A strong finish by Nathan Jackson saw him overcome Ricky Markham on the straight into Lilydale to claim the title of champion for 2015. After overcoming the last of the significant hills and eyeing off the front markers, Jacko who stated he was “cooked” at that point mustered the speed he needed to get over the line from Ricky and Shaun O’Reagan in third. Nathan was unsure how he would perform after completing the Busselton half iron man triathlon three weeks ago in just over 4 hours. In a new race record and first person ever to break the 53 minute barrier, David Thomas clocked in at 52:59 to claim the fastest male while Kate Pedley just fell short of her own race record to come in at 61:34.
The division 2 2.5 km Hcp saw Bailey Hume return to the winners podium with Corey Stanley in second and Isabella Darsaklis in third. Fastest runners were Corey with a km rate of 3:35 and Ella Boxhall at 4:26 per km. In Division 3 and after several second places, Averyl Quinn streaked the field to win the 1.5 km blue ribbon race from Luke McHugh and Lani Tai. The first two place getters were also the fastest runners over the course with Averyl recording 4:17 per km and Luke at 3:50 per km.
A big thanks to the Lilydale Larder for their hospitality and great coffee, wine and food post race.
Next week we are in Evandale for the Rob-Rik Dale Deer farm 8 km Hcp, and after three races with many a hill it will be good to get a reasonably flat course to get some real speed back into our legs. Of course our BBQ will be smoking with some venison kebabs and burgers compliments of our sponsors Ricky and Robyn. See you all there!
