Rd 7 XCR16: Albert Park 10km

MUAC’s Premier Men broke Box Hill’s stranglehold on the Premier Men’s Division, winning the team’s competition 99 points to Box Hills 116 at Sunday’s Victorian 10km Championship.  It was a strong team performance with Nick Earl first home in 4th place, followed by Charlie Park (with a big personal best), Frankie Conway (Pascoe Vale’s #1 tennis commentator), Winter Captain Zac Newman, Winter Manager Max Ueda (another PB after a strong training camp in Sweden) and Martin Mashford. The team victory pushes the White Train to equal second on the premiership ladder, with St Stephens Harriers. MUAC’s Premier Women’s team maintain equal 4th place on the ladder. Ellen Schaef’s 2 minute PB led home the team and the return of Winter Captain Martine Botha from exotic locales bolstered the squad with the MUAC women turning out in force, fielding their biggest lineup since Round 1, including debutant Natalie Ng.

There was a record breaking turnout across the board for MUAC with 40 athletes racing in 8 teams, MUAC’s highest competitor count in the last 12 years of XCR.  MUAC’s men’s teams took some big scalps with wins for Men’s Premier, Division 3 and Division 7, 2nd place in Division 5 and 3rd in Division 2, a series of results unmatched in recent MUAC history. There was great running all the way down the order, with Simon Weir donning the sash for the first time, collecting a guaranteed PB along the way. Tim Thomas, MUAC’s most popular running model, led the honourable gentlemen with distinction as the 50+ team surge up the ladder.

Post race, MUAC athletes retired to the Carousel Cafe for civilised discussion, coffee and brunch. Andrea Gatti collected the (not quite) prestigious shiny pants for arriving at the race with less than ten minutes to collect his timing chip, registration bibs and get to the line.

MUAC’s winter athletes will be in action next at the Anglesea Ekiden Relay on Saturday August 6th.

Results