It seems a little late to be doing the weekend wrap on a Wednesday, but with the public holiday on Monday, it’s still technically a Tuesday yeah? Maybe not, but importantly, there are some races to cover from the weekend just gone by and they don’t get much bigger than the Comrades marathon over in South Africa.
Comrades marathon
We had two excellent performances from both a female and make Aussie. First up, Larissa Tichon finished in 21st place in the ladies race in a time of 7:22:08, while Vlad Shatrov was back for another crack at this one, also securing 21st place in the men’s race. He ran a time of 6:01:24.
Massive congratulations to David Von Senden who won the men’s 60+ age group category in a time of 7:37:40. Other notable Aussie performances were Yvonne Bayliss who finished 7th in the 50-59 women’s age group category with a time of 8:56:56. Stan Fetting finished 27th in the men’s 50-59 age group category in a time of 7:40:00.
Mount Difficulty Ascent
Over to New Zealand now and a very different type of race, the Mount Difficulty Ascent (44km). Congratulations to Joanna Williams who took out the win for the ladies in a time of 6:21. Tania Miller was second in 6:59 with Juhe Williamson third in 7:21. In the men’s event, Johan Smith was victorious in a time of 5:22, followed by Blake Turner in 5:28 with Grant Guise just about bagging third place in 5:37 🙂
Gold Coast 100
North of the border, the Gold Coast 100 also put on a show this weekend just gone. Taking out the line honours for the ladies was Nathalie Schmitt in a time of 8:27:14. In the men’s race Darryl Hill took the win in a time of 7:18:12. The remainder of the podium places for the ladies saw Emilie Tan take second in 8:33:17 and Barbara Fieberg third in 8:51:25. On the men’s podium, Andrew Heyden was second in 7:37:42 and the ever-reliable Kev Muller securing third in 7:53:45. In the 50 miler, Alex Reznik won for the men in 7:02:54 while Erin Cserpak won the ladies in 8:24:54. In the 50km event, Anderson Moquiuti won the mens in 3:23:15 while Clare Palmer won the ladies in 3:38:53
Western States Previews
In a matter of just over 10 days or so, one of the most prestigious milers on the calendar, the Western States Endurance Run takes place. There’s some significant Aussie and Kiwi interest in the race this year with the likes of Lucy Bartholomew and Cecilia Flori two of the leading contenders hailing from our neck of the woods. Although both have never attempted a miler before, they’ve both got the credentials to do well, so watch out for our preview coming soon to find out who they’ll be stacked up against, along with some insights into the men’s race too.
