Yesterday we previewed the 6ft track women’s race, now today it’s the turn of the men. As usual, there’s a highly competitive pointy end. The winner from the last two years, Vlad Shatrov leads the charge again. Come Saturday he could have a hat-trick of wins.
Courtney Atkinson is the biggest threat to Vlad’s hat-trick potential. And these two are no stranger to going head to head in before. Back in 2017, Courtney ran 3:18 to claim second behind Vlad and run one of the quickest times on the track. With some more experience in the trail game, you have to think Courtney will be looking to lower than PB.
As you would expect, Vlad’s been training the house down. And, having come extremely close to the record in his last two attempts, you have to think he’s gunning for that record and is in sub 3:15 shape.
There’s a slew of high competitive runners out there to pounce on any opportunity that should arise too. Previous winner of this race, Alex Matthews lines up again. Notoriously an extremely steady starter, Alex powers his way through the carnage on the Black Ranges and looks good for a podium spot if in form.
Mr. Consistent, Brendan Davies lines up for 6ft track again. This despite running everything from 5km Park Runs to 80km flat track races in Hong Kong. No matter how many kms or what races he’s done, Brendan is almost a sure-fire shoe in for a top 5 spot.
Mick Donges returns after a few years absence. A little bit of Strava spying tells me he’s been training hard the last few months. So here’s hoping he gets the result he deserves in this race. Bags of talent, a bit of misfortune in recent races here, but ready-made for him to tear it up come Saturday.
Daniel Green returns to 6ft track after missing the last few years. Again, ever consistent around the top five placings, there’s not reason to think why he shouldn’t be there again. Indeed, there’s a number of guys, all with hopes of a time in the 3:30s whom could easily grab a top five-spot. They include, Luke Preston, Marty Keyes, Hamish MacDonald, Dominic Perry, Mike Lichtwark, Mark Lee, Ashley Hoffman, Sam Burridge and Locky Kennedy.
On a personal note, I can’t wait to run this one again. Looking forward to seeing many people out there too – Plus enjoying some hard-earned beers at the finish!
