The Victorian Race Walking Club

VRWC AND VMA RACES, GEORGE KNOTT RESERVE, CLIFTON HILL, SUNDAY 11 APRIL 2010

Sunday 11th April saw our last VRWC races for the summer season as we joined forces with the Victorian Masters Association for their 5000m Summer Championships at the Collingwood Harriers track in Clifton Hill. It was cold and very windy and the Masters Men were caught in a real downpour but it did not seem to slow the walkers and times were generally good.

VMA 5000m WOMEN
The Masters women were first on the track at 8:30AM and Pam Tindal led the whole way to record an excellent 25:41 ahead of Heather Carr 27:37 and Gayle McIntyre 29:04.

W40    1    McIntyre, Gayle        29:04
W45    1    Elms, Donna            32:11
W50    1    Tindal, Pam            25:41
W55    1    Thompson, Alison       28:47
W60    1    Carr, Heather          27:37
W60    2    Feldman, Liz           29:38
W70    1    Beaumont, Margaret     38:38

VMA 5000m MEN
The Masters men were next at 9:15AM, with Stuart Kollmorgen 24:06, James Seid-Christmass 25:32 and Simon Evans 25:35 leading the way. The rain came down in buckets at about the 28 min mark so those walkers still on the track had to see out their last laps in very cold wet and windy conditions. Well done to Col Silcock-Delaney who showed that at 76 he can still walk pretty briskly!

M35    1    McDonough, Aaron       28:10
M40    1    Kollmorgen, Stuart     24:06
M40    2    Seid-Christmass, James 25:32
M45    1    Keirl, Bernie          27:23
M50    1    Evans, Simon           25:35
M55    1    Riddoch, Clyde         27:56
M60    1    Dickenson, Russ        28:21
M60    2    Lucas, Alan            28:48
M65    1    Bennett, Ralph         32:05
M65    2    Wicks, Barrie          35:59
M70    1    Dickinson, Murray      30:36
M70    2    Summers, Harry         32:53
M70    3    Beaumont, Ian          38:01
M75    1    Silcock-Delaney, Col   37:41

Our own club races followed. Although the rain had now stopped, the wind was still blowing a treat but it did not seem to worry Rhydian Cowley or Hilary Brazel, both of whom walked PBs in the 5000m (21:14 for Rhydian and 26:10 for Hilary). Special mention to 11 year old Cooper Owen who walked his first ever 5000m – a very respectable 29:53. Natalie Laurie was the best of the 3000m with 15:28, her best since coming back from ankle surgery and Georgia Bertrand was the fastest over 1500m with 9:10. We welcomed first time VRWC walkers Simone McInnes and Shelby Kay. Sorry about the weather girls!

VRWC 5000m
1.  Cowley, Rhydian      21:14  (PB)
2.  Brazel, Hilary       26:10  (PB)
3.  Irshad, Kylie        26:12
4.  McDonough, Aaron     27:36
5.  Owen, Cooper         29:53  (First ever)
6.  Johnson, Celia       34:25
7.  Gatens, Georgia      37:02

VRWC 3000m     
1.  Laurie, Natalie      15:28
2.  Irshad, Jasmine      16:49
3.  McInnes, Simone      17:49
4.  Bertrand, Carly      18:11
5.  Onley, Gordon        23:43

VRWC 1500m
1.  Bertrand, Georgia     9:10
2.  Kay, Shelby           9:28
3.  Owen-Smith, Chelsea  10:17

Judges:      Peter Vysma (chief), Stuart Cooper, Shane Bertrand, Ralph Bennett, Terry Knape
Officials:   Tim Erickson, Bob Gardiner, Harry Summers, Jason Elms, Damien Elms, Don McLaren
Competitors: 36
Conditions:  Very windy, cool with some showers

VRWC ROAD RACES, ALBERT PARK SUNDAY 10 JANUARY 2010

We were very pleased to see 61 walkers in action in what turned out to be a very hot and sunny Melbourne Sunday morning. There were lots of big performances, ably led by our 20km walkers. Tamara Attard and Caitlin Brunton had walked their first 20km events at Fawkner Park in November and their second outings showed considerable improvement. Tamara's time of 2:00:49 was nearly 6 minutes faster than previously done and Caitlin improved by just over 8 minutes for her time of 2:13:44. Not to be outdone, Heather Carr produced a new Victorian W60 15km record of 1:32:52.

20km Open
1.  Attard, Tamara          59:32    2:00:49
2.  Brunton, Caitlin      1:03:33    2:13:44
    Beaumont, Margaret    1:19:44    DNF         16km in 2:08:33
    Wood, Robin           1:19:43    DNF         16km in 2:08:33
    O'Neill, Terry        DNF                     8km in 0:47:37

15km Open
1.  Carr, Heather         1:00:35    1:32:52     New Victorian W60 record
2.  O'Neill, Karyn        1:12:55    1:50:16

The 10km event was a beauty with lots of our young walkers contesting this classic distance for the first time. Rhydian Cowley led from the front with a 5 sec PB time of 44:41. Others to do PBs were Lewis Clark – a 7 min PB of 52:03, Emily Payne – a 2 min PB of 1:01:53 and Georgia Gatens – a 4 min PB of 1:17:05. Michael O'Mahony, Filip Cosic, Bianca Attard, Lucas Taylor and Aaron Tam all walked their first ever 10km events and all competed strongly. And a special farewell to Anand Thillaisundaram who soon travels back to Scotland to finish his studies. Anand – we look forward to seeing you continue your walking in the UK and will see you in 18 months when you return.

10km Open
1.  Cowley, Rhydian           44:41
2.  Clark, Lewis              52:03
3.  O'Mahony, Michael         54:59
4.  McDonough, Aaron          57:14
5.  Cosic, Filip              57:29
6.  Donahoo, Mark             57:32
7.  Boddy, Tyne             1:01:33
8.  Thillasiundaram, Anand  1:01:39
9.  Payne, Emily            1:01:53
10. Attard, Bianca          1:02:50
11. Taylor, Lucas           1:03:53
12. Tam, Aaron              1:06:21
13. Elms, Donna             1:08:13
14. Gatens, Georgia         1:17:05
    Felton, Matthew         DQ

Amy Burren 25:46 and Josh Dillon 25:47 (walking his first event at Albert Park) were the best over 5km, ahead of Simon Evans 25:55 and Pam Tindal 25:57. Young walkers Kyle Swan and Reese Walmsley moved up to the 5km distance and did it well while Noeline Wooles also had her first walk with us and enjoyed a pleasant 5km stroll with a group of our stalwarts.

5km Open
1.  Burren, Amy             25:46
2.  Dillon, Josh            25:47
3.  Evans, Simon            25:55
4.  Tindal, Pam             25:57
5.  Burren, Sarah           28:16
6.  Dickenson, Russ         29:03
7.  McIntyre, Gayle         30:02
8.  Albert, Ashley          30:46
9.  Swan, Kyle              31:34
10. Stadus, Lauren          31:35
11. Wallace, Anna           32:40
12. Doran, Anthony          33:05
13. Walmsley, Reese         39:36
14. Beaumont, Ian           39:38
15. Wooles, Noeline         39:40

Beth Alexander was certainly in fine form with a great 3km time of 13:53 ahead of Hilary Brazel who was not far outside her PB with 15:06. Amelia Finnegan won the 3km U15 with a fast 15:00 while Connor McShanag took second with a 26 sec PB time of 15:38. Paul Tremigliozzi also walked well for a PB time of 19:32 while Justin McLaren had his first walk with the club, recording 22:39. Beth has now joined our top walkers training in Canberra for the rest of January.

3km Open
1.  Alexander, Beth         13:53
2.  Brazel, Hilary          15:06
3.  Riddoch, Clyde          16:41
4.  Irshad, Kylie           16:45 
5.  Steed, Gwen             18:13
6.  Summers, Harry          19:30
7.  Morrey, Jan             20:00
8.  Wicks, Barrie           21:00
9.  Stanway, Marlaine       21:23
10. Onley, Gordon           24:11

3km Under 15
1.  Finnegan, Amelia        15:00
2.  McShanag, Connor        15:38
3.  Hockley-Samon, Jmara    15:58
4.  Irshad, Jasmine         17:00
5.  Owen, Cooper            19:13
6.  Tremigliozzi, Paul      19:32
7.  McLaren, Stacey         20:24
8.  Gerlich, Annemaree      20:40
9.  McLaren, Justin         22:39

A small number of U12 and U9 walkers contested 2km and 1km events. Kath O'Mahony walked a 90 sec PB time of 6:22 while Hayden Walmsley was also a big improver with a PB time of 6:42.

2km Under 12
1.  Burren, James           12:44
2.  Crea, Gabriella         13:00

1km Under 9
1.  Owen-Smith, Chelsea     06:21
2.  O'Mahony, Kath          06:22
3.  Walmsley, Hayden        06:42
4.  Taylor, Lee             07:01

Officials:    Tim Erickson, Harry Summers, Rod Felton, Lee Simpson, Don McLaren, Matt Owen, Rob Cowley, Celia Johnson, Anna Wallace     
Judges:       Peter Vysma (Chief), Judy Mason, Lloyd Nicholls, Stuart Cooper, Frances Attard, Brenda Felton
Photographer: Terry Swan     

VRWC RACES, GEORGE KNOTT ATHLETICS TRACK, CLIFTON HILL, WEDNESDAY 9 DECEMBER 2009

32 walkers availed themselves of a chance for a midweek track hitout in ideal conditions last Wednesday evening at the Collingwood Harriers track in Clifton Hill. The 5000m saw James Seid-Christmass race very strongly for a 2 sec PB time of 25:48. Further back in the field, Connor McShanag, fresh from his bronze medal in Hobart, successfully completed his first track 5000m, his time 29:41. Hobart team mates Michael O'Mahony 14:26, Brad Simpson 14:50 and Amelia Finnegan 15:30 led the 3000m field home while Stuart Kollmorgen took a rare opportunity to race 1500m, speeding to a PB time of 6:32.8. And finally to Heather Carr's grand daughter Chelsea McDonald who walked her first ever race – over 800m. Well done Chelsea.

5000m         
1.  Seid-Christmass, James    25:48.0
2.  Evans, Simon              26:09.0
3.  McDonough, Aaron          26:24.0
4.  Dickenson, Russ           28:50.0
5.  Dickinson, Murray         29:31.0
6.  McShanag, Connor          29:41.0
7.  McIntyre, Gayle           29:45.0
8.  Gardiner, Bob             30:10.0
9.  Elms, Jason               31:24.0
10. Steed, Gwen               31:24.0
11. Wallace, Anna             31:35.0
12. Beaumont, Margaret        38:46.0
13. Beaumont, Ian             38:49.0
    Bennett, Ralph            DNF
         
3000m         
1.  O'Mahony, Michael         14:26.0
2.  Simpson, Brad             14:50.0
3.  Finnegan, Amelia          15:30.0
4.  Carr, Heather             16:09.0
5.  Laurie, Natalie           16:36.0
6.  Irshad, Kylie             16:59.0
7.  George, Stephanie         17:30.0
8.  Morrey, Jan               20:31.0
9.  Wood, Robin               21:03.0
10. Onley, Gordon             22:41.0
         
1500m         
1.  Kollmorgen, Stuart         6:32.8
2.  Irshad, Jasmine            7:36.2
3.  Owen, Cooper               7:53.9
4.  Gerlich, Annemaree         8:27.6
5.  Elms, Donna                8:30.6
6.  George, Hayley            10:06.5
7.  McShanag, Ethan           12:06.2
         
800m         
1.McDonald, Chelsea            6:08.7

VRWC SUMMER CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS, ALBERT PARK, SUNDAY 15 NOVEMBER 2009

The VRWC Summer Club championships were held on Sunday 15th November 2009 at Albert Park but, such was the tightly packed nature of the summer season, we had to share the weekend with Little Athletics Region Relays and AV Shield competition. Even so, 37 walkers turned out in conditions that were warm and sunny.

Andrew Jamiesion (1:43:55) and Pam Tindal (55:59) took out our two senior perpetual trophies and we were lucky enough to have Heather Carr onsite to present the Heather Carr Trophy to Pam at our post-race presentations (see the photo later in the report). Natalie Laurie, looking very relaxed now that her Y12 exams have finished, won the U20 club championship (29:21). Other club champions were Jmara Hockley Samon (but only after a great battle with Amelia Finnegan, both girls doing big PBs of 14:36 and 14:39), Paul Tremigliozzi (a big PB of 19:40), Kyle Swan, Gabriella Crea and Noah Candotti.         

VRWC 20 KM OPEN MEN CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP – GUS THEOBOLD TROPHY         
1.  Jamieson, Andrew           50:11    1:43:45     
2.  O'Neill, Terry             59:12    2:00:52     
    Skrucany, Rudolf         1:23:08    DNF    14km in 1:58:28
         
VRWC 10 KM MASTERS WOMEN CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP – HEATHER CARR TROPHY     
1.  Tindal, Pam                55:59
2.  McIntyre, Gayle            59:23
3.  Carr, Heather              59:23
4.  Elms, Donna              1:08:17
5.  Beaumont, Heather        1:22:01

VRWC 5KM U20 CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP         
1.  Laurie, Natalie            29:21
2.  Gatens, Georgia            35:25
         
VRWC 3KM U15 CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP         
1.  Hockley-Samon, Jmara       14:36
2.  Finnegan, Amelia           14:39
         
1.  Tremigliozzi, Paul         19:40
         
VRWC 1.5KM U12 CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP         
1.   Swan, Kyle                08:32
2.   Candotti, Sam             10:13
         
1.   Crea, Gabriella           09:32
         
VRWC 1.5KM U9 CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP         
1.   Candotti, Noah            13:48

We had our usual selection of scratch races scheduled alongside the club championships and they attracted good fields. Rhydian Cowley recorded an excellent 45:12 for the 10km, a time that was actually very impressive given the tough conditions and the fact that he was a long way in front of anyone else. Caitlin Brunton walked her first 15km with a steady 1:39:50 and James Seid-Christmass continued on his winning way in the 5km. Jason Kozica was the fastest 3km walker and it is good to see Jason back in action after a quiet winter. It was also nice to welcome back long time club member David De Bondi who had his first walk in some years. Dave raced in the 60's and early 70's so will be remembered by our older members.

VRWC 15 KM OPEN
1.  Brunton, Caitlin         1:05:02    1:39:50

VRWC 10 KM OPEN
1.  Cowley, Rhydian            45:12
2.  Dickenson, Russ          1:01:05
3.  Thillaisundaram, Anand   1:02:51
4.  Wood, Robin              1:09:37
5.  Wallace, Anna            1:11:36
6.  De Bondi, David          1:12:57
7.  Beaumont, Ian            1:20:15

VRWC 5KM OPEN
1.  Seid-Christmass, James     25:50
2.  McDonough, Aaron           26:04
3.  Bennett, Ralph             26:21
4.  Lucas, Alan                29:33
5.  Feldman, Liz               29:51
6.  Wicks, Barrie              35:26
7.  Davidson, Kelly            41:45

VRWC 3KM OPEN
1.  Kozica, Jason              17:42
2.  Steed, Gwen                17:49
3.  Holmes, Janet              19:02
4.  Summers, Harry             19:45
5.  Onley, Gordon              20:33
6.  Stanway, Marlaine          20:34

Officials: Ron Miller, Harry Summers, Tim Erickson, Paul Kozaris, Ian Laurie, Dave De Bondi, Terry Swan, Stuart Cooper, Mark Donahoo
Judges:    Peter Vysma (chief), Lloyd Nicholls, Gordon Loughnan, Ralph Bennett
Canteen:   Mark Donahoo, Kate Suitch, Marlaine Stanway

VRWC RACES, ALBERT PARK, SUNDAY 25 OCTOBER 2009

The VRWC Summer Season kicked off with our first Sunday races at Albert Park on 25 October 2009 and 37 walkers attended what turned out to be a windy morning. Unfortunately we clashed with the VLAA JDS day and the VLAA Box Hill Relays as this meant that a lot of our younger walkers were unable to come. Rhydian Cowley was our fastest walker, flying through the 10km in 48:02 even though he was still suffering from the effects of a recent virus. Ralph Bennett walked well to take out the 15km with 1:21:59 while Pam Tindal was in great form, attacking from the start to record 25:20 for the 5km walk. James Seid-Christmass was also in good form, especially after his fast 1500m the previous day, being just outside his PB with 26:22. Some of our U15 walkers also chose to up the ante and walk the 5km – Sarah and Amy Burren and Ashley Albert. And a special mention to Georgia Gatens and Stacey McLaren who walked the 10km together. Ryan Antidormi also walked a very good U15 3km, recording 15:37 while all 4 our our U9/U12 walkers walked very well.

Open 15km
1.  Bennett, Ralph            1:21:59
2.  Carr, Heather             1:30:01
3.  Cooper, Stuart            1:39:01 

Open 10km
1.  Cowley, Rhydian             48:02
2.  Thillaisundaram, Anand    1:04:18
3.  Beaumont, Margaret        1:19:37
E4. Gatens, Georgia           1:21:48
E4. McLaren, Stacey           1:21:48

Open 5km
1.  Tindal, Pam                 25:20
2.  Seid-Christmass, James      26:22
3.  Burren, Amy                 27:22
4.  Brazel, Hilary              27:51
5.  Burren, Sarah               27:54
6.  Hockley-Samon, Jmara        28:24
7.  Albert, Ashley              28:50
8.  McIntyre, Gayle             28:55
9.  Armstrong, David            29:36
10. Lucas, Alan                 29:50
11. Steed, Gwen                 30:55
12. Feldman, Liz                31:37
13. Dickenso, Russ              31:47
14. Elms, Donna                 32:39
15. Onley, Gordon               35:19
16. Wicks, Barrie               35:52
17. Davidson, Kelly             41:58

Open 3km
1.  Laurie, Natalie             18:09
2.  Holmes, Janet               19:48
3.  Morrey, Jan                 20:13
4.  Summers, Harry              20:15
5.  Stanway, Marlaine           20:51

U15 3km
1.  Antidormi, Ryan             15:37
2.  Barbour, Beth               18:55
3.  Tremigliozzi, Paul          20:10

U12 2km
1.  Lillie, Jessica             13:32

U9 1km
1.  Lillie, Brianna             06:58
2.  Hockley-Samon, Harry        07:35
3.  Hockley-Samon, Tom          08:43

Judges:    Peter Vysma (Chief), Lloyd Nicholls, Michael Bodey     
Officials: Tim Erickson, Harry Summers, Don McLaren, Ian Laurie     
Canteen:   Joyce Summers, Marlaine Stanway