There was stirring amongst the White Train, for the word had passed around,
That the Geelong cross country course had had its day,
And AV had chosen Brimbank – a far rougher, tougher ground,
But undeterred we gathered to the fray.
All our tried and noted athletes, from the suburbs near and far,
Knew they’d make it round that legendary course alright
For our runners love hard running, where’er the course marker flags are
And we stormed up Brimbank’s mountains with delight.
On 30 July, 22 MUAC athletes took on what is arguably the toughest cross country course of the AV season at Brimbank Park. The course has not been part of the AV calendar for several years, meaning that only our longer serving members were familiar with it. In the lead-up to race day they would shake their heads knowingly before launching into tales about ‘that hill’, a beastly incline which reduced runners to staggering messes, barely able to keep upright or draw breath. They didn’t quite do it justice…
Racing kicked off with the Under 20’s races, where Harry Smithers, LeighGoedecke and Rachel Paynter ran a 6 kilometer loop. Smithers gave a standout performance, being the second Victorian to cross the line and fourth overall, securing his second place on the U20 Champion athlete ladder.
This was followed by the open women’s 6km race. Sophie Barker led Div 1 women with a strong run that saw her finish 11th and resulted in the Div 1 team coming in a creditable 5th . She was joined by Julie McNamara, Kate Scarlett and Ilka Barr. Div 2 women also
ran well, with Camilla Humphries teaming up with international recruits Isabell Hartmann and Johanna Ziegel.
The open men’s race followed the same 6km loop… twice… with an extra four kilometers thrown in as a third lap just in case running twice up ‘that hill’ wasn’t quite enough. Nic Browne proved his hill loving credentials again, coming in 13th and bringing the Div 2 men home to 3rd place. He was ably supported by Andrew Selby-Smith, Dave Ulbrick, Tyler Harlan, Tim Thomas and Richard Dutton.
Div 3 men, led by the fearless Tony Brain, also took to the course with grim determination, followed by Chris Fraser, Paul Kennedy, Chris Xu, Liam Morgan
and Matt Luo. Both Chris’s made their AV debuts.
Congratulations to everyone who raced, and many thanks to our volunteers, Women’s Captain Sarah Emons and Fiona Scarlett.
Results
Open Men
13 2810 NICHOLAS BROWNE Melbourne University 56:52:00
36 1940 ANDREW SELBY SMITH Melbourne University 1:00:31
39 1943 DAVID ULBRICK Melbourne University 1:00:59
63 2867 TYLER HARLAN Melbourne University 1:03:41
116 1257 TIMOTHY THOMAS Melbourne University 1:07:41
131 1932 RICHARD DUTTON Melbourne University 1:09:30
167 1244 TONY BRAIN Melbourne University 1:12:39
195 2913 CHRIS FRASER Melbourne University 1:15:12
202 513 PAUL KENNEDY Melbourne University 1:15:42
205 2714 CHRIS XU Melbourne University 1:15:57
244 2712 LIAM MORGAN Melbourne University 1:23:35
251 1936 ZHI-LIN LUO Melbourne University 1:24:40
Under 20 Men
4 1461 HARRY SMITHERS Melbourne University 0:20:25
19 2611 LEIGH GOEDECKE Melbourne University 0:26:35
Open Women
11 59 SOPHIE BARKER Melbourne University 0:24:45
28 1937 JULIE MCNAMARA Melbourne University 0:26:06
32 1255 KATHARINE SCARLETT Melbourne University 0:26:22
37 2394 ILKA BARR Melbourne University 0:26:50
50 2616 ISABELL HARTMANN Melbourne University 0:27:34
61 1944 JOHANNA ZIEGEL Melbourne University 0:28:32
72 2617 CAMILLA HUMPHRIES Melbourne University 0:29:19
Under 20 Women
8 2389 RACHEL PAINTER Melbourne University 18:47:00
