Karinna Fyfe from Glenhuntly Athletics Club prevailed in a close three way tussle in the open women’s 8km race on a tough course at Lardner Park, Warragul in the second round of Athletics Victoria’s XCR series.
After former World Championship and Commonwealth Games marathon representative Sarah Klein made the early running in the race on the first of two four-kilometre laps, the long downhill stretch towards the finishing line on the second lap made for an entertaining contest.
Steeplechaser Stella Radford had a slight lead with 500m remaining but was fatigued, while Fyfe and Klein were closing quickly. Fyfe maintained her momentum onto the flat to pass Radford and run away for a four second victory in 28 minutes, 34 seconds. Klein also passed Radford, taking silver by a three second margin.
The men’s race was a more open and shut case, with Andy Buchanan from Bendigo Region traversing the course with ease to win by over half-a-minute in a time of 23:57.
The undulating course, most of which had a thick grass covering underneath, has a sadistic furthest most point. After clearing a fence on a downhill stretch, four shallow stream crossings within the space of 100 metres followed by a steep hill and a gradual climb back up to the highest point of the course greet runners. During the second lap of the open men’s race, approximately one in twenty runners fell.
Buchanan was light on his feet and not heeded. Behind him, Cody Shanahan from Western Athletics had the better of Tom Thorpe from St Stephen’s Harriers, taking silver 24:34 to 23:49.
In the junior 4km races impressive performances were recorded by Athletics Essendon pair Archie Noakes, who took out the U18 men’s race in 12:10; and Bianca Puglisi, who won the U20 women’s race by almost a minute in 14:33.
Our full collection of 389 photos is available here.
You can download high resolution images if you subscribe to our mailing list. Subscribe here.
Latest posts:
- The Australian Athletics Instagram Elite: Top Influencers of 2023
In the age of social media, athletes have a unique platform to share their journeys, inspire fans, and promote their sport. Australian athletics is no exception. - 10 things to know about this summer athletics season
2024 is an Olympic year and all eyes for Australia’s athletes will be on qualifying for Paris. - La route de Paris – 300 days until the athletics at the Olympic Games
Check out which Australians are on track to compete in the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad in the French capital. - Hull caps sensational year with 5th place in Riga
Jess Hull has finished a marathon length season with fifth place in the Mile at the World Road Running Championships in Riga, Latvia. - 800m records at NSW All Schools
Ivy Boothroyd and Daniel Williams recorded the fastest 800m times in the 87 year history of the NSW All Schools Championships.
