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Nowra Athletics Club |
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Capital to Coast News |
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Capital to Coast Report ( Maxine Gernyi) After much planning and anticipation the inaugural Capital to Coast footrace kicked off on Friday evening to blustering and freezing conditions in Canberra. Runners participating in the 10km prologue braced themselves as they were hit by strong sideways winds and spattering rain, all the while wondering what they had got themselves into! This was just the beginning of the adventure! Surviving this leg, they took their frozen bodies back to their hotel rooms to thaw and to ready themselves for the next 6 stages! Saturday morning saw individual and team runners rugged up and trying to psyche themselves into peeling off the layers for the start of the first leg! It was 4 degrees, wet and windy on Maloon Road! Who runs in these conditions for goodness sake? Apparently we do! And we loved it, frozen toes and all! While the runners were out working hard to keep warm, Rod Gibb was creating a bit of frivolity amongst volunteers and support crew. Rod, who is the patron saint of the porta- loo, decided it was time to drive said loo to the next location, unbeknown to him that it was in use by none other than our trusty bus driver, Terry! Poor Terry, it was very much a Mr Bean moment and one we will never forget! Stage 2 saw runners attacking Monga Mountain with determination as it truly tested their soles and souls! To see them take it on and come out the other side was a real achievement. After fuelling themselves with coffees, sandwiches and cheese and bacon rolls (Perry Strand’s food of choice!} they were now ready to embrace stage 3. Runners really enjoyed this leg as it wound its way up and down from Kettle Road just north of Batemans bay through Murramurang National Park and then along the beach at Beagle Bay. Yay! Day one completed! Sunday Morning and a start time of 6.30am for stage 4 meant everyone was up at the ungodly hour of 5am or so. Bleary eyed runners challenged themselves with a 5km gradual rise on the old Prince’s Highway. If they weren’t awake at the beginning of this they were now! After enjoying scenic Brooman State Forest they were now ready for stage 5. Or were they? There is one word for Stage 5. HILLS! Oh, and creeks and more hills. This was the bone cruncher, the real tester after running 70kms or so and if they fought this battle, they could do anything. And they did. What a bunch of champions! Now onto the final leg, stage 6. Sunday afternoon and the weather was just beautiful in Nowra. Starting at the Uni, runners enjoyed running through beautiful Bens Walk, through downtown Nowra and then, with smiles on their faces, completed a victory lap around the showground. They had completed stage 6 and finished the inaugural capital to coast! After much tallying of numbers, individual and team winners were announced. In a time of 451 minutes 14 seconds Gary Mullins of Drummoyne was the first male home, with April Palmerlee of Randwick being the first female home in a time of 578 minutes 49 seconds. In the teams division, first in were brothers Wayne and Phillip Corles of Canberra in a time of 395 minutes 20 seconds. Their team name is Slow and slower, however, they certainly proved that name wrong! Coming in second were the Rumbulara Runners aka Susie Price and Claire Neville of the Central Coast, in a time of 454 minutes 47 seconds. Third place accolades went to local runners, the Black Beauties aka Michelle Cumming, Maxine Gernyi and Alison Strand in a time of 538 minutes. Congratulations everyone and well done, all your hard work has paid off! However, everyone who entered the capital to coast needs to pat themselves on the back as it was a challenging run and you met the challenge. You are all winners! Special mention must go to the race organisers, Bob Redenbach and Kevyn Davis. Not only was this a superbly run event from the logistics side of things, it was also superb to run it. To also see Kevyn’s dream of this event actually taking place and then Kevyn running the whole 100kms was truly delightful to see. Congratulations Kevyn and Bob, you are both legends. Be ready for the onslaught next year everyone, as it will be bigger and if possible, better! So, no resting on your laurels, keep those shoes warm and start planning your training schedule for next year! See you at the start line! Maxine Gernyi
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Capital to Coast – Report (Bob Redenbach) What a Journey ! I must say I was physiologically ready for a break from the work / run your own business regime when Kevyn and I started making day trips to the other side of Braidwood, etc. about a year ago, sussing out potential stage run routes. To adequately thank everyone who helped bring our adventure off is a task in itself. To start at the finish, the logistics of taking the stage into and through Nowra was ginourmous in itself – contemplate the setting up/pulling down tasks co-ordinated by Paul & Dean! All those other NAC members who did point duties whom I never was able to call by & personally thank on the day. Fleeting conversations with Sharon and colleagues from Shoalhaven SES manning the past Shoalhaven Hospital section. And what about Robert Glendinning, TCP designer extraordinaire! Back to the beginning, and Andy introducing Helen and I to the virtues of the NAC “pop up” tent to keep out the Canberra snow before hopping on his mountain bike to keep ahead of the flying Claire Price, twice around Lake Berley Griffin Central Basin. Saturday morning and a chance to get our runners out of suburbia for a couple of days. All important Kings Highway traffic warning signs (thanks to Braidwood SES), complemented by brilliant highway event directional signs put out by Andy & Paul. I would never have dared to direct this event without the support and guidance of Rod & Jan. Ever tried towing a toilet to Braidwood, beyond and back? Terry Threlfall, our ever patient, quietly efficient mini bus driver, could tell you a story about that! Saturday night at the Soldier’s Club and trying to stop the girls from partying too hard, as we celebrated Maxine’s birthday. Not pre-organising point duties for the Durras township stage 3 part – Maxine, Alison, Paul & John Davis to the rescue! Malcolm and Aileen, brilliantly complementing (on their Mountain bikes) the hugely successful fluoro line point arrows along stages 1 to 5. We haven’t yet started to get our heads around life without Robbie Williams, but I reckon Robbie was smiling down on all of our efforts. Sunday morning, and out of bed by 3 AM for some more day planning type paper shuffling, 6.30 AM & stage 4 start time. Pleasantly surprised that everyone in their vehicles (incl. our friends from the Central Coast pulling a caravan) got into and out of the tricky start and finish points at stages 4 & 5. Michelle and Zahra for their constant support and encouragement. Smithy, for continually keeping my ego in check. I reckon Jill could do drink stops blindfolded! Thanks Les for your liaison re stage cut-off times and grace periods. And what about the other runners? Run 100 K over that terrain – get out of town! Gary Mullins – brilliant runner and great supporter of the concept. Wayne Corlis, stage 2 magnifique!, ably supported by team mate Phillip. Pam Davy – camping and running – what a star! Need lessons on running in the Canberra snow – ask John Macri, Steve de Vivo and Nick Deeks! Claire nails stage 5! Susie Price, great team mate for Claire and positive support to us + no probs for Kim & Meagan. Who says 16 K first up Old Princes Highway has to be tough – Darrin Smith and Perry Strand yakking away as they cross the line together. So glad that you came and ran, Annie & Laura, The Livermores – drive, run and look after your children – how d’ya do that? And what about Ed – to not only run stages 1 & 4 but, together with Gail, provide the services of their brilliantly equipped 4WD van. Ed says Monga Mt. isn’t even a 4WD challenge! Gail & Ed were still packing up as Helen & I left. Helen & Jan on the stopwatches. It was amazing how Helen and Jan tabulated all of those 7 sets of progressive times and presented the stats. in time for the awards. Thanks Doug Jeffrey for designing the certificates. – Peter & Bernie for organising the P/A – Lisa for the banners – have a look at the pictures of the runners in front of Nowra Uni. pre stage 6 start on facebook. April – you were there from when entries opened and gave us support all the way, plus what a cheer squad! Kevyn - a huge achievement to run the 100 Ks plus your critical planning and organising support. It was great to meet runners and their own support crews from areas like Canberra, Sydney, Wollongong and the Central Coast. An essential part of such a varied entry base came from 4 people, who wanted to, but couldn’t be there for the weekend – our website designers Nicole & Chris, plus much appreciated moral support from Karina & Anton. Wrapped in the T-shirts supplied on short notice by Top T-Shirt Co, plus event notice boards and flag. Hope I’ve covered all bases – time for a back to work reality check! Thanks again ,
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If there is one running event that should be on everyone’s bucket list this year, it should be the Inaugural Capital to Coast run. The brainchild of passionate local runners Kevyn Davis and Bob Redenbach, it has been in the think-tank for many years and this is the year it has finally come to fruition. Kevyn and Bob wanted to create a long distance running event that not only catered to the die-hard endurance runner, but also those runners who would like to run the 100km three day event as part of a team. Teams can have a maximum of three runners, which means each team member runs an average of 15kms a day. So whether you want to set yourself the ultimate challenge and run the whole 100km as an individual or be in the thick of it as part of a team, then this is the race for you. “We wanted to create a long distance race that could be run over a few days, that wasn’t just isolated to the endurance runner but also accessible to the average Joe, who puts in a couple of long runs in his weekly running schedule. Thus, the Capital to Coast was born. As far as we know, there is no other event quite like it in Australia,” said Kevyn. As the name suggests, the event kicks off at 5pm on Friday August 17 from Lake Burley Griffin in the Nation’s Capital. This part of the event is called the “prologue” consisting of a 9km run, which is a compulsory but non stressful introduction for individual competitors. However individual team members can also partake in the prologue, although the official start day for teams is Saturday August 18. Interestingly, the prologue will be run on a staggered start – age/gender handicap basis, while the rest of stages (1-6) of the event will be mass starts. Competitors will revel in the delights and variety of terrain they will be running on over the course of the weekend. From country back roads to farm districts to national parks to rolling hills to the coast, you will be running on it and savouring the delights of the scenery! The Capital to Coast will finish on the afternoon of Sunday August 19 at the Nowra showground. What an adventure! Further information on the run stages can be found in the Stage Previews section of the Capital to Coast Website. Due to the logistics of running this event, entries are limited to 200, so don’t miss out, jump onto the Capital to Coast Website and Register NOW. A mini bus will be running from Nowra on Friday August 17 and returning to Nowra Sunday afternoon August 19. Detailed information about the event, accommodation suggestions for the Friday and Saturday nights and any other queries can be found on the website. So get your team together or up your training for the individual event and let’s tick this one off the bucket list! See you there.
"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly
find out how far one can go." |
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