Tomorrow sees the running the the Knapsack Australia Day lap race, which takes place in the lower Blue Mountains here in NSW. There’s some interesting names on the starters list this year in both the men’s and ladies events, particularly in the three hour race, but also the six hour too. Here’s a very brief run-down of some of the leading contenders for the race across both events.
In the ladies three hour race, Sophie Brown, Jo Brischetto and Cecily Butler lead the way in a pre Six Foot track match-up. Alia Karaman should feature too following her win at the Narrabeen 12hour all nighter recently. All the ladies look to be quite evenly matched up, so it should be an interesting battle up front for the ladies three hour title.
The Knapsack men’s event is stacked with talent and again lines up to be a bit of a pre Six Foot run-off between a few leading contenders, none other than Dave Byrne and Ben St Lawrence. Dave’s prepping up for the Tarawera 100 miler I believe, so I’m sure will be seeking a nice hard hit out prior to that. Ben’s on the road to the longer distances and a good run here will be an interesting pre-cursor to the impending run at Six Foot too.
Also likely to feature will be the likes of Matty Abel, Loughlinn Kennedy, Brad Bannister, Marcus Cockshutt and Ewen Horsburgh.
In the ladies six hour race, keep an eye on Anne Bennett and Larisa Tichon, the two mostly likely to grab a win here. Anne comes off the back of a gutsy finish up at Bogong to Hotham in the extreme heat a few weeks back, while Larisa is well known for her solid performances in the lap races. Interestingly both finished with the same distance last year at this race. Should be an interesting battle this year too.
While in the men’s race, Morgan Lindqvist, Jono Worswick and Stephane Moulin are likely the men to beat. It will be interesting to see how Morgan fares here ahead of Six Foot as well. Jono is ever the Mr. Consistent in terms of performances and is a likely podium placer sure. Stephane comes off the back of a very solid pairs performance at the Narrabeen all nighter a few weeks ago too.
All the best to each and every runner tomorrow.