, Tim Stevenson and Siobhan Donovan walked to easy wins in the Under 18 Schools events and David Ranger and Jessica Rothwell easily beat their rivals in the Under 16 Schools events..

AV 10 KM UNDER 20  SCHOOLS CHAMPIONSHIP - WOMEN
1 JACOBS, Fauve            Christian Col. Geel'g  11:11 22:51 34:09 45:31 56:38
2 ELMS, Kylie              Lalor North S.C.       12:21 26:17 40:02 54:25 68:08
3 TYMMS, Stefanie          Avila College          12:36 26:28 40:15 54:37 68:18
4 VANDENHEILIGENBERG Kylie Lyndale S.C.           12:54 26:36 40:32 54:52 68:42

AV 5 KM UNDER 18  SCHOOLS CHAMPIONSHIP - MEN
1 STEVENSON, Tim           St Patrick’s Clge      10:26 21:31 27:01
2 ELMS, Bradley            Lalor North S.C.       12:58 27:04 33:35

AV 5 KM UNDER 18  SCHOOLS CHAMPIONSHIP - WOMEN
1 DONOVAN, Siobhan         Boronia Heights Coll   10:06 20:35 25:54
2 FUZZARD, Sibon           Girton G.S.            10:40 21:56 27:25
3 ALEXANDER, Sarah         Karingal Park S.C.     10:48 22:09 27:39
4 BODDY, Tyne              Corio Bay Senior Coll  11:33 24:39 30:49
5 DI FRANCESCO, Sophie     Star of the Sea Coll   12:03 25:11 31:20

AV 3 KM UNDER 16 SCHOOLS CHAMPIONSHIP - MEN
1 RANGER, David            St Patrick’s College   14:36
2 BURGESS, Shaun           Belmont S.C.           15:44
3 PAYNE, Daniel            Kardinia Int.College   15:55
4 KENNISH, William         Wattle Park P.S.       16:14
5 BRYANT, Kyle             Flora Hill S.C         16:26
6 GIRGIN, Ergenekon        Glenferrie P.S.        16:36
7 HARRISON, Tommy          Brentwood Park P.S.    17:18
8 PLATT,  John             Mount Clear College    17:32
9 STODDART, Jayson         Rowellyn Park P.S.     19:01
10 ELMS, Jason             Lalor North S.C.       21:26

AV 3 KM UNDER 16 SCHOOLS CHAMPIONSHIP - WOMEN
1 ROTHWELL, Jessica        Goulburn Valley G.S.   14:53
2 LAMBLE. Regan            Strathcoma Baptist G.G 15:23
3 PALFREYMAN, Jessie       Golden Square S.C.     16:02
4 GIRGIN, Eda              Melbourne Girls Coll   16:17
5 FEERY, Mietta            Rowville S.C.          17:32
6 NEYLAN, Alicia           Viewbank College       17:34
7 WITHWORTH, Anne          Ashwood College        18:01

Apart from the AV events, we had our own VRWC club championships. The prestigious Alf Robinson and Mabel Robinson Trophies were keenly contested and Chris Erickson and Kylie Irshad made it a double and added them to their AV bounty. But the highlight of the Open VRWC races was the performance of Liz Feldman who broke the Australian Masters W50 10 km record by some 30 seconds. Liz is making a habit of setting new Masters records.

VRWC 20 KM MEN CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP – ALF ROBINSON TROPHY
1 ERICKSON, Chris      91:33
2 BARNES, Tom          92:07
3 LUCAS, Alan         124:15
4 DICKENSON, Russ     126:56
  MARTIN, Travis      DNF

VRWC 10 KM WOMEN CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP – MABEL ROBINSON TROPHY
1 IRSHAD, Kylie       52:14
2 ADAMCEWICZ, Erin    54:14
3 THOMPSON, Alison    54:43
4 RILEY, Brenda       55:53
5 FELDMAN, Liz        67:25 (AMA Record – W50)
6 EMMETT, Mandy       59:29
7 HOLMES, Janet       61:16
8 DRENNAN, Carmel     61:52
9 STEED, Gwen         66:19
  STANWAY, Marlaine   DNF
  GEISLER, Sandra     DNF

VRWC OPEN 5 KM
1. WOOD, Robin        33:40

We also featured our second lot of U12 and U9 club championships, this time over the 1500m distance. Athough some of the Under 12 walkers choosing to walk the Under 16 Schools event, these events were still very keenly contested and some great times were recorded. The Under 13 Girls race in particular was a beauty with Hilary Brazel, Cassandra Raselli and Chloe Di Francesco fighting out the lead for most of the way. Cassie fell at the second turn but came back well to still take second, a courageous performance.

VRWC 1.5 KM UNDER 12 GIRLS CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP
1 BRAZEL, Hilary          8:01
2 RASELLI, Cassandra      8:11
3 DI FRANCESCO, Chloe     8:16
4 BURREN, Amy             8:21
5 HALLETT, Nicole         8:41
6 PAYNE, Emily            9:16
   BROGAN, Taylor         DNF

VRWC 1.5 KM UNDER 12 BOYS CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP
1 STODDART, Jayson         8:53
2 ELMS, Damien            11:29

VRWC 1.5 KM UNDER 9 GIRLS CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP
1 BURREN, Sarah            9:55
2 McNICOL-DAVIDSON, Chloe 10:46
3 IRSHAD, Jasmine         11:07

AFORWC CHALLENGE, SATURDAY 10 JULY 2004, ALBERT PARK

The inaugural AFORWC Challenge was successfully held last Saturday. Each of the Federation clubs contested the same fixture of events and Mark Donahoo tallied the overall results to see which club would become holders of the new Challenge Shield for the year. Some 50 walkers turned up at Albert Park to represent us and we saw some great walking.

Under 10 1.5km Female   
1. Cassandra Raselli         8:10   
2. Sarah Burren              9:56   
3. Jasmine Irshad           10:57   
4. Chloe McNicol-Davidson   12:29
   
Under 12 2km Female
1. Hilary Brazel            11:14   
2. Nicole Hallett           11:33   
3. Amy Burren               12:44
4. Taylor Brogan            13:45   
5. Josephine Mirarchi       15:36  
 
Under 12 2km Male
1. Ergenekon Girgin         10:55   
2. Tommy Harrison           10:59   
3. Jayson Stoddart          12:26   

Under 14 3km Female
1. Regan Lamble             15:36   
2. Eda Girgin               16:35
3. Alicia Neylan            17:54   
4. Mietta  Feery            17:55
5. Anne Whitworth           18:36    

Under 14 3km Male
1. Timucin Girgin           16:49   
2. Nicholas Mirarchi        17:38   
3. Jason Elms               22:16
   Damien Elms              DNF

Under 16 5km Female   
1. Siobhan Donovan          25:42
2. Katie Lovus              31:24


Under 16 5km Male
1. Shaun Burgess            27:42

Under 18 8km Female
1. Kylie Vandenheiligenberg 56:21
2. Sarah Alexander          47:15
   
Open 10km Female
1. Kylie Irshad             53:43
2. Alison Thompson          54:45
3. Nicole Sansonetti        59:50
4. Janet Holmes             60:50
5. Gwen Steed               63:30
6. Celia Johnson            64:58
   Marlaine Stanway         DNF

Open 10km Male
1. Tom Barnes               46:28
2. Travis Middlemiss        50:46
3. Ross Reid                51:39
4. John Bunker              54:30
5. Tim Erickson             54:39
6. Murray Dickinson         56:07
7. Alan Lucas               56:40
8. Tony Johnson             58:34
9. John Morrison            62:30
   Mark Donahoo             DNF

The big news is that VRWC was the winning club. Nine of the Federation clubs participated and the winner was the club with the least number of points. Here is how it panned out. Congratulations everyone on a big team performance.

1. VRWC                              59
2. RWCWA                             65
3. Regal Racewalkers                 72
4. NSWRWC                            78
5. SA Race Walkers                   79
6. Tasmanian Race Walking Club       81
7. ACT Race and Fitness Walking Club 90
8. WARWC                             91
9. Qld Race Walking Club            100

We also put on an Open 5 km walk for those walkers who wanted a short race. Welcome to Carma Watson of New Zealand who has come over to Melbourne to race for the forseeable future and prepare for the 2006 Commonwealth Games. Carma recorded 26:57 in her first race in some time and she can only improve from there. Good luck in your training Carma.

VRWC 5km Open
1. Carma Watson            26:57   
2. Bruce Conboy            34:35   

VRWC RACES, SATURDAY 3 JULY 2004, ALBERT PARK

The annual ‘Guess Your Time’ races attracted a lot of interest and it was amazing to see just how close to their projected times many of the walkers actually came. Just about every winner was spot on despite the windy conditions. Best guess of the lot was Taylor Brogan who was exact, ahead of Alicia Neylan and Daniel Payne who were only one second out.


8 km Open  Men             2 Km     4 Km     6 Km     8 Km         Guess    Difference
1.  Alan Lucas             11:08    22:14    33:25    44:42        44:45    0:03
2.  Tim Erickson           10:21    21:07    31:56    42:54        43:00    0:06
3.  Mark Donahoo           11:30    23:32    35:22    47:07        47:00    0:07
4.  Murray Dickinson       10:54    21:55    33:05    44:10        44:00    0:10
5.  Duncan Knox            10:41    21:49    33:05    44:11        44:00    0:11
6.  Tom Barnes              9:00    18:15    27:34    36:47 (F/T)  37:00    0:13
7.  Tony Johnson           11:22    23:06    34:46    46:36        47:00    0:24
8.  Robin Wood             13:31    26:41    39:59    53:29        53:00    0:29
9.  John Bunker            10:49    21:50    32:50    43:30        44:15    0:45
10. Bob Gardiner           11:57    23:49    35:35    47:55        47:00    0:55

8 km Open Women
1.  Eda Girgin             11:25    23:30    35:22    47:07        47:10    0:03
2.  Erin Adamcewicz        10:16    21:10    32:26    43:36 (F/T)  44:00    0:24
3.  Janet Holmes           12:38    25:02    37:49    50:14        49:30    0:44
4.  Celia Johnson          12:31    25:19    38:32    51:30        50:38    0:52
5.  Alison Thompson        10:35    21:33    32:44    43:38        44:35    0:57
6.  Gwen Steed             12:15    24:54    37:35    50:42        49:30    1:12
    Kylie Vandenheil'berg  13:16    27:20    41:36    55:20        -
    Liz Feldman            11:20    23:08    DNF     

4 km Open Men              2 Km     4 Km         Guess    Difference
1.  Ian Beaumont           15:23    31;19        31:15    0:04   
2.  John Morrison          11:54    24:07 (F/T)  23:55    0:12   
3.  Bradley Elms (U20)     12:32    26:13        26:00    0:13   
4.  Russ Dickenson         11:09    22:32        23:30    0:58   

4 km Open Women
1.  Marlaine Stanway       12:42    25:25        25:35    0:10
E2. Heather Carr           10:40    21:47 (F/T)  22:02    0:15
E2. Margaret Beaumont      14:31    29:02        28:47    0:15
4.  Jane Fitter            12:50    25:13        24:50    0:23
5.  Tina Baarslag-Leb      15:03    30:41        30:17    0:24
6.  Christine Griffiths    17:49    35:23        36:00    0:37

4 km U15 Boys
1.  Daniel Payne           11:21    22:59        23:00    0:01
2.  Shaun Burgess          10:42    22:00 (F/T)  22:15    0:15
3.  Timucin Girgin         11:08    22:24        22:05    0:19
4.  Jason Elms             15:24    30:39        30:00    0:39
5.  Nicholas Mirarchi      11:56    24:40        23:15    1:25
6.  Tommy Harrison         11:25    28:35        22:30    6:05

4 km U15 Girls
1.  Alicia Neylan          11:56    24:32        24:30    0:01
2.  Anne Whitworth         12:16    25:14        25:50    0:36
    Siobhan Donovan        10:04    20:22 (F/T)  -
    Katie Lovus            12:03    24:32        -

2 km U12 Girls             2 Km        Guess    Difference
1.  Taylor Brogan          13:50        13:50    0:00
2.  Cassandra Raselli      11:32        11:20    0:12
3.  Chloe DeFrancesco      11:38        11:24    0:14
4.  Hilary Brazel          10:53 (F/T)  11:15    0:22
5.  Emily Payne            13:21        14:10    0:49
6.  Josephine Mirarchi     16:30        15:30    1:00

2 km U12 Boys
1.  Jayson Stoddart        12:20 (F/T)  12:00    0:20
2.  Damien Elms            15:01        15:30    0:29

1 km U9 Girls              1 Km         Guess    Difference
1.  Chloe McNicol-Davidson 6:51 (F/T)   6:45    0:06
2.  Jasmine Irshad         6:58         6:50    0:08   

VRWC AND VMA RACES, SATURDAY 26 JUNE 2004, ALBERT PARK

A large number of walkers braved wintery forcasts on Saturday and the Masters walkers took centre stage in one of their main championship days. The racing was keenly contested with the pick of the performances going to Trevor Mayhew and Brenda Riley.

VMA 10km Road Walking Championship - Men
Trevor Mayhew is currently improving at a great rate and his time of 52:01 was a PB by some 40 secs. At 58 years of age, I think there would be few to challenge him in the world at the moment. Russ Dickenson, who has only been racing for around 6 months, took over a minute off his previous best with a great 58:14. Murray Dickinson, Alan Lucas and Paul Rance had a great contest before Paul Rance stormed home and took the honours in their battle. Ross Reid celebrated his move to the M50 age group with a clear win in that category and that left Colin Heywood and Mark Donahoo to fight out the M45. But Colin is also soon to turn 50 so we can expect to see the rivalry between him and Ross Reid start afresh.

M45    1    Colin HEYWOOD     50:25
       2    Paul RANCE        55:11
            Mark DONAHOO      Ab
M50    1    Ross REID         50:54
       2    Tim ERICKSON      54:24
       3    Robin WOOD        65:53
M55    1    Trevor MAYHEW     52:01
       2    Alan LUCAS        55:57
       3    Russ DICKENSON    58:14
M60    1    Tony JOHNSON      59:43
       2    John MORRISON     62:27
M65    1    Murray DICKINSON  55:25
       2    Geoff MAJOR       67:01
M70    1    Fred BROOKS       71:06                  
M75    1    Gordon GOURLEY    71:48

VMA 5km Road Walking Championship - Women
Annette Major lead early and seemed to have the fastest time sewn up with 500m to go. Then Alison Thompson unleashed a wonderful finishing burst and took the lead in the final straight. The amazing Brenda Riley (can you believe she is 64) was not far behind and continues to set the standard for all of us.

M40    1    Annette MAJOR     26:36
       2    Mandy EMMETT      28:37
M45    1    Carmel DRENNAN    28:45
M50    1    Alison THOMPSON   26:33
       2    Heather CARR      27:34
       3    Marlene GOURLAY   28:38
       4    Janet HOLMES      28:50
M55    1    Liz FELDMAN       27:47
       2    Celia JOHNSON     30:50
M60    1    Brenda RILEY      26:52
       2    Gwen STEED        29:51
       3    Silvia MACHIN     30:53
       4    Beverley HUGO     37:42
       5    Heidi ENGEL       44:54
M65    1    Marlaine STANWAY  32:00
M75    1    Jean KNOX         37:07  
                     
Apart from the Masters championships, a number of VRWC handicap/fastest time races were held and, as usual, these were keenly contested. Special mention to Siobhan Donovan, Regan Lamble, William Kennish, Tommy Harrison and Shaun Burgess who, in particular, walked excellently.

10km Open  Handicap race               Handicap Place
1. Sandra GEISLER             Ab       
               
1. Colin HEYWOOD              50:25    7
2. Tim ERICKSON               44:24    6
3. Alan LUCAS                 55:57    4
4. Russ DICKENSON             58:14    2
5. Tony JOHNSON               59:43    5
6. John MORRISON              62:27    3
7. Robin WOOD                 65:53    1
   Mark DONAHOO               Ab       

5km Open  Handicap race
1. Kylie IRSHAD               25:26    12
2. Sioibhan DONOVAN           25:39    5
3. Alison THOMPSON            26:33    9
4. Heather CARR               27:34    13
5. Liz FELDMAN                27:47    8
6. Eda GIRGIN                 28:06    3
7. Mandy EMMETT               28:37    10
8. Carmel DRENNAN             28:45    1
9. Janet HOLMES               28:50    11
10. Gwen STEED                29:51    2
11. Celia JOHNSON             30:50    6
12. Marlaine STANWAY          32:00    7
13. Kylie VANDENHEILIGENBERG  34:07    4

3km Open Non-handicap race
1. Bradley ELMS               19:30    1

3km Under 15 Handicap race
1. Natalie LAURIE             17:08    2
1. Daina NIELSEN              17:58    3
2. Katie LOVUS                18:21    5
3. Anne WHITWORTH             18:33    1
4. Sophie DI FRANCESCO        18:51    4

1. Shaun BURGESS              16:10    3
2. Timucim GIRGIN             16:24    2
3. Nicholas MIRARCHI          17:07    1

3km Under 12 Handicap race
1. Regan LAMBLE               15:35    6
2. Mietta FEERY               17:35    2
3. Hilary BRAZEL              17:46    5
4. Alicia NEYLAN              17:49    4
5. Cassandra RASELLI          18:33    1
6. Chloe DI FRANCESCO         18:57   
7. Taylor BROGAN              20:42    3
8. Josephine MIRARCHI         25:25    7

1. William KENNISH            15:43   
2. Tommy HARRISON             16:18    2
3. Jason ELMS                 20:45    1

1000m Under 9 Handicap race
1. Jasmine IRSHAD              7:00    1

1. Damien ELMS                 6:59    Invitation

VRWC RACES, SATURDAY 19 JUNE 2004, ALBERT PARK

The wintery conditions (windy, cold, wet) did not deter a small group of really keen walkers from attending. I must admit that earlier in the day, the weather was so bad that I thought at one stage that I might be the only walker toeing the start lime but it cleared at just the right time and most of us managed to get through the race dry! You have to really appreciate the officials and judges on a day like Saturday. Thanks everyone.

8 KM OPEN                2 km     4 km     6 km     8 km     Hcp Place
1. Kylie Irshad           9:50    20:26    31:32    42:34    2
2. Janet Holmes          11:44    23:56    36:31    48:50    1
3. Margaret Beaumont     14:52    29:42    44:15    59:00    3
4. Rachel Loone          11:31    23:06    DNF

1. Tim Erickson          10:32    21:30    32:45    43:54    3
2. Bob Gardiner          11:48    23:22    35:17    46:52    1
3. Russ Dickinson        11:36    23:18    35:07    46:56    2
4. Robin Wood            13:17    26:42    40:37    54:37    4
5. Ian Beaumont          15:16    31:11    47:35    64:09    5

4 KM OPEN                                  Hcp Place
1. Heather Carr          10:44    22:03    4
2. Gwen Steed            12:01    24:05    2
3. Celia Johnson         12:34    25:04    3
4. Marlaine Stanway      12:39    25:18    1

1. John Morrison         11:53    24:05    2
2. Harold Boddy          12:25    25:46    3
3. Bruce Conboy          13:34    27:06    1
Gordon Onley             13:46    29:56    DQ

4 KM UNDER 15
1. Siobhan Donovan        9:59    20:32    2
2. Regan Lamble          10:32    21:12    3
3. Alicia Neylan         12:21    25:02    1

1. Shaun Burgess         10:42    22:20    2
2. Nicholas Mirarchi     11:40    23:25    1
3. William Kennish       11:29    23:57

2 KM UNDER 12                     Hcp Place
1. Hilary Brazel         11:19    4
2. Cassandra Raselli     11:25    3
3. Amy Burren            11:48    5
4. Nicole Hallett        11:51    2
5. Taylor Brogan         12:08    6
6. Josephine Mirarchi    16:22    1

1 KM UNDER 9
1. Sarah Burren           6:38    3
2. Chloe McNicol-Davidson 7:04    1
3. Jasmine Irshad         7:47    2

AFORWC CARNIVAL, CANBERRA, SUNDAY 13 JUNE, 2004

The Canberra Carnival certainly lived up to its reputation as the top racewalking event of the year. Walking clubs from Victoria, NSW, Queensland, SA, Tasmania and ACT all sent strong teams and some 200 competitors raced over a wide variety of events. The medals were shared between all States – a good indication of the depth of the sport throughout the country. As usual, ACT Race and Fitness Walking Club did an outstanding job in putting on such a demanding carnival. VRWC sent over 40 competitors and our walkers did us proud. We brought home 7 Perpetual Trophies and had 5 individual winners.  Highlights were many. A few of the ones to stick in my mind are as follows

Regan Lamble winning out in a memorable final sprint in the Under 14 Girls 2000m. Regan trailed SA walker Paige Hooper with 100m to go but managed to produce a fantastic final sprint to win by the shortest of margins. Her style under pressure was impeccable and, even with such a desperate final sprint, she incurred no cautions or warnings and looked safe. Her time of 9:44 was an 8 second PB as she continues her outstanding season.

Jared Tallent doing a 30 sec PB to just go down to Adam Rutter in an unforgettable Under 20 Mens 10 km walk. Adam walked 42:13 and Jared walked 42:18 in a wonderful display of sustained speed. They are the future of 20 km walking in Australia.

Tommy Harrison coming from behind to win the Under 12 Boys 2000m. Tommy had to overcome NSW walker Nicky Cockerell as they both surged towards the finish. But he managed to make the decisive break with a short distance to go and held on for his win.

Simone Wolowiec easily winning the Open Womens 10 Mile for the second time in a row. Simone has come back well from her disappointment in the recent Racewalking World Cup and was too good for her opposition once again.

Chris Erickson doing a huge PB (6+ mins) to come second in the Open 20 mile and take the Federation Shield as first Australian. This 20 mile event is the toughest race in Australia with the hilly course and cold early morning conditions making an interesting mix. It is survival of the toughest and fittest and Chris was the best of the Australians. The overall winner was Craig Barrett of NZ who has won this event twice before. After 5th in 2002 and 4th in 2003, Chris made the big breakthrough with overall 2nd in 2:37:07.

The great team performances by our Under 10 Girls (Nicole Hallett, Cassandra Raselli, Ebony Tallent) and Under 14 Girls (Regan Lamble, Natalie Laurie, Alicia Neylan) who won the overall teams events for their respective divisions.

Although we are still waiting for the full results to be posted, key VRWC statistics are summarised as follows:

EVENT OPEN 20M ACT 30 KM OPEN/VET WOMEN 10M OPEN/VET MEN 10M BOYS U10 1000M GIRLS U10 1000M BOYS U12 2000M GIRLS U12 2000M BOYS U14 2000M GIRLS U14 2000M BOYS U16 3000M GIRLS U16 3000M GIRLS U18 5000M WOMEN 5000M MEN U20 10000M AA MEN U20 10000M

NAMES ERICKSON, Chris   KNOX, Duncan (V) ERICKSON, Chris FELDMAN, Liz (V) GEISLER, Sandra ROSEMAN, Justijana STANWAY, Marlaine (V) WOLOWIEC, Simone DOS SANTOS, David ERICKSON, Tim (V) GARDINER, Robert (V) LUCAS, Alan (V) MAYHEW, Trevor (V) SUMMERS, Harry (V) POLMEAR, Luke HALLETT, Nicole McNICOL-DAVIDSON, Chloe RASELLI, Cassandra TALLENT, Ebony BUTTERISS, David HARRISON, Thomas STODDART, Jayson BRAZEL, Hilary MIRARCHI,  Josephine PAYNE, Emily TALLENT, Rachel MIRARCHI, Nicholas PLATT, Joshua STODDART, Jayson LAMBLE, Regan LAURIE, Natalie NEYLAN, Alicia BURGESS, Shaun MIRARCHI, Nicholas PAYNE, Daniel PLATT, John ALEXANDER, Sarah DONOVAN, Siobhan POLMEAR, Jacinta GRAY, Emma CARR, Heather (V) JONES, Kelly PLATT, Belinda (V) BARNES, Jamie TALLENT, Jared BARNES, Jamie

PLACE 2 8 1 10 6 11 15 1 8 4 9 6 3 12 3 2 11 3 6 6 1 DNF 8 22 13 4 10 6 7 1 6 11 7 17 6 10 10 3 14 5 10 21 18 6 2 5

TIME 2:37:07 3:23:21 2:25:50 1:40:45 1:31:58 1:41:41 1:52:07 1:20:32 1:40:41 1:32:03 1:40:47 1:36:00 1:29:16 1:50:13 7:06 5:16 6:56 5:20 5:48 14:44 10:57 - 11:17 15:58 12:20 10:43 11:42 11:06 11:10 9:44 10:34 11:53 16:30 17:50 16:08 16:57 16:09 15:12 17:38 27:15 28:19 34:47 32:01 55:16 42:18 55:16

WINNERS OF PERPETUAL SHIELDS

Winner, Under 12 Boys 2000m          Tommy Harrison
Winner, Under 14 Girls 2000m         Regan Lamble
Winner Open Women 10 Mile            Simone Wolowiec
Winner Veteran Men 10 Mile           Trevor Mayhew
Winner Open Men 20 Mile              Chris Erickson (2nd finisher but first Federation member)
U10 Girls 1000m Teams Event Winners  Nicole Hallett, Cassandra Raselli, Ebony Tallent
U14 Girls 2000m Teams Event Winners  Regan Lamble, Natalie Laurie, Alicia Neylan

OTHER TEAMS EVENT MEDALLISTS

U12 Girls 2000m      2nd     Rachel Tallent, Hilary Brazel, Emily Payne
U14 Boys 2000m       2nd     Joshua Platt, Jayson Stoddart, Nicholas Mirarchi
U16 Boys 3000m       2nd     Daniel Payne, Shaun Burgess, John Platt
U16 Girls 3000m      3rd     Siobhan Donovan, Sarah Alexander, Jacinta Polmear
Open Women 10 Mile   2nd     Simone Wolowiec, Sandra Geisler, Liz Feldman

VRWC RACES, SATURDAY 5 JUNE, 2004 

We staged another ‘yacht handicap’ day last Saturday and large fields showed their approval for the concept and enjoyed the staggered starts. The 10 km handicaps worked out well and, in the final laps, we saw a lot of walkers coming together and vying for the win. Marlaine Stanway and Harry Summers were able to withstand the inevitable challenges and each held on to cross the line first, holding out the faster walkers.  Tom Barnes walked a sizzling time of 45:05, a PB by some 40 secs and a time that ranks him very highly at the National level – but he still could not catch Harry! He looks set to be the next Victorian walker to threaten at the top level and, given his current rate of improvement, we may not have long to wait.

10 km Open Handicap         Actual Time  F/T Place
1. Marlaine Stanway         64:36        3
2. Margaret Beaumont        72:08        4
3. Alison Thompson          56:00        2
4. Brenda Riley             55:40        1 (F/T)
   Kylie Vandenheiligenberg Ab
   Emma Gray                Ab

1. Harold Summers           64:20        9
2. Tom Barnes               45:05        1 (F/T)
3. Robert Gardiner          59:44        6
4. John Morrison            62:43        7
5. Russ Dickenson           59:29        5
6. Alan Lucas               56:33        4
7. Ron Bilsto               64:07        8
8. Robin Wood               77:37        10
9. Murray Dickinson         56:24        3
10. Tim Erickson            55:50        2
    Mark Donahoo            Ab

The shorter races also attracted good fields and Carmel Drennan and Harold Boddy won the 5 km handicap events. In fact, it was a bit of a Boddy whitewash as Tyne was second in the Open 5 km handicap and Lana won the U15 3 km handicap for girls alongside Jason Elms who won the U15 3 km handicap for boys. I must make special mention of our two U15 fastest time walkers, Siobhan Donovan (15:09) and Shaun Burgess (16:18) who both showed very good speed. And a further special mention to Jayson Stoddart who came up from U12 and was just a few seconds slower than Shaun. We have plenty of talent in these age groups.

5 Km Open Handicap          Actual Time  F/T Place
1. Carmel Drennan           29:43        8
2. Tyne Boddy               30:59        9
3. Alicia Neylan            31:51        11
4. Sandra Geisler           26:26        1 (F/T)
5. Marlene Gourlay          28:25        4
6. Sarah Alexander          26:55        2
7. Janet Holmes             29:04        6
8. Heather Carr             27:33        3
9. Daina Nielsen            29:42        7
10. Mandy Emmett            28:49        5
11. Jean Knox               36:27        12
12. Celia Johnson           31:16        10

1. Harold Boddy             31:35        3
2. Bruce Conboy             33:28        4
3. Daniel Lowe              27:33        1 (F/T)
4. Anthony Barrett          28:36        2
5. Bradley Elms             34:58        5
   Gordon Onley             35:06        DQ

3 Km Under 15 Handicap      Actual Time  F/T Place
1. Lana Boddy               18:04        4
2. Siobhan Donovan          15:09        1 (F/T)       
3. Amy Burren               18:19        5
4. Eda Girgin               16:46        2
5. Natalie Laurie           17:17        3

1. Jason Elms               21:10        5
2. Jayson Stoddart          16:21        2
3. Nicholas Mirarchi        16:58        4
4. Shaun Burgess            16:18        1 (F T)
5. Timucin Girgin           16:57        3

The Under 12 and Under 9 walkers had a group start so the handicap winners were worked out after the event. It turned out that Josephine Mirarchi and Damien Elms were the best walkers against their expected handicaps but what can you say about Regan Lamble to blitzed everyone with a wonderful time of 9:52. Regan just gets better and better every time she walks. Tommy Harrison was the fastest of the boys and his time of 10:54 was also a good one.

2 Km Under 12 Handicap      Actual Time  F/T Place
1. Josephine Mirarchi       15:09        7
2. Nicole Hallett           11:45        5
3. Regan Lamble             09:52        1 (F/T)
4. Hilary Brazel            11:17        3
5. Cassandra Raselli        11:27        4
6. Taylor Brogan            13:58        6
7. Chloe Di Francesco       11:15        2

1. Damien Elms              15:12        3
2. Tommy Harrison           10:54        1 (F/T)
3. David Butteriss          14:42        2

U9 1 km Handicap            Actual Time  F/T Place
1. Chloe McNicol-Davidson      7:06      1

VRWC RACES, SATURDAY 30 MAY, 2004 

Another bumper day of competitive racing! Let’s reverse the order of reporting this week to focus on our younger walkers first. We continue to get large numbers in the U9 and U12 divisions and the pace was on from the gun. Gosh to be young once again! Mietta Feery and Ergenekon Girgin were the standouts, both winning their respective U12 handicap and fastest times categories, a difficult double. Quite a few of our young walkers are off to Canberra for the big carnival and we can expect to see some very competitive performances there.

VRWC 9 1500m                        Handicap place
1. Sarah Burren            10.03    3
2. Chloe McNicol-Davidson  10.28    2
3. Jasmine Irshad          11.26    1
           
VRWC U12 2500m
1. Mietta Feery            13.45    1
2. Amy Burren              14.13    6
3. Hilary Brazel           14.15    3
4. Cassandra Raselli       14.27    4
5. Nicole Hallett          15.09    5
6. Emily Payne             16.52    8
7. Taylor Brogan           18.19    7
8. Josephine Mirarchi      20.32    2

1. Ergenekon Girgin        13.28    1
2. William Kennish         13.36    -
3. Tommy Harrison          13.40    3
4. Jayson Stoddart         15.49    4              
5. Damien Elms             19.57    2

The Under 15’s are enjoying racing against the Open walkers and are gaining valuable experience. I was very impressed by the performance of Regan Lamble who had a great battle with David Dos Santos and must have walked a big PB. Our U14 Canberra team of Regan, Natalie and Alicia will be very strong indeed.

VRWC U15 4 km                      Handicap place
1. Regan Lamble           20.48    2   
2. Sarah Alexander        21.51    4   
3. Natalie Laurie         22.18    3   
4. Alicia Neylan          25.09    1   

1. Shaun Burgess          22.17    5   
2. Timucin Girgin         22.18    E2
3. Daniel Payne           22.35    E2
4. Nicholas Mirarchi      24.07    4   
5. Jason Elms             30.09    1 

The Open age walkers had a choice of 4 km or 8 km and the shorter distances gave everyone the chance to stretch out and go for times. Travis Middlemiss, Ross Reid and Kylie Irshad led early before Travis cleared out for an impressive win. But the handicaps tell another story with Heather Carr, Bradley Elms, Liz Feldman and Ross Reid taking the honours from that perspective. Even the Masters walkers were getting into the act – Marlaine Stanway told me after the race that it was her fastest race for some years.

VRWC OPEN 4 km
1. Sandra Geisler           21.14    5
2. Heather Carr             21.49    1
3. Emma Gray                22.10    2
4. Daina Nielsen            23.43    3
5. Kylie Vandenheiligenberg 28.18    4

1. David Dos Santos         20.41    2   
2. Tim Erickson             21.33    5   
3. John Morrison            24.05    4   
4. Bradley Elms             26.54    1   
5. Bruce Conboy             27.22    3         

VRWC OPEN 8 km
1. Kylie Irshad             41.20    4
2. Liz Feldman              46.19    1
3. Eda Girgin               47.32    -
4. Janet Holmes             49.17    6
5. Celia Johnson            51.27    5
6. Marlaine Stanway         52.02    3
7. Margaret Beaumont        57.43    2

1. Travis Middlemiss        37.27    2
2. Ross Reid                39.03    1
3. Mark Donahoo             39.39    7
4. Alan Lucas               45.00    4
5. Russell Dickenson        47.38    5
6. Robin Wood               52.56    3
7. Ian Beaumont             62.23    6
   Bob Gardiner             Ab.

VRWC RACES, SUNDAY 24 MAY, 2004 

Last Sunday saw our first set of VRWC Club Championships and we used our ‘Championship Course’ alongside the lake. The events were keenly contested and large fields made for a great day of walking.

OPEN 20 KM
We saw 3 wonderful performances in the Open 20 km event. The overall winner was Daniel Walters, fresh from his Victorian 15 km racewalk title win a few weeks ago and walking even faster on this occasion to leave the rest of the field far behind. His time of 88:41 ranks him very high nationally and he can only improve as the season progresses and he gets more races under his belt. At only 23 years of age, Daniel has hopefully a long and illustrious career ahead of him.


Behind Daniel, we saw two outstanding Masters walks by Sandy Brunner of SA and Liz Feldman of Melbourne. Sandy has only been walking for a short time and is being coached by SA walker Kim Mottram. On Sunday she broke the World and Australian records for the W60 20 km racewalk. Her time of 1:57:42.2 broke the previous world record of 2:02:56 by over 5 minutes. Technically she looked to have plenty in reserve and I think we may soon see this mark being lowered again. Liz Feldman is also relatively new to serious racewalking but comes off a background as a distance runner (she has finished the Melbourne Marathon an amazing 18 times). She broke the Australian record for the W55 20 km racewalk in her first ever attempt at the distance. Her time of 2:06:06.8 broke the previous record of 2:08:51 by nearly 3 minutes. Again, Liz will have plenty of opportunities to lower this mark as her walking progresses.

1. Daniel Walters      8:44    17:30    26:20    35:08    44:01    52:57    61:55      70:55      79:51     88:41
2. Kim Mottram (SA)   10:32    21:09    31:45    42:10    52:32    62:58    73:31      83:56      94:23    104:52
3. Harry Summers      13:15    26:31    39:57    53:45    67:34    81:26    95:31     109:51     123:47    138:19
   Alan Lucas         11:48    23:40    35:36    47:51    59:56    72:21    85:14      98:54     DNF
   Duncan Knox        11:37    23:20    35:08    46:50    58:37    70:02    81:32    DNF (15 km in 87:42)
   Jamie Barnes       10:59    21:56    32:52    44:01    55:11    DNF

1. Sandy Brunner (SA) 11:41    23:27    35:18    47:04    58:48    70:34    82:22      94:13     105:59    117:42.2
2. Liz Feldman        11:48    23:40    35:36    47:53    60:24    73:02    86:00      99:07     112:42    126:06.8

VRWC 15 KM CHAMPIONSHIP FOR WOMEN – ELSIE JACOBSON TROPHY

This championship was won by Kylie Irshad for the second time in 3 years. She won the Victorian 15 km title a few weeks ago and was once again too strong for her opposition.  Alison Thompson walked her first ever 15 km (I think) as did Laura Gleich. It is good to see everyone testing themselves out over the longer distances.

1. Kylie Irshad       10:57    21:27    32:08    43:01    54:11    65:35    77:05      82:43
2. Alison Thompson    11:01    22:23    33:55    45:20    56:56    68:42    80:29      86:19
3. Laura Gleich       11:27    20:50    33:55    45:26    57:12    69:16    81:33      87:55
4. Marlaine Stanway   13:15    26:31    39:37    53:45    67:35    81:27    93:31     102:29
    Sandra Geisler    10:55    21:43    33:12    DNF

OPEN 10 KM

Adam Barnes made his first appearance at the club for some time and walked well to win the 10 km walk (and his brother Jamie walked 10 km in the 20 km event, also his first appearance in a while). David Dos Santos walked his first 10 km event and found it pretty hard work – but will benefit from the experience. Tony Johnson is getting back into some decent walking shape after a couple of years enjoying his retirement too much! Tony’s better half, Celia, was the lone contestant in the womens 10 km event.

1. Adam Barnes       11:05    22:16    33:38    44:54    56:06
2. David Dos Santos  11:10    22:16    33:38    44:57    56:56
3. Tony Johnson      11:35    23:15    35:05    46:55    58:42
4. Russ Dickenson    11:39    23:32    35:33    47:51    59:52
5. Daniel Lowe       11:22    23:31    35:46    48:11    60:16
6. Robin Wood        13:08    26;33    40:01    53:49    67:51
7. Mark Donahoo      11:02    DNF

1. Celia Johnson     12:49    26:09    39:23    52:56    66:12

OPEN 5 KM

Stuart Kollmorgen and Erin Adamcewicz showed clean pairs of heels to the other 5 km walkers and both were rewarded with fast times. Nicholas Mirarchi could have walked in the Under 16 4 km championship but chose the longer 5 km event this week and was just outside the 30 minute mark, a good first up effort.

1. Erin Adamcewicz    9:57    20:41    25:59
2. Janet Holmes      11:42    22:53    29:50
3. Gwen Steed        12:01    24:30    30:48
4. Anne Bilston      13:37    27:56    35:17

1. Stuart Kollmorgen  9:27    19:26    24:18
2. Nicholas Mirarchi 12:12    24:15    30:09
   Gordon Onley      13:59    20:09    37:07 (DQ)


The remaining events were all underage club championships and we had 27 walkers of age 15 and lower – a great sign for the future. All the winners walked excellently and we had a lot of medal presentations to celebrate!

16 VRWC 5 KM CHAMPIONSHIP   

Siobhan Donovan had a great battle with Erin Adamcewicz and this helped her to a PB of nearly 30 sec. She was walking over 28 minutes last winter but is so much stronger and faster this year. She looks a real prospect for the National Under 16 championships in Canberra later this year. Shaun Burgess is having his first regular winter season with the club and is also showing steady improvement each week. I expect to see his times keep coming down also.

1. Siobhan Donovan    9:57    20:44    26:03
2. Sarah Alexander   10:36    22:10    27:46

1. Shaun Burgess     10:36    22:12    28:03
2. Bradley Elms      12:45    27:02    34:09

U14 VRWC 3 KM CHAMPIONSHIP

Regan Lamble has made the transition from the U12 to the U14 age group this year and seems to be handling the longer distances well. Daniel Payne is also walking confidently and stylishly and both spearhead strong age groups. Tommy Harrison and Jayson Stoddart jumped up from U12 for a second race and walked the extra distance without too much discomfort.

1. Regan Lamble      10:37    16:05
2. Eda Girgin        11:01    16:55

1. Daniel Payne      10:46    16:19
2. Tim Girgin        11:04    16:41
3. Tommy Harrison    11:29    17:04
4. Jayson Stoddart   11:28    17:09
5. Jason Elms        15:07    23:03

U12 VRWC 1 KM CHAMPIONSHIP

We started the Under 12 and Under 9 1 km events together and it was amazing to see the speed and enthusiasm with which the walkers sprinted from the starting line. Most of the field did PBs and Ergenekon Girgin and Chloe Di Francesco lead them home in just over 5 minutes each. Sarah Burren was the winner of the Under 9 race which saw the 3 girls walk excellently.

1. Chloe Di Francesco  5:08
2. Hilary Brazel       5:12
3. Alicia Neylan       5:15
4. Cassandra Raselli   5:20
5. Nicole Hallett      5:36
6. Emily Payne         5:37
7. Taylor Brogan       6:14
8. Kiara Dunn          6:39
9. Josephine Mirarchi  7:18

1. Ergenekon Girgin    5:02
2. Tommy Harrison      5:11
3. Jayson Stoddart     6:13
4. Damien Elms         7:13

U9 VRWC 1 KM CHAMPIONSHIP

1. Sarah Burren           6:40
2. Chloe McNicol-Davidson 6:45
3. Jasmine Irshad         7:05

VRWC RACES, SATURDAY 15 MAY, 2004 

The Relay day is usually an exciting day and this year proved no exception to the rule. With club handicapper Mark Donahoo doing his best to create very even teams, the races were up for grabs and everyone put in big efforts.

4 X 3 KM OPEN RELAY
The first 3 placed teams were within 40 secs of each other at the finish and it took a huge last 4 km by Murray Dickinson to hold out Mark Donahoo who really fired up for the occasion. The winning team of Liz Feldman, Harry Summers and Murray Dickinson showed that the Masters walkers can still do it on demand! Last year Harry retired after only 1 km so this year he was out to make amends. We will present the winning team with small awards at next Sunday’s events.
Special mentions also to Alison Thompson, Daniel Payne and Marlene Stanway who also walked excellently. And spare a thought for Nicholas Mirarchi who walked his 4 km leg after being away all week at a school camp. The rumour was that after the event, he was going home to catch up on from much needed sleep.

1    Liz Feldman       Harry Summers      Murray Dickinson   
     10:54    11:16    12:00    12:29     10:22    10:36      67:37
2    Mark Donahoo      Jason Elms         Mark Donahoo   
     9:15      9:33    14:48    15:37      9:13     9:34      68:00
3    Alison Thompson   Marlaine Stanway   Alison Thompson   
     10:29    10:40    12:40    12:41     10:50    10:58      68:18
4    Eda Girgin        Daniel Payne       Janet Holmes   
     11:12    12:13    11:24    11:25     11:33    12:06      69:53
5    Gwen Steed        Sarah Alexander    Timucin Girgin   
     12:08    12:39    10:55    11:25     11:27    12:18      70:52
6    Nicholas Mirarchi Daina Nielsen      Bob Gardiner   
     12:09    12:35    11:34    12:50     11:34    12:22      73:04
7    John Bunker       Bradley Elms       John Bunker   
     10:42    11:14    13:36    15:03     11:24    11:39      73:41

4KM OPEN   
1. Regan Lamble        10:41    21:56
2. Marlene Gourlay     11:12    22:56
3. Natalie Laurie      12:35    24:57
4. Sophie DeFrancesco  12:37    25:44
5. Maureen Binyon      12:56    26:08
6. Anne Bilston        14:14    29:08
   Siobhan Donovan     10:04    DNF


1. Russ Dickenson      11:38    23:24
2. Barry Wicks         12:51    26:10
3. Sam Grayson         11:50    26:46
4. Bruce Conboy        13:38    27:20
Gordon Onley           14:54    31:31  DQ

3 x 1 KM RELAY U9 & U12
It was a very fast first lap with Jayson Stoddart and Tommy Harrison clocking just over 5 minutes for their opening kilometre. But it is the overall team performance that determines the winner and Alicia Neylan and Nicole Hallett were just too strong a combination for anyone to seriously challenge. Ergenekon Girgin stormed home in the last lap to pass Tommy Harrison (doing his second leg) and take his team up to second after good first legs by Chloe McNicol-Davidson and Cassandra Raselli.

1    Alicia Neylan           Nicole Hallett      Alica Neylan   
     5:24                    5:48                5:48              17:00
2    Chloe McNicol-Davidson  Cassandra Raselli   Ergenekon Girgin   
     7:13                    5:36                5:06              17:55
3    Tommy Harrison          Josephine Mirarchi  Tommy Harrison   
     5:06                    7:29                5:41              18:16
4    Taylor Brogan           Mietta Feery        Mietta Feery   
     6:12                    5:54                6:21              18:27
5    Amy Burren              Amy Burren          Taylor Brogan   
     5:35                    6:03                6:55              18:33
6    Hilary Brazel           Sarah Burren        Hilary Brazel   
     5:24                    5:53                6:27              18:41
7    Jayson Stoddart         Damien Elms         Jayson Stoddart   
     5:05                    7:34                6:55              19:34

VRWC RACES, SATURDAY 8 MAY, 2004

Last Saturday saw our first handicap starts and some exciting contests ensued. Lots of walkers recorded PBs in the perfect weather conditions. This just shows how much more incentive there is in this sort of race – everyone has a chance to win and will walk that little harder to either stay in front or catch those in front.

Overall, the highlight of the day had to be the walk of Murray Dickinson who broke his own Masters World Record (M65) for the 10 km walk. Murray held the record at 54:55 and shattered it with a time of 54:16. Forms were filled out and in due course, he will receive official recognition for his new mark. Interestingly, Murray only came third in the 10 km handicap for men. This does raise the rather interesting question – just how much do you have to pay the handicapper nowadays?

Murray’s superb walk overshadowed some other fine performances, especially by the handicap winners – Liz Feldman (big PB), Duncan Knox (put in the big effort), Carmel Drennan, Ian Beaumont, Siobhan Donovan, Daniel Payne, Cassandra Raselli, Tommy Harrison and Chloe McNicol-Davidson.  There were PBs all over the place in the junior races with some sizzling times done.

10km Open                Hcp   Actual   F/T                         Place time     Place
Liz Feldman              1     58.41    2
Marlaine Stanway         2     65.28    4
Alison Thompson          3     55.56    1
Kylie Vandenheiligenberg 4     73.19    5
Heather Carr             5     60.22    3

Duncan Knox              1     53.41    2
John Bunker              2     52.33    1
Murray Dickinson         3     54.16    3  World Record
Alan Lucas               4     55.57    4
Harry Summers            5     67.37    5

5km Open
Carmel Drennan           1     30.41    4
Marlene Gourlay          2     28.46    1 
Gwen Steed               3     30.39    3
Margaret Beaumont        4     35.32    6
Janet Holmes             5     30.19    2
Celia Johnson            6     32.02    5

Ian Beaumont             1     38.36    1

3km Open
Bradley Elms             1     20.47    1

3km Under 15
Siobhan Donovan          1     15.08    1
Anne Whitworth           2     18.05    3
Lana Boddy               3     19.20    5
Sarah Alexander          4     16.07    2
Daina Nielsen            5     18.20    4

Daniel Payne             1     16.39    2
Shaun Burgess            2     16.05    1
Nicholas Mirarchi        3     17.58    3

2km Under 12
Cassandra Raselli        1     12.02    8
Hilary Brazel            e2    11.38    5
Taylor Brogan            e2    13.28    9
Nicole Hallett           4     11.58    7
Josephine Mirarchi       5     16.39    10
Mietta Feery             6     11.29    3
Regan Lamble             7     10.09    1
Amy Burren               8     11.33    4
Chloe Di Francesco       9     11.24    2
Alicia Neylan            10    11.52    6

Tommy Harrison           1     10.39    1
Damien Elms              2     15.49    4
Jayson Stoddart          3     10.43    2
Jason Elms               -     13.30    3

1km Under 9
Chloe McNicol-Davidson   1      7.12    2
Sarah Burren             2      6.57    1

VRWC RACES, SATURDAY 1 MAY, 2004

With a number of our top walkers overseas at the Racewalking World Championships, medals were there for the taking and we saw two good winning performances and two new champions this year. Overall, nearly 60 walkers braved the cold conditions and enjoyed a competitive day’s walking.

A.V. 15 KM CHAMPIONSHIP FOR MEN
Daniel Walters (Thorne) made a welcome return to racing after over a year’s absence and was rewarded with his first Victorian Open title since winning the 1999 Victorian 5000m track title as a Junior. Tom Barnes kept with him early but dropped off after 5 km. Tom was still rewarded with a huge PB and his second Victorian medal this winter (he won the Victorian 10 km walk several weeks ago). Travis Middlemiss collected his second Victorian bronze medal this winter with another good walk.

1. Daniel Walters       COR     8:45    17:46    26:48    36:03    45:14    54:28    63:55    68:35
2. Tom Barnes           GHY     8:45    17:46    26:57    36:19    45:44    55:12    64:52    69:33
3. Travis Middlemiss    KNOX   10:09    20:05    29:52    39:38    49:30    60:21    70:58    76:57
4. Simon Evans          BOH    10:52    21:24    31:44    42:08    52:47    63:32    74:25    79:39
5. Duncan Knox          ATE    11:03    22:45    33:53    45:17    56:56    68:27    80:24    86:39
6. Bob Gardiner         COL    12:26    24:51    37:10    49:33    61:52    74:04    86:49    92:55
   Trevor Mayhew        COL    10:27    20:06    DNF
   Mark Donahoo         ATE    DNS
   Chris Erickson       ATE    DNS
   Stuart Kollmorgen    COL    DNS

A.V. 15 KM CHAMPIONSHIP FOR WOMEN
After a couple of minor medals in Victorian championships over the last couple of years, Kylie Irshad finally made the big breakthrough and secured her first Open title in a very good time of 79:12. Sandra Geisler, who had been expected to provide the main challenge, could not sustain the pace and fell off early to collect the silver. Rachael Loone finished strongly but could not bridge the gap and took bronze.

1. Kylie Irshad        RWD    10:32    20:58    31:12    41:32    52:02    62:41    73:45    79:12
2. Sandra Geisler      RWD    10:36    21:20    31:37    42:17    53:16    64:46    76:25    82:21
3. Rachael Loone       ACW    10:36    21:53    33:15    44:05    55:04    66:20    77:30    82:58
4. Nicole Sansonetti   BOH    10:36    21:30    32:52    44:06    56:07    68:48    82:32    89:39

OPEN 10KM                                 Handicap place
1. Mandy Emmett              60:24        3
2. Marlaine Stanway          66:11        2
3. Kylie Vadewnheiligenberg  71:58        1

1. John Bunker               52:42        1
2. Murray Dickinson          55:01        3
3. Alan Lucas                55:51        2
4. Harry Summers             66:38       

OPEN 5KM HANDICAP
1. Jenny Fawkes              29:47        5
2. Gwen Steed                30:44        e3
3. Carmel Drennan            30:47        1
4. Jane Fitter               31:30        2
5. Celia Johnson             32:01        6
6. Margaret Beaumont         35:34        e3

1. David Dos Santos          27:07        e4
2. Daniel Lowe               28:04        e4
3. Tony Johnson              29:00       
4. John Morrison             29:52        3
5. Bruce Conboy              33:52        1
6. Bradley Elms              35:24        6
7. Ian Beaumont              37:57        2
   Gordon Onley              Disq

VRWC UNDER 15 5KM HANDICAP
1. Siobhan Donovan           26:27        1
2. Sarah Alexander           27:25        3
3. Eda Girgin                29:01        2

1. Shaun Burgess             28:44        4
2. Timucin Girgin            29:18        2
3. Nicholas Mirarchi         30:43        3
4. Sam  Grayson              31:54        1

VRWC UNDER 12 3KM HANDICAP
1. Regan Lamble              16:17        4
2. Amy Burren                18:18        5
3. Hilary Brazel             18:31        2
4. Mietta Feery              19:10        8
5. Alicia Neylan             19:36        3
6. Cassandra Raselli         20:29        6
7. Taylor Brogan             21:52        7
8. Josephine Mirarchi        25:01        1

1. Tommy Harrison            17:32        2
2. Ergenekon Girgin          20:49        3
3. Jason Elms                22:04        1
   Damien Elms               Disq
   Jason Stoddart            Ab.

VRWC UNDER 9 1500M HANDICAP           
1. Sarah Burren              10:29        2
2. Chloe McNicol-Davidson    12:03        3
3. Jasmine Irshad            12:23        1

VRWC RACES, SATURDAY 24 APRIL, 2004 

We had good fields once again this week and the threatening clouds held off until after the races had completed. It was especially pleasing to have Simone Wolowiec and Chris Erickson present for one final race before leaving to represent Australia at the racewalking World Championships next weekend.

12 KM OPEN HANDICAP   
Chris Erickson and Tom Barnes crossed the line together to win 12 km event and Tom was rewarded with a PB of nearly 1 minute. Sandra Geisler and Kylie Irshad had a good battle early before Sandra cleared away in the second half to win the women’s section of the 12 km..
                                                                              Handicap places
E1 Chris Erickson        9:13    18:17    27:35    36:55    46:16    55:40    2
E1 Tom Barnes            9:13    18:20    27:35    36:55    46:16    55:40    1
3. John Bunker          10:42    21:17    31:57    42:35    53:16    64:04    3
4. Bob Gardiner         12:10    24:19    36:29    48:41    60:00    73:23    4
   Travis Middlemiss     9:34    19:22    29:52    40:45    Ab

1. Sandra Geisler       10:42    21:17    31:57    42:30    53:16    64:04    1
2. Kylie Irshad         10:42    21:17    31:57    43:07    54:17    65:29    4
3. Alison Thompson      10:54    22:04    33:18    45:06    56:59    68:46    2
4. Marlaine Stanway     13:00    26:06    39:17    52:59    66:50    80:44    3
   Rachel Loone         10:13    40:54    32:20    43:26    Ab
   Megan Peters         11:17    23:13    35:34    48:22    Ab

6 KM OPEN HANDICAP
This was our most popular event and Travis Martin finally finished a race to record a very swift 28:53. Young David Dos Santos, also on the comeback trail, held out Murray Dickinson in an exciting sprint finish for second. Liz Feldman has finally decided to do a winter season of walking and walked well for her 34:10 to take out the womens race but she was not far ahead of Ann Holcombe who finished strongly.
                                                   Handicap places
1. Travis Martin         9:34    19:10    28:53   
2. David Dos Santos     10:51    21:33    32:25    2
3. Murray Dickinson     10:51    21:36    32:29    5
4. Alan Lucas           11:05    22:13    33:26    6
5. Russ Dickinson       11:33    23:34    35:31   
6. John Morrison        11:41    24:01    36:26    e3
7. Harry Summers        12:00    26:06    39:13    1
8. Robin Wood           13:47    27:46    42:06    7
9. Ian Beaumont         15:05    30:45    46:32    e3
10. Gordon Onley        15.50    27.40    50.15

1. Liz Feldman              11:21    22:42    34:10    2
2. Ann Holcombe                 -    22:53    34:20    4
3. Mandy Emmett             11:35    23:40    35:40    7
4. Gwen Steed               11:59    -    37:51    5
5. Kylie Vandenheiligenberg 13:49    28:12    42:19    3
6. Margaret Beaumont        14:15    28:41    43:07    1
7. Tina Baarslag-Leb        14:43    29:58    45:28    6

4 KM OPEN   
Simone wolowiec had a final hitout over 4 km before flying out to Germany and she looks in very good form indeed.

1. Simone Wolowiec           9:13    18:17
2. Jane Fitter              12:20    25:28

U15 4 KM HANDICAP
Once again, we had a talented group of younger walkers on the track and Siobhan Donovan not only took the overall honours but also caught the judges’ eyes, scoring highly in the style award points.

1. Shaun Burgess            11:05    22:57        3
2. Nicholas Mirarchi        11:54    24:44        2
3. Sam Grayson              12:23    26:20        1

1. Siobhan Donovan          10:30    21:20        1
2. Sarah Alexander          10:54    22:07        3
3. Anne Whitworth           12:21    25:56        2
   Hannah Banks             12:57    DNF

U12 2500M HANDICAP   
Our Under 12 and Under 9 walkers are growing in number each week and there are some real speedsters amongst them. I must apologise for the confusion this week and for the fact that some walkers got a bit confused with our course. We will ensure that we sort this out for next week. We had certificates for all our young walkers and medals for the winners of the handicap events in U9 an U12. If you left early, see Ron to collect your certificate/medal this week.

1. Jayson Stoddart          14:23            1

1. Regan Lamble             13:20            2
2. Mietta Feery             14:43            1
3. Amy Burren               14:57            6
4. Nicole Hallett           15:26            5
5. Hilary Brazel            15:39            3
6. Cassandra Raselli        16:40       
7. Ayla Collins             17:10       
8. Nikki Apostolidis        17:20            7
9. Taylor Brogan            18:20            8
10. Josephine Mirarchi      21:52            4

U9 1500M HANDICAP
1. Talie Collins            10:25       
2. Sarah Burren             10:26            1
3. Chloe McNicol-Davidson   11:13            2
4. Jasmine Irshad           17:25 (walked 2000m)    3
Karla Nielsen (U12)         11:28    

VRWC RACES, SATURDAY 17 APRIL, 2004 

Another day of big numbers and fine walking. Special welcome to Italian walker Raffaele Rinaldi who is now living in Melbourne and who made an impressive start to his local walking career. Also welcome to former WA walker Daniel Lowe who had his first race since moving to Melbourne late last year. These races were also handicap events but I will leave it to Club Handicapper Mark Donahoo to work out the Handicap points upon his return. I have simply listed the handicap placings in each event for completeness.

Chris Erickson, having one of his last races before heading off for the Racewalking World Cup, was well out in front in the mens event, as was Kylie Irshad in the womens event. Heather Carr had one final hitout before flying out for NZ to compete in the World Masters walks, starting on Monday. Harry Summers and Janet Holmes cleaned everyone up in the 4 km handicap races

VRWC 8 Km Walk                                                 Handicap Placings
1. Chris Erickson            9:44    19:17    28:35    37:51    2
2. Raffaele Rinaldi         10:43    20:33    30:33    40:42   
3. Duncan Knox              10:43    21:42    32:45    43:41    1
4. John Bunker              10:48    22:07    33:35    44:38    5
5. Alan Lucas               11:02    22:15    33:35    44:46    4
6. Bob Gardiner             11:44    23:21    35:15    47:33    3
   Travis Martin             9:51    19:36    DNF

1. Kylie Irshad              9:52    19:57    31:32    42:17    4
2. Nicole Sansonetti        10:45    22:07    33:35    44:38    1
3. Rachel Loone             10:26    21:33    32:51    43:56    5
4. Marlaine Stanway         12:57    26:14    39:43    53:17    2
5. Kylie Vandenheiligenberg 13:46    28:33    43:28    58:42    3

VRWC 4 Km Walk                                    Handicap Placings   
1. David Dos Santos         10:27    22:02        5
2. Daniel Lowe              10:48    22:09       
3. Tony Barrett             11:31    22:52        3
4. Russ Dickenson           11:52    23:30       
5. John Morrison            11:45    23:51        4
6. Harry Summers            12:56    25:42        1
7. Bruce Conboy             13:33    27:04       
8. Ian Beaumont             15:15    30:27        2
   Gordon Onley             13:15    26:56 (DQ)

1. Sandra Geisler            9:55    19:58       
2. Heather Carr             10:58    22:49        6
3. Ann Holcombe             11:37    23:04        3
4. Janet Holmes             11:27    23:11        1
5. Jenny Fawkes             11:46    23:47        8
6. Gwen Steed               12:14    24:57        4
7. Margaret Beaumont        14:27    28:51        2
8. Tina Baarslag-Leb        15:03    30:21        7
9. Shirley Coppock          15:32    31:30        5

It is great to see such a large number of young walkers at Albert Park. We intend to put on a few special awards for the younger age groups over the next few months to add to their enjoyment.

U15 4 Km Walk
1. Shaun Burgess            11:08    23:08        2
2. Tim Girgin               11:29    23:54        E3
3. Nicholas Mirarchi        12:17    25:13        E3
4. Sam Grayson              12:31    27:38       
5. Jason Elms               17:03    35:15        1
Bradley Elms                12:43    26:45 (DQ)

1. Eda Girgin               11:29    23:33        3
2. Daina Nielsen            11:57    24:42        2
3. Anne Whitworth           12:21    25:24        1

U12 2 Km Walk               
1. Ergenekon Girgin          5:19    10:58        2
2. Jayson Stoddart           5:35    11:32        3
3. Tommy Harrison               -    11:53       
4. Damien Elms               7:39    15:59        1

1.  Regan Lamble             5:10    10:28        6
2.  Alicia Neylan            5:49    11:57        4
3.  Amy Burren               5:52    12:05        8
4.  Mietta Feery                -    12:15        7
E5  Nicole Hallett              -    12:16        2
E5  Hilary Brazel               -    12:16        4
7.  Emily Payne                 -    12:23        1
8.  Taylor Brogan            6:53    14:43        9
9. Josephine Mirarchi        7:45    16:16        3

U9 1 Km Walk
E1   R. Martin               6:28           
E1   Sarah Burren            6:28                 2
3.    Chloe McNicol Davidson 7:37    16:00        1

VRWC WINTER SEASON OPENING RACES, SATURDAY 3 APRIL 2004

A.V. 10 KM CHAMPIONSHIP FOR MEN
With defending champion Paul van Kopplen now coaching instead of racing, with Jared Tallent at the AIS in Canberra, with Frank Bertei overseas and with Chris Erickson and Duane Cousins preparing for the Racewalking World Cup, the event was wide open. Young Tom Barnes, the big improver of the summer season, made the most of the opportunity. Leading from the start, he walked impressively to take his first Victorian Championship in a PB time of 47:11. Tom, who walked 95:58 for 8th in the National 20 km title just over a month ago, continues his good form and is in for a great winter season.
Mark Donahoo, at 45 years of age, shows no signs of slowing. A former winner of this event (1997), Mark stormed home to pass Travis Middlemiss and take the silver. Travis, just out of junior ranks, earned his first senior medal with a fine walk for third.

The Collingwood team of Trevor Mayhew, Stuart Kollmorgen and Bob Gardiner took the A.V. Teams medal. I must mention in particular Trevor’s performance. His time of 52:31 for 5th place at 57 years of age was exceptional.

1. Tom Barnes          GHY     9:20    18:52    28:20    37:42    47:11 (PB)
2. Mark Donahoo        ATE     9:23    18:59    28:47    38:23    48:15
3. Travis Middemiss    RING    9:22    18:52    28:33    38:26    48:49
4. Simon Evans         BOH     9:51    20:10    30:52    41:53    52:28
5. Trevor Mayhew       COL    10:32    21:08    31:48    42:17    52:31
6. Stuart Kollmorgen   COL     9:55    20:35    31:25    42:17    53:08
7. Duncan Knox         ATE    10:41    21:35    32:20    43:11    53:57
8. Bob Gardiner        COL    11:39    23:31    35:45    48:17    60:56

A.V. Teams Event    1. COL    (Trevor Mayhew, Stuart Kollmorgen, Bob Gardiner)

As well as the A.V. championship, it was our first VRWC racing day and we had a bumper turnout of keen walkers of all ages and experience, including a number of first timers.  I hope it wasn’t too daunting! The serious walkers attacked the 10 km distance with the standout performance by 65 year old Murray Dickinson who seems to be getting back into top shape after a quiet year or so.

VRWC 10 KM HANDICAP                                                    H’cap points
1. Mark Donahoo            9:23    18:59    28:47    38:23    48:15    6
2. John Bunker            10:26    21:08    31:48    42:17    52:33    4
3. Stuart Kollmorgen       9:55    20:35    31:25    42:17    53:08    5
4. Murray Dickinson       10:34    21:29    32:37    43:55    55:01    7
5. John Morrison          12:32    25:33    38:28    51:39    64:54    2
6. Ron McGregor           13:08    26:30    40:12    54:01    67:46    2
7. Robin Wood             13:41    27:26    41:22    55:28    69:30    3
   Travis Martin          DNF (4 km in 19:04)

1. Alison Thompson        10:53    22:06    33:31    45:14    56:53    -
2. Sandra Geisler         10:42    21:46    33:47    46:50    60:19    7

The 5 km distance also attracted good fields. David Dos Santos, a top junior a couple of years ago, made a welcome return to racing and did his first 5 km in a speedy 27:01 to win the men’s section. Kylie Irshad easily won the women’s section in a very stylish 25:23.

VRWC 5 KM HANDICAP                                  H’cap points
1. David Dos Santos       10:37    21:39    27:01    2
2. Alan Lucas             16:29    22:01    27:40    6
3. Tony Barrett           11:37    23:16    29:04    5
4. Tim Erickson           15:20    28:22    33:34    4
5. Ian Beaumont           15:02    30:26    38:11    7

1. Kylie Irshad            9:41    20:10    25:23    4
2. Heather Carr           10:57    22:11    27:58    2
3. Rachael Loone          10:18    21:52    28:03    2
4. Janet Holmes           11:24    23:24    29:22    2
5. Gwen Steed             11:53    24:17    30:23    5
6. Celia Johnson          18:34    24:48    31:05    2
7. Marlaine Stanway       12:53    26:10    32:50    5
8. Margaret Beaumont      14:20    28:58    36:09    7
9. Tina Barslagg-Leb      14:26    29:26    36:40    3

The 3 km distance saw an interesting mix of walkers. First timers Jane Fitter and Sandy Newman braved the butterflies and successfully completed the distance while at the other end of the spectrum Liz Feldman walked 16:18 which is a huge time for someone in the Masters 55+ age group. Club President Harry Summers made a rare appearance and comfortably completed the distance – let’s hope we see some more of Harry on the road during the season.

VRWC 3 KM OPEN               
1. Bradley Elms (U20)     12:33    19:00   
1. Barry Wicks            12:51    19:17
2. Harry Summers          12:12    19:23

3. Liz Feldman            10:49    16:18
4. Jane Fitter            12:51    19:12
5. Sandy Newman           15:20    23:03

The younger age groups were also well represented and this omens well for the season, given that some of our regulars were not on deck. Since the Australian Federation of Race Walking Clubs carnival in June will feature official team competitions in both U10 and U12 age groups this year, our aim will be to field full teams.

VRWC 3 KM U15 HANDICAP                      H’cap points
2. Daniel Payne           11:49    17:59    5
3. Nicholas Mirarchi      12:11    18:11    6
4. Jason Elms             17:05    25:42    7

VRWC 2 KM U12 HANDICAP                      H’cap points
1. Jayson Stoddart         5:42    11:34    7

1. Amy Burren              5:45    11:58    2
2. Alicia Neylan           5:41    11:51    5
3. Nicole Hallett          6:17    12:42    7
4. Mietta Feery            6:15    12:47    2
5. Emily Payne             6:36    13:17    4
6. Hilary Brasel           6:40    13:31    2
7. Taylor Brogan           6:43    14:01    2
8. Kiarra Dunn             6:56    14:26    2
9. Josephine Mirarchi      7:49    16:44    6

1 KM U9 HANDICAP                            H’cap points
1. Sarah Burren            6:48             2
2. Chloe McNicol-Davidson  7:18             7