Magpie August 2022

The Magpie

Newsletter of the Collingwood Harriers Athletic Club Inc.

collingwoodharriersathletics@gmail.com

August  2022

We open this edition with a list of imminent happenings in the first week of the month.

Of course on the first Tuesday, (2nd), we have the ‘World Famous 400s session’ beginning at 6:15pm.

Wednesday sees the last chance to enter for the 10k road race at Albert Park, to be held next Sunday morning. Entries must be done before NOON on Wednesday. This is a fast course and is a great chance to record a really good time. Juniors run the 3k distance.

Thursday night sees the Club’s Annual General meeting at the clubrooms beginning at 7:30pm.

And of course, Sunday sees Round 7 of the Winter Season at Albert Park.

Please note that even if you have taken the Winter Package (season ticket), Athletic Victoria still requires you to ‘enter’ for the event, (AT NO EXTRA COST), before NOON on Wednesday. Failure to do so may mean you are not counted in the results. (apparently this assists with planning!!)

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Now an apology! Unfortunately, last month, the report from the Oceania Championships was left on the cutting room floor. It has been included for your edification this time around. Sincere apologies to our participants in the Carnival – I would like to promise that it will never happen again, but I am not that confident!!

OCEANIA GAMES   Mackay (Queensland)  June  7-11th

As informed in June edition of The Magpie Collingwood had two of our Under 18 athletes selected to represent Australia this meet.

Wolfgang Cotra Nemesi grabbed a silver Medal in the 800m finishing just .37 behind the New Zealand competitor in 1:54.52. Although a little slower than his times at the Vic Titles, Wolfie was pretty happy with his performance, as he had not been able to actually race since those titles back in February.

Marcus Wakim, had to settle for fourth place in the 5000m walk, but was not at his best. Talking to Marcus at our track on the Thursday before leaving for Mackay, he looked anything but well, having had a touch of the flu as well as a dose of Covid in the fortnight prior.

His time of 22:07.6 was good, but a little below his quickest.

Ever the opportunist, Eugene Nemesi, managed to organise a berth for himself in the Masters 1500m Championship held in conjunction with the junior events.

Running in his Collingwood top, Eugene took the Gold in the 45-49 division in a time of 4:55.01

In some invitation events held at the meet three Collingwood athletes had a run in various offerings.

Hana Basic recorded 11.72  and 11.79 in a couple of 100m dashes.

Kendra Hubbard scooted around a 400m in 56.15

Michael Romanin also completed a couple of 100s in10.56 and 10.54.

Not sure if he was pleased or disappointed but nevertheless, also stretched the legs in a pair of 200s, recording 21.33 and 21.35

Our very own Matthew Webster also made the trip north to work as an Official at the meet –

Have (starting) Gun, Will Travel!

OUR BIG DAY

Another reminder regarding the Club’s showpiece Winter Event to be held at Clifton Hill on Saturday 27th August.  The Club 5 Mile Cross Country Championships will be conducted at Yarra Bend, beginning with the junior race (u/16 men, u/18 women) at 1:30pm followed by the Senior event at (app) 2:00pm.

All club members, past and present, are encouraged to attend to see yet another chapter written in our Club’s history.

The winner’s of the Senior Championships receive the coveted Blue Ribbon and of course have their names added to the Honour Boards in the clubrooms.

Newer members are particularly welcome to attend and see just how our Club operates. All at the event on the day are asked to plan to stay for the after race celebrations to witness our Parade of Champions, where many of the past winners make an appearance at the presentations.

CLUB UNIFORM should be worn by Collingwood participants.

Saturday July 9th                    Sandown Road Relays

Quite a calm day was experienced this year at Sandown Racecourse with little wind and only a few spots of rain on show. The sun even came out for a while, although it is fair to say the ‘Factor 15’ was never really required!

Only two junior teams were entered in the Collingwood name. The results were good, but could have been a lot better.

The Boys team had a great win in the U/18s with all three runners doing a terrific job. Mason Johns and Wolfgang Cotra Nemesi bookended the team in fine style with 14 year old Max Luke making up substantial ground on the Glenhuntly runner on the second leg.

Unfortunately, with a runner missing from our top women’s team, we had to move Niamh Tabit up from the U/18 girl’s team. This left us with just the two runners in the age group. Both  Gracie Lourey and Ruby Callahan did a great job and there is no doubt that with Niamh available, Collingwood would have had a second set of Gold medals to show on the day.

Junior Results

Women’s Results

Again with many runners unavailable our results suffered, but no-one questioned the commitment of those doing the work. Niamh Tabit recorded our fastest time for the two lap distance with Cara Foot and Lauren Burrow not too far behind.

Men’s Results

Again our numbers were disappointing. However a real highlight of the day was the performance of Dale Carroll in his ‘comeback’ run for the Club. Up with the leaders at the end of the first lap, Dale’s time put him right up with the best performances by any Collingwood Harrier at Sandown over the years.

Liam Werrett continues to display his obvious talent, while Steve Simmons produced perhaps his best ever performance for Collingwood. Michael Oke and Sam Low didn’t have a lot left in their respective tanks at the end of their stints either.

OFFICIALS:  Tony Williams and Christine Dell were in the dark blue clobber of the AV team for the day, while Liam and Tony Dell shared our Club helper duties around also completing a stint on the course in the Divvy 4 team.

It was great to have Kevin Wigmore back with us for the first time since Jells Park. Still not feeling 100%, Kevin helped gather some individual times for our records.

Campbell Maffett did a stack of work with the teams, completing some late adjustments after a couple of late withdrawals. Campbell also supplied the treats to re-energise the athletes after the event.

FROM THE PAST

On Saturday October 17th 1931, long distance walker Jim Gaylor competed in the Victorian 50 Mile Walk Championship (that’s around 80k in the new).

In winning the race in a time of 8 hours 33 minutes 09.8 seconds, Jim broke a record that had stood for 27 years  –  by 52 min 32.2secs

The time was ratified as ‘best on record in Australia for the 50 Mile Walk.

With this performance, Jim Gaylor became the first Collingwood Harrier to hold a Victorian Record.

GOLD COAST

A number of our people made the trip to the Gold Coast for the annual festival of distance running.

We managed to find a few names while having a look at the results, but apologise for the many we have probably missed.

Dale Carroll’s 8th in the 10k was a pearler, while Tim Bryant’s marathon was another great effort. Adam Watts was very happy with his first ever marathon, while Niamh Tabit’s 2nd place in the junior 10k was a notable achievement. Josephine Borthwick grabbed 8th in the open 10k

BUNDOORA   23/07            CROSS COUNTRY

Most of the junior races at this event are school based.  The Collingwood Club had quite a few of their youngsters take part with some very good results. There were a couple who were very disappointed with their placings, however their times indicate that the performances were nevertheless pretty good. Mason Johns was less than happy, however the positive Covid test a couple of days later may have been a factor.

SCHOOL RESULTS

Our senior results for our ladies were again affected by lack of numbers, however our men’s results were possibly the best so far this season. While still missing many people our team results were certainly the best  with a couple of firsts in the over age groups.

It was good to have Tony Hally and James Lindsey back in the black and white for this event. Their presence didn’t do our overall results any harm at all.

Our fifth place in Divvy 1 was our best for quite some time!

Bundoora is a long day. With the school’s events starting at 10, we like to get our tent up early as many of our kids aren’t with ‘tented schools’.

Thanks to Tony Dell, Kevin Wigmore and Eugene Nemesi for offering to help with the early set up. Mention must be made of David Armstrong from Diamond Valley, who did provide a little assistance much earlier, just to get things started.

Tony Williams and Christine Dell again worked ALL DAY with AV as officials.

It was great to have Wiggy back in harness on the watches enabling the Club to get all the interval times for our runners.

Collingwood was meant to supply three Club helpers on the day, but AV forgot to tell us!

I am sure that they will get their pound of flesh before the season is out.

Many, many people helped with the pack up of the tent at the end of the day – thanks one and all.

Winter events in the month of August are as follows……

August 7th  (Sunday  am)     Road Race

A fast course at Albert Park – starts early Sunday morning

3k for the youngsters while the seniors do the 10k, with both races finishing on the Lakeside track.

August 20th     Road Race  at Ballarat

Pack an extra jumper just in case – it can get cold.

The kids all run 6k around the lake while the big people do the 15k.

August 27th    CLUB C C CHAMPIONSHIPS    Clifton Hill

Don’t miss it – it’s a great day!

MAGPIE MORSELS

The First Tuesday of The Month!

Yes – it’s on again! Collingwood’s World Famous 400s session is on the first Tuesday of the month (August 2nd ) beginning at 6:15pm.

A great session, not only for general fitness, but to also improve your time/pace judgement. Suitable for everybody!

We have had great numbers in recent months – let’s keep it up!

Still on a High!

Last month we mentioned Jane Kanizay’s exploits in ascending Mt Everest some weeks back.

Jane climbed another mountain when she visited Melbourne’s highest point with a drop in at Bundoora for the recent run. It was great to catch up and conversing with Jane leaves no doubt in anyone’s mind as to the effect the experience has had upon her.

Among the best!

Dale Carroll’s run at Sandown at the recent relays turned a few heads and with good reason.

Upon checking our records it was discovered the Dale’s 18:43 puts him at equal fifth on Collingwood’s all time list for the two laps around the race track. A quick look at those joined by Dale, just add credence to his performance.

Twenty years! It’s been a long time.

Newbies! Welcome aboard!

The Club has had a few new names join our ranks in the last couple of months. Some have already made an appearance in the winter season while some are setting themselves up for the summer. Whatever the motivation – welcome one and all. We hope that your time with us at Collingwood is long, enjoyable and most of all successful.

The newcomers are: Aoife Dennehy, Nick Watson, Lachlan Conners, Matthew Crawford, Oliver Blackburn, Qamber Ali Akhteyari, and Andrew Jarzebowski

Something to Chew On!

If I am still standing at the end of a race, hit me with a board and knock me down because I didn’t run hard enough.                                                                                                                                                                Steve Jones