2009
CENTURION
24
HOUR CARNIVAL
6 Hour Events - Sunday 15 March 2009
24 Hour Events - 18-19 April 2009
Coburg Athletics Track, Coburg, Melbourne
The 2009 Coburg 24 Hour Carnival was spread over 2 weekends,
with the 6 Hour events being held on Sunday 15th March and the 24 Hour
events being held on the
weekend of 18th - 19th April.
As a quick summary, you can see the
bare bones race results here: 2009
Coburg Carnival 24 Hour Final Results.pdf
Now read on for all the news about the walking section.
A total of 37 walkers and runners contested the 24 Hour weekend. The
starter's gun was fired at 10AM on Saturday morning in sunny conditions
but a welcome cloud cover soon swept across from the west and
provided welcome relief for the entrants. This cloud cover stayed for
the entire 24 hours of the event and ensured a mild night. This,
combined with the still conditions, made for one of the best events we
have seen. The runners and walkers revelled in the ideal temperatures
and big performances were seen across the board.
The Australian Centurions was pleased to
see four walkers reach in excess of 100 miles and was able to welcome
three new members to our exclusive club.
Belgian couple Rudy Schoors and Caroline Mestdagh won their
respective divisions in masterly fashion, adding Australian Centurion
badges to their British and Continental Centurion badges. They both
recorded 100 mile personal best times and obviously enjoyed their first
track 24 hour walks. Rudy became Australian
Centurion number 55 with 22:01:45
while Caroline became Australian
Centurion number 56 with her time of 22:40:27
Behind them, two Queensland based Australian walkers also achieved the
elusive 100 mile mark. Geoff Hain (C
49) who already has 5 of the 6 available Centurion badges,
produced yet another Australian badge (his fifth) with a great time of 23:24:50, after suffering early with
leg problems.
Behind him, Ian Valentine, a
former winner of the Coburg 24 Hour run, showed that he can walk as
well as run. Using an impeccible racewalking action nearly the whole
way, he strolled through to a wonderful inaugural 100 mile time of 23:37:03 to become Australian Centurion number 57.
CENTURION WALK QUALIFIERS
Rudy Schoors
Caroline Mestdagh
Geoff Hain
Ian Valentine
|
22:01:45
22:40:27
23:24:50
23:37:03
|
C55
C56
C49
C47
|
JACK WEBBER
MEMORIAL TROPHY
Was awarded to Ian Valentine for the most meritorious Centurion
performance on the day
OVERALL RESULTS
| 24 Hour Walk |
|
| 1 |
Rudy Schoors (c 55)
|
167.954 km
|
| 2 |
Ian
Valentine (C 57)
|
161.810 km
|
| 3 |
Geoff Hain (C 49)
|
161.733 km
|
| 4 |
Doug McKay
|
138.687 km
|
| 5 |
Steve Jordan
|
129.801 km
|
| 6 |
Gerald Manderson (C 31)
|
126.499 km
|
| 7 |
Louis
Commins
|
118.372 km
|
| 8 |
Terry O'Neill (C 18)
|
112.384 km
|
| 9 |
Rudolf Skrucany
|
102.349 km
|
10
|
Clarrie Jack (C 4)
|
49.349 km
|
| 24 Hour Walk Female |
|
| 1 |
Caroline Mestdagh
|
164.636 km
|
| 2 |
Dawn Parris
|
137.445 km
|
| 3 |
Val Chesterton
|
115.578 km
|
4
|
Karyn O'Neill (C )
|
92.478 km
|
5
|
Sandy Howorth
|
85.930 km
|
6
|
Heather Carr
|
51.423 km
|
AUSTRALIAN 100 KM WALK
CHAMPIONSHIPS
Actual 100 km times are yet to be confirmed from the lapsheets. As soon
as this is done, the website will be updated.
| Men |
|
| 1 |
Terry O'Neill
|
|
| 2 |
Ian
Valentine
|
|
| 3 |
Rudy Schoors
|
|
| Women |
|
| 1 |
Caroline Mestdagh
|
|
| 2 |
Dawn Parris
|
|
3
|
Val Chesterton
|
|
Other highlights included two new Australian Ultra Distance
Masters walking records
- Melbourne walker Heather
Carr had told me before the event that she only
intended to walk for 6 Hours and this she did, but it was a very
impressive 6 hours of walking that saw her set a new W55 6 Hour record
of just over 51 km (exact distance to be confirmed).
- Canberra walker Val
Chesterton became the first W65 woman in
Australia to complete a 24 Hour walk event so her distance of 115.578km
becomes the inaugural W65 24 Hour
record. This is actually a greater
distance than her W60 record of 109.567 km, set in 2005 and confirms
the quality of her performance.
The 6 hour races had been held 5 weeks earlier on Sunday 15
March. The Melbourne weather was at its fickle best as the
competitors battled early rain and wind, were tempted mid race by some
weak late morning sun and then finished the event in overcast
conditions. A large field of 38 contestants faced the starter's gun at
8AM and all but 4 were still on the track when the final gun sounded at
2PM.
This event saw the runners confined to lanes 1-2 and the walkers
confined to lanes 3-4. This proved a successful experiment as it
allowed both the faster runners and the faster walkers a clearer
passage around the track.
A number of competitors have beaten existing Australian records in the
6 Hour events
- Terry O'Neill
bettered his own M50 record for
the 6 Hour
walk.
- Clarrie Jack set a
new M60 record for the 6 Hour
walk.
- Dawn Parris set a
new W55 residential record for
the 6
Hour walk.
In the 6 Hour walk for men, centurions Terry O'Neill and Clarrie Jack
swapped the lead on several occasions before Terry eventually
established a winning break. His winning distance of 53.191km was a new
Australian M50 record while Clarrie's second place distance of 52.505km
was a new Australian M60 record. Steve Jordan, Alex Poore and Rudolf
Skrucany took the next 3 places with PBs of 46.201km, 45.246km and
44.183km respectively. Doug McKay improved a lot on his 2008 Sri
Chimnoy Adelaide 24H walk to record 44.124km for 6th place while Deryck
Skinner, the oldest in the field at 76 years of age, showed that he has
lost none of his form with a fine 43.836km.
The women's 6 Hour Walk Championship saw a great battle between Dawn
Parris and Karyn O'Neill with the two ladies never more than a lap or
two apart. After chasing Karyn for the first 5 hours, Dawn finished the
stronger to pass her in the last hour and win narrowly with 45.719km, a
new Australian Residential W55 record. Karyn was close behind in second
place with 45.320km while Sandy Howorth was third with 36.317km.
COBURG 6 HOUR
TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS
| 6 Hour Walk Men |
|
| 1 |
Terry O'Neill
|
53.191 km
|
| 2 |
Clarrie
Jack
|
52.504 km
|
| 3 |
Steve Jordan
|
46.201 km
|
| 4 |
Alex Poore
|
45.246 km
|
| 5 |
Rudolf Skrucany
|
44.183 km
|
| 6 |
Doug McKay
|
44.124 km
|
7
|
Deryck Skinner
|
43.836 km
|
8
|
Gary Turner
|
41.671 km
|
9
|
Ken Carter
|
30.122 km
|
| 6 Hour walk Women |
|
| 1 |
Dawn Parris
|
45.719 km
|
| 2 |
Karyn O'Neill
|
45.320 km
|
| 3 |
Sandy Howorth
|
36.317 km
|
4
|
Janet Hunter
|
19.188 km
|
5
|
Jean MacDonald
|
15.807 km
|
Press
here
to return to the Centurions
Home Page.
Tim Erickson (terick@melbpc.org.au)
Secretary, Australian Centurions Club
Melbourne, Australia
