The Victorian Race Walking Club

VRWC RACES, COBURG ATHLETICS TRACK, SUNDAY 12 FEBRUARY 2006

We held our last VRWC event for the summer on Sunday at the Harold Stevens Athletics Track in Coburg where we combined with the Victorian Masters who were holding their 5000m racewalk championships.

The Masters women were underway first and Heather Carr, Brenda Riley and Alison Thompson led the walkers out with fast opening laps. Heather gradually extended her lead to record overall fastest time of 26:46 but the huge performance came from 65 year old Brenda Riley who broke her own World Masters Record by 4 secs with a fantastic time of 27:19. There seems no end to Brenda's achievements.

5km Masters Women Championship   
W45    1    Carmel Drennan     29:37
       2    Julie Challen      37:24
W50    1    Alison Thompson    28:04
       2    Janet Holmes       29:29
W55    1    Heather Carr       26:46
       2    Liz Feldman        30:18
       3    Celia Johnson      32:09
W60    1    Gwen Steed         31:06
W65    1    Brenda Riley       27:19    World Rec pending
       2    Margaret Beaumont  37:09

The Masters men were off next and Andrew Jamieson turned the table on Mark Donahoo with a fantastic fastest time of 23:00. Mark was no slouch himself with his time of 23:29. Clyde Riddoch walked excellently for his 27:17 while further back in the field Tony Johnson won the M65 with a superb 28:06.

5km Masters Mens Championship
M45    1    Mark Donahoo       23:29
M50    1    Clyde Riddoch      27:17
       2    Frank Prowse       28:09
M55    1    Andrew Jamieson    23:00
       2    Alan Lucas         28:39
       3    Graeme Davis       28:54
       4    Geoff Barrow       29:48
M60    1    Russ Dickenson     28:22
M65    1    Tony Johnson       28:06
       2    Murray Dickinson   28:26
       3    Geoff Major        30:31
       4    Barrie Wicks       34:03
       5    Ian Beaumont       38:41
M75    1    Gordon Gourley     37:08

Our own club events saw some excellent walks with PBs being recorded by Carma Watson, Lauren Drennan and David Armstrong.

5km Club Race
1. Carma Watson          23:55 PB
2. Lauren Drennan        26:59 PB
3. Eda Girgin            27:39

1. Danny Hawksworth      23:52
2. Stuart Kollmorgen     24:27
3. David Armstrong       25:55 PB
4. Timucin Girgin        28:22
5. Stuart Cooper         29:45
6. Bradley Elms          31:03
7. Robert Gardiner       31:55

3km Club Race
1. Caitlin Campbell      18:40

1. Jason Elms            22:43
   Gordon Onley          DQ

1500m Club Race 
1. Rebecca Campbell      10:09

1. Ergenekon Girgin       8:13
   Damien Elms              DQ

VRWC RACES, ALBERT PARK, SUNDAY 12 JANUARY 2006

Quite a number of our top walkers decided to race the 10 km distance as a warmup for Sydney in 3 weeks time and the PBs came thick and fast. Tom Barnes was the fastest overall with a superb 44:05, a PB of nearly 30 secs. Danny Hawksworth took some 3 minutes off his best to finish second in 47:09 while Megan Szirom continued her superb form to take over 1 minute off her best. Megan will surprise a lot of the women at the National 20 km in Sydney in 3 weeks time. Kellie Wapshott was tired after a particularly heavy spell of training (including a session at Threadbo) and had a quiet walk to record 49:28. She just held out Carma Watson who broke 50 mins for the first time in many years and also did yet another PB. Chris Erickson simply finished off his long Sunday training walk with a final 10 km in 50:04 and looked pretty fresh after a 40 km morning. Sandra Geisler was not far outside her PB to be next in. A special mention for Jess Rothwell who was after the World Cup qualifying time of 52:00. She faded a little to finish just outside the required time but is a relative newcomer to the longer walks and will soon be well under the standard.

10 km Open
1. Tom Barnes          8:43    17:24    26:11    35:08    44:05  PB
2. Danny Hawksworth    9:30    19:04    28:30    37:54    47:09  PB
3. Megan Szirom        9:29    18:52    28:14    37:43    47:13  PB
4. Kellie Wapshott     9:23    18:57    29:00    39:29    49:28
5. Carma Watson        9:57    19:49    29:40    39:35    49:30  PB
6. Chris Erickson     10:13    20:19    30:14    40:15    50:04
7. Sandra Geisler     10:14    20:19    30:15    40:43    51:44
8. Stuart Kollmorgen   9:58    20:07    30:32    41:27    52:14
9. Jess Rothwell      10:15    20:31    31:09    41:54    52:27  PB
10.Mark Worrell       11:22    23:13    35:10    47:24    59:32
11.Bob Gardiner       12:21    24:28    36:43    49:05    61:47
   Simon Baker        10:15    DNF
   Siobhan Donovan    10:15    DNF
   Simon Evans         DQ

Lachlan McDonald was in a class of his own in the 5 km division and looked good for his time of 22:54. 16 year old Lauren Drennan celebrated her first walk at Albert Park with a PB of 27:00 while Kylie Irshad improves each walk (pretty impressive after giving birth to twins last year!).

5 km Open
1. Lachlan McDonald   8:49    18:09    22:54
2. Lauren Drennan    10:30    21:35    27:00 PB
3. Kylie Irshad      10:17    22:24    28:41
4. Tony Doran        12:22    24:30    30:30
5. Bradley Elms      12:21    25:35    32:00
6. Sandra Howorth    13:36    27:33    34:21
7. Ron McGregor      13:43    27:49    35:04
8. Margaret Beaumont 14:38    29:34    37:02
   Gordon Onley      DQ
   Ian Beaumont      DQ

Regan Lamble had a clear victory in the 3 km walk with her usual classy effort while Eda and Tim Girgin had a good battle and just held out Beth Alexander to take the next 3 places. The first 4 were all comfortably under 16 mins in a good standard race. Ben Costa had his first walk at Albert Park and walked well for someone who has not attempted any long distances before.

3 km Open and Under 15
1. Regan Lamble     15:13
2. Eda Girgin       15:37
3. Tim Girgin       15:38
4. Beth Alexander   15:41
5. Ayla Collins     18:27
6. Taylor Brogan    19:50
7. Jason Elms       19:53
8. Ben Costa        21:53
9. Pam Mews         26:41
10.Robin Wood       26:42
   Damien Elms     DQ

Our youngest walkers were also in action – and can they move! It was a mixture of seasoned Albert Park competitors and some new faces (welcome to Ashley Albert and Cindy Collins).  All walked excellently and are obviously very fit from their Little Athletics seasons. One of the highlights was the dead heat between Cindy Collins and Ryan Dossetor in the 1 km. It was a case of two very determined walkers! Overall, Nicole Hallett and Sarah Burren took the honours with very good walks and excellent styles.

2 km Under 12
1. Nicole Hallett   11:26
2. Talie Collins    11:59
3.  Amelia Finnegan 12:01

1 km Under 9
1. Sarah Burren      5:58
2. Ashley Albert     6:22
E3 Cindy Collins     7:06
E3 Ryan Dossetor     7:06

VRWC RACES, SUNDAY 11 DECEMBER 2005

A larger than expected group of walkers ascended upon Albert Park last Sunday morning for our last Sunday event before the end of the year and there were some good performances on show.

The Open 20 km event was won by Andrew Jamieson with his usual wonderful effort, beating 100 minutes once again. When he turns 60 in June next year, watch the M60 records tumble! We also had a welcome visitor in Dip Chand who raced with the club some 4-5 years ago. Dip is now based in Brisbane but needed to break 2 hours for the 20 km to put in a bid for Fiji Commonwealth Games selection. It was his first 20 km for a few years and he judged it beautifully, finishing in 1:59:12. Good luck Dip! We hope to see you in action at the Docklands in March!

20 km Open
1. Andrew Jamieson          49:20    1:38:48
2. Dip Chand (FIJI)         59:20    1:59:12
3. Rachel Loone             retired (8 km in 47:43)

In the 10 km event we welcomed Lynette Bannister of Tasmania who was after a time of 52:00 to qualify for the World Cup Under 20 10 km event next year. She fell short on this occasion but still walked a big PB and wasn't too far outside the required standard. Next time Lyn! She was helped by Sandra Geisler who finished some 12 seconds in front.  Colin Heywood was the fastest overall with 51:21 but a special mention for Megan Szirom who sped over the first 5 km in 23:25 before calling it quits. Megan is certainly in good form.

10 km Open
1. Colin Heywood           51:21
2. Sandra Geisler          53:13
3. Lynette Bannister(TAS)  53:25 (PB)
4. Simon Evans             58:28
5. Janet Holmes            62:36
6. Bob Gardiner            63:20
7. Gwen Steed              69:50
   Megan Szirom            Retired (5 km in 23:25)
   Murray Dickinson        Retired (4 km in 22:54)
   Danny Hawksworth        Retired (2 km in 10:27)

The 5 km event saw Simon Baker making a welcome return to Albert Park. Simon, probably (on performance) our greatest ever 50 km walker, is now more active in coaching but not lost his stylish technique as the following photo shows

Siobhan Donovan was also a surprise starter, fresh from her third place in the Australian All Schools U18 5000m walk in Sydney only 2 days before. She had an easy stroll to finish in 26:38! Canadian Gayle McIntyre had her first ever walk and impressed with  35:54.

5 km Open
1. Simon Baker            26:25
2. Siobhan Donovan        26:38
3. Heather Carr           26:54
4. Fauve Jacobs           28:17
5. Kylie Irshad           29:33
6. Bradley Elms           30:58
7. Anthony Doran          31:46
8. Celia Johnson          31:59
9. Sandra Howorth         33:56
10.Jason Elms             35:33
11.Gayle McIntyre         35:54
12.Marlaine Stanway       36:16
13.Margaret Beaumont      36:27
14.Ian Beaumont           39:07
   Eda Girgin             Retired (2 km in 11:12)
   Gordon Onley           DQ (38:52)

Only a few of our younger walkers came down in what is a busy time of the Little Athletics year. Amy Burren and Nicole Hallett impressed with their 3 km walks while Caitlin Campbell was the fastest of the 2 km walkers. It was good to see Rebecca Campbell upping her distance to 2 km but that left Sarah Burren as our sole Under 9 walker. They are certainly an impressive group of young walkers.

3 Km Open and Under 15
1. Amy Burren             17:10
2. Nicole Hallett         18:16
3. Damien Elms            24:02

2 Km Under 12
1. Caitlin Campbell       12:21
2. Amelia Finnegan        13:03
3. Rebecca Campbell       14:06

1 km Under 9
1. Sarah Burren            6:08

VRWC RACES, ALBERT PARK, SUNDAY 13 NOVEMBER 2005

Some 40 walkers turned up on Sunday for our annual VRWC Summer Championships and events were keenly contested.

20km  Men Championship – Gus Theobold Memorial Trophy
The first of our championships saw Tom Barnes walk to an easy victory with a very good time of 1:35:01. Andrew Jamieson defied his 59 years for second with an equally good 1:37:52 while Chris Erickson and Frank Bertei enjoyed a training walk to cross the finish line together. Lachlan McDonald was content with a fast 5 km before retiring.

1. Tom Barnes             1:35:01
2. Andrew Jamieson        1:37:52
E3 Chris Erickson         1:45:24
E3 Frank Bertei           1:45:24
   Lachlan McDonald       Ab

10km Masters Women Championship – Stella Murnane Memorial Trophy
Our other major trophy on offer was the Stella Murnane for Masters Women and it was a high quality event with 3 of our  top women contesting. The amazing Brenda Riley won, taking almost 2 minutes off her own W65 World Masters Record with an huge time of 55:31. Annette and Heather also walked great times but were relegated to the minor medals by Brenda's huge performance.

1. Brenda Riley           55:31:77    WR pending
2. Annette Major          56:50
3. Heather Carr           58:43

5km Under 20 Championship
Natalie Laurie and Tim Girgin both walked very good times to win the Under 20 Championships. Both are actually a long way under the U20 age group but walked confidently and fast.
   
1. Natalie Laurie         25:46
2. Regan Lamble           26:09
3. Eda Girgin             27:18
               
1. Timucin Girgin         26:47
2. Bradley Elms           31:14

3km Under 15 Championship
Damien Elms and Rachel Tallent won the U15 club championships and it was good to able to give out 5 medals out of the possible 6 at the presentations.

1. Damien Elms            22:43
   Jason Elms             21:58    Invitation

1. Rachel Tallent         16:09
2. Hilary Brazel          17:25
3. Emily Payne            19:21

1500m Under 12 Championship
Nicole Hallett walked superbly to win this event and take fastest time ahead of Caitlin Campbell and Ebony Whiley. Alas, our U12 boys were not present so missed a good racing opportunity.
       
1. Nicole Hallett          8:01
2. Caitlin Campbell        8:24
3. Ebony Whiley            8:52
4. Ebony Tallent           9:14
   Madison Jones          11:04

1500m Under 9 Championship
Caitlin Campbell walked very well with her time of 9:17 and we welcomed first time walkier Ryan Dossetor (the son of former international walker Mark Dossetor) who won a gold medal to make his first race a memorable one.
       
1. Rebecca Campbell        9:17

1. Ryan Dossetor          11:11

Other non-championship events were on offer and a number of walkers availed themselves of the opportunity. The best of the rest was definitely Kellie Wapshott whose 22:56 was a PB for 5 km.

10km Open                                   
1. Murray Dickinson       60:35
2. Clarrie Jack           61:03
3. Stuart Cooper          66:03
   Rachael Loone          Ab
   
5km Open               
1. Kellie Wapshott       22:56
2. Carma Watson          25:13
3. Sandra Geisler        25:15
4. Janet Holmes          29:38
5. Celia Johnson         32:05
6. Gwen Steed            32:05
7. Margaret Beaumont     37:13
8. Ian Beaumont          39:01
   Siobhan Donovan       Ab (3 km in 15:02)
               
5km Fitness Walk               
Gordon Onley             29:31   

VRWC RACES, ALBERT PARK, SUNDAY 23 OCTOBER 2005

Our first racing day for the summer attracted the cream of Australia's walkers from NSW, QLD, SA, ACT, Tasmania and the AIS – 19 interstate walkers in total.

The main event of the day was the Open Men's 50 km. Being the last chance for walkers to qualify for the Commonwealth Games or World Cup 50 km events, it attracted most of the key players and big times were expected. It was therefore surprising to see the walkers fall by the wayside one by one, victims perhaps of the early humid and warm weather. Eventually only 3 of the 9 walkers finished with Duane Cousins probably cementing his Commonwealth Games spot with a fine walk in the conditions. Troy Sundstrom walked a PB to finish 2nd and he has almost certainly confirmed his place in the 2006 World Cup team with his time of 4:18:26. The only other finisher was Queenslander Shane Pearson who won his State title with a gutsy walk.

OPEN MEN 50 KM              10km    20km      30km      40km      50km
1. Duane Cousins      VIC   49:26   1:37:20   2:24:58   3:16:00   4:13:31
2. Troy Sundstrom     NSW   50:31   1:39:24   2:29:50   3:22:57   4:18:26
3. Shane Pearson      QLD   51:39   1:45:21   2:43:34   3:50:34   4:54:20
   Darren Bown        SA    49:14   1:36:32   2:28:30   DNF
   Chris Erickson     VIC   49:26   1:37:21   2:29:40   DNF
   Frank Bertei       VIC   51:22   1:42:36   2:35:43   DNF
   Andrew Jamieson    VIC   52:03   1:44:09   2:37:48   DNF
   Danny Hawksworth   VIC   51:58   1:49:05   2:40:54   DNF
   Shaul Ladany       ISR 1:09:29   DQ

The 20 km walk for men saw favourite Jared Tallent calling it quits after a fast 10 km. That left AIS team mate Michael McCagh to win with a PB time of 1:28:37. Adam Rutter and Tom Barnes were next in but both were off their expected times and also seemed victims of the day! Lachlan McDonald walked an inspired 20 km and would probably have broken the 100 minute barrier if not for a late nature call.

OPEN MEN 20 KM             2km    4km    6km    8km    10km   12km   14km   16km   18km   20km
1. Michael McCagh    AIS    8:36  17:20  26:02  34:53  43:40  52:33  61:37  70:44  79:44  88:37
2. Adam Rutter       AIS    8:27  17:01  26:02  34:53  44:41  54:36  64:28  74:22  84:34  94:03
3. Tom Barnes        VIC    8:48  17:56  27:33  37:10  46:45  56:25  66:11  76:11  86:15  96:28
4. Lachlan McDonald  VIC    9:20  19:01  28:58  38:29  48:49  58:49  69:00  81:48  91:37  102:09
5. Michael Smith     NSW    9:08  19:01  29:05  40:06  50:46  62:36  74:42  86:59  99:05  111:10
   Ashley Coquhuon   ACT    9:07  18:34  28:11  37:59  47:51  58:01  68:40  DNF
   Jared Tallent     AIS    8:24  16:51  25:41  34:37  43:46  DNF
   Alan Lucas        VIC   12:07  24:15  36:20  48:41  61:19  74:18  DQ

The women's 20 km was also a star studded event with Cheryl Webb the best credentailled walker. But Cheryl was simply out for a low key training session (she was down in Melbourne for a wedding) and she retired after an easy 10 km stroll. Natalie Saville  led from the start and was pleased with her winning time of 1:40:01 after a break from training. Claire Woods was next in, followed by new AIS walker Michelle French who completed her first 20 km race for third place.

OPEN WOMEN 20 KM           2km    4km    6km    8km    10km   12km   14km    16km    18km    20km
1. Natalie Saville   NSW    9:35  19:20  28:57  38:36  48:20  58:10   68:13   78:33   89:08  100:01
2. Claire Woods      ACT    9:47  19:30  29:26  39:40  49:53  60:21   70:52   81:38   92:39  103:42
3. Michelle French   AIS    9:46  19:31  30:09  40:39  51:14  62:06   73:22   85:30   96:55  108:22
4. Sarah Vardanega   QLD   10:33  21:20  32:29  43:50  55:19  66:46   78:32   90:42  102:51  115:10
5. Sandra Geisler    VIC   10:45  21:30  32:22  43:30  55:05  66:56   78:48   92:44  107:05  119:57
6. Liz Feldman       VIC   12:57  25:50  38:44  52:04  65:35  79:17   92:51  106:25  120:07  133:51
7. Sandra Howorth    VIC   13:50  28:00  42:14  56:42  71:19  86:08  101:20  116:42  132:03  147:30
   Kellie Wapshott   VIC    9:50  19:42  29:35  39:40  49:57  60:49  DNF
   Megan Szirom      VIC    9:46  19:44  29:52  40:08  50:36  61:29  DNF
   Cheryl Webb       NSW   10:05  20:56  31:42  42:36  53:30  DNF

The 10 km events also saw a number of interstate walkers hoping to qualify for the World Cup Under 20 team and the best of them was Ian Rayson whose 46:43 was a B qualifier.

OPEN MEN 10 KM             2km    4km    6km    8km    10km   
1. Ian Rayson        NSW    9:05  18:23  17:47  37:27  46:43
2. Daniel Coleman    TAS    9:24  19:01  29:00  39:24  49:41
3. Blake Egelton     NSW    9:26  19:11  29:28  40:14  50:46
4. Mark Donahoo      VIC    9:52  20:14  30:52  41:29  51:42
5. Stuart Kollmorgen VIC    9:58  20:31  31:15  42:09  52:53
6. Murray Dickinson  VIC   11:18  22:59  35:02  47:31  60:07   
7. Bradley Elms      VIC   12:22  25:19  38:42  52:03  65:09
8. Ron Billston      VIC   12:52  25:55  39:24  52:54  66:26
   Russ Dickenson    VIC   11:23  23:11  DNF

It would be remiss of me not to highlight the performance of Brenda Riley who broke the World Masters W65 10 km walk record by some 61 seconds. Brenda has recently turned 65 and is now going to rewrite the books in her new age group, just as she has done in her previous age groups. Her performance would have to be the walk of the day.

OPEN WOMEN 10 KM           2km    4km    6km    8km    10km   
1. Fiona Alldis      NSW    9:37  19:52  30:49  41:43  52:12
2. Carma Watson      VIC   10:21  20:56  31:44  42:59  54:22
3. Brenda Riley      VIC   10:57  22:18  34:00  45:45  57:20.40 (World Masters Record W65)
4. Cassandra Staples NSW   10:21  21:57  33:46  46:11  58:36
5. Natalie Laurie    VIC   10:56  22:18  34:43  42:27  58:45
6. Celia Johnson     VIC   12:36  25:32  38:46  52:12  65:42
   Siobhan Donovan   VIC   10:31  21:48  DNF
   Heather Carr      VIC   10:57  22:47  DNF
   Susan Knapton    NSW     9:38  19:52  30:19  41:01  DQ

We finished off the day with our own club races over the shorter distances and a number of walkers backed up after their Shield Competition walks the previous day. Well done everyone. It rounded off a great day of racing.

OPEN 5 KM    
1. Regan Lamble       26:27
2. Tracey Feiner      28:15
3. Fauve Jacobs       29:42
4. Janet Holmes       30:16
E5 Jean Knox          38:09
E5 Margaret Beaumont  38:09

OPEN 3 KM
1. Tim Girgin         15:48
2. Rachel Tallent     15:50
3. Eda Girgin         15:52
4. Hilary Brazel      18:33
5. Jason Elms         20:40
   Amy Burren         DNF
   Damien Elms        DQ

2 KM U12
1. Caitlin Campbell   11:52
2. Dylan Sloan        13:07
3. Ebony Tallent      14:35
4. Madison Jones      15:54

1 KM U9
1. Sarah Burren        5:42
2. Rebecca Campbell    5:47

5 KM FITNESS WALK
Gordon Onley          32:42