Pace Financial Services City of Glenorchy Fun Runs
21 Jun 2010
A beautiful Sunday morning saw the running of the Pace Financial Services Glenorchy City Fun Runs. The Derwent Entertainment centre provided a great back drop on a day of record breaking proportions.
Northern Suburbs athlete Mel Daniels continued her love of this event, smashing the 10km course record. Her time of 36minutes 47seconds sits alongside her 5km record set on her way to winning last year's shorter race.
Better known for her performances on the track, Daniels lead from start to finish in the women's race to finish well ahead of Andrea Marquardt and Carolyn Davis.
It was a completely different affair in the men's 10km race, with pre race favourite and multiple defending champion Grant Page ruled out with illness. That opened the door for a handful of runners to claim victory with an early pack formed consisting of Chris Chapman, Jordan Harries, Alex Humphrey, Jonathan Hitchens, Mike Anderson and Andy Allison.
The pack numbers faded as the kilometres progressed, as it turned into a race of attrition. Late into the second of two laps, Chapman and Allison broke away and turned the event into a dual. As they made the final turn into the DEC carpark, Allison strided away, crossing the line in 32:21, which bettered his personal best over this distance by a full minute. Chapman fought bravely to just lose out to Allison second placing, with Harries taking third.
A record also fell in the men's 5km race, with Tom Beard upsetting a strong field to take the win. After winning the 400m/800m double at the IGA Tasmanian Track & Field championships back in March, many assumed the 5km race was well beyond Beard and didn't consider him a contender. Proving he was more than just a contender as he outclassed a quality field to win in 15:44. City 2 Casino 7km race winner Jacob Malakoff finished just behind Beard in second place, with Phil McConnon taking third.
Teenager Natasha Fitzpatrick took out the women's 5km race, in a race where she led all the way to victory. Her winning time of 18:30 put her comfortably ahead of Francesca Smith and youngster Tessa Johns.
In the junior 2km race it was the girls who were anle to cross the line first with Jemma Smith coming in first followed by Ruby Smee and Emily Webb. Leif Anderson was the first boy across in fourth place.