Vetrunner December 2007.pub - ACT Veterans Athletics Club

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Page 14 — December 2007 VetrunnerJOHN BUSTEED ALMOSTPULLED OFF A REMARKABLE DOUBLEJohn Busteed went very close to pulling off a memorabledouble achievement when he narrowly missed out on thegold medal in his 200 th handicap run at last month’s eventon the tough O’Connor Ridge course. Six years ago he didmanage a special “double” when he earned his ‘150 runs’T-shirt on his 55 th birthday. Now John becomes the 13 thperson to complete 200 handicaps and to date has eightmedals from his 200 outings (one gold, three silver and fourbronze).John has been a member for 25 years running his firstmonthly handicap on the old Hospital Jetty course at Acton(which has not been used for many years) in July 1983.Until a heart disease scare in 1992 John had always runthe long course but on his return to running he was forcedto do the shorter event and more recently the WaddellSeries (walk handicap). His efforts to overcome his heartproblem and to make a graduated return to participationearned John the 1993 Heart Foundation Trophy.Prior to his health issues John was an enthusiastic longdistance runner – participating regularly with the CrossCountry Club, mid week BBQ Stakes, City to Surf andother fun runs, distance and middle distance races on thetrack representing both our club and South Canberra AC aswell as in most ACTVAC events. He has also completedmany half marathons and marathons (his marathon PB isan impressive 2.47).John served four years on committee (from 1994 to 1970and was a member of the handicap sub-committee for 14years (from 1988 to 2001).Now that he has retired John is a regular participantwith the “Tuesday Group” (a large and friendly crowd thatmeet at Black Mt Peninsula 9am every Tuesday morningfor a run and/or walk for approximately an hour beforegathering for morning tea).Congratulations John!DOWN TO THE WIREWith two handicaps to go, O’Connor Ridge provides one of the last opportunities for participants to make their mark inthe 2007 point score competition. With a difficulty rating of 1.16 and the presence of both hills and humidity the wordmost used to describe this month’s event was ‘challenging’. In his final handicap report John Stoney looks at how severalparticipants fared.Thomas SeriesW55 Barbara Tucker brought home the Gold this monthwhen she finished several minutes ahead of the Silver andBronze medallists. Starting off Group 19, Barbara stoppedthe clock at 1.08.41 (47.01 net) with a 5.53 per km rate anda very respectable age percentage of 74.9. M60 HowardHollow did well to take the Silver just ahead of M45 RichardFaulks. Coming off a Group 27 start his time of 1.11.04(43.24 net), per rate of 5.25 and age percentage of 72.0 wasenough to hold off a flying Richard who achieved the raredistinction of picking up a medal off a Group 40 start. Heblitzed the course finishing only 8 seconds further back in1.11.12 (33.52 net) with a per km rate of 4.14 and age percentageof 82.4.Howard reported “I have not run the course before butenjoyed it. I prefer short sharp inclines to long energy sappingpulls. Naturally I was pretty happy with the run. Ihave felt lately that my running has improved and when Ifound myself passing people at an early stage who I amnormally behind I thought I was having a good day, so Ikept on pushing myself.” He went on to say “However, Ibegan to fade around the last kilometre and found the lasthill pretty hard. I think I lost a bit of momentum after thatand did not pass many people. I had not really expected towin a medal as I knew a lot of runners were ahead of mebut still I was happy with my time.” Howard’s Silver is hisfirst ever handicap medal.Richard said that he “thought the course was very challengingwith many hills. Prior to the GDE, my runningfriends and I used to run the Eucalypt trail at Bruce everyweek, including part of this course so I knew the area well.I was very surprised to run well as I ran the second leg ofthe Brindabella Classic the week before and that was verytough but the hills in that may have helped me. I liked thecourse but many seemed to find it very hard- I saw a lot ofrunners walking.” Like Howard, this is Richard’s firsthandicap medal and “as I start from group 40 - no doubtfurther back now! - I never thought I would so it was a wonderfulsurprise.”Richard was not the only person to be blitzing thecourse. While ineligible, W50 Kathy Southgate literallymatched Richard’s overall performance (Group 39 start,1.10.57 time - 34.17 net – and per km rate of 4.17) and indoing so she achieved an age percentage of 95.7 which is
effectively of world class standard. As Alan Duus explained“The way we work out the age percentage is to use the publishedworld track records for 3K, 5K and 10K for agegroups W35, W40…to W85, and M35, M40…to M90. Ourlist of world records is updated every January before thestart of the first handicap. We interpolate to get results forevery age (eg. 36, 37, 38, 39 etc.) and for the length of theevent. We then apply the course difficulty factor which wedetermine from the race results. Kathy scored 95.7% at theO’Connor Ridge handicap. As far as I am aware this is thehighest score by a vet since we changed over to the newsystem at the beginning of 2006.”Kathy herself said “I thought my run went very well. Istarted near the back, at about group 39 I think. The firstbit was a long gentle downhill and I like that bit too, juststretch the legs out and enjoy the ride. About 5 to 6kmsinto the race (the bit along the track behind the caravanpark) was pretty hard going at times but I was catching alot of people there so that kept me focused. I expected tofinish somewhere in the middle of the field and had no ideathat I was finishing near the front. So yes, I was surprisedat the result. I was also pleased with the overall time, giventhe difficulty of the course. I was really surprised at the agepercentage. That's the highest I've ever scored on anything.”Kathy is obviously in a rich vein of form at the moment– the following weekend, Kathy set a new Australianrecord W50 3K on the track with an age percentage of95.8%.Behind the medallists the frontrunners in the overall2007 point score series were attempting to stake their penultimateclaims. M40 Bruce Wight just missed the medalsby a four second margin but his 147 points haul moved himinto second place overall in the Thomas, Marco Falzarano’s146 enabling him to join Jim White (135) on equal third.Richard Faulks medal winning effort moves him into 5 thjust ahead of Maria O’Reilly (128). While all made upground on leader Steve Bradford, his current lead of 89points still gives him a commanding lead going into thefinal event.FrylinkW55 Wanda Stewart returned to the medal winnersdais for the second time this year when she took out theGold this month from a Group 10 start, 34.00 (27.05 net)time, per km rate of 6.46 and age percentage of 62.1. W30Jodie Sims won her inaugural handicap medal with herSilver coming off a Group 23 start, 34.33 (21.58 net) time,per km rate of 5.30 and age percentage of 58.5. Paul Noonerounded out the rostrum from a group 12 start, 35.00 (26.35net) time, 6.39 per km rate and age percentage of 49.7.Wanda observed “I was pleasantly surprised with thecourse as I had read in the October Vetrunner that itwas going to be a 5 kilometre run, so when I reached thehalf way mark I realised it was only 4 this gave me a realincentive. I thoroughly enjoyed the course. I've had a hamstringproblem for some months now and apart from my legfeeling a little tight at the start, I feel it is definitely on themend” Wanda’s previous medal was also a Gold at KowenForest in March this year.Jodie thought the course “was pretty good, the ups anddown made it interesting.” She went on to say “My runwent well (obviously to have earned a medal). I felt prettygood, and was motivated to cross the finish line before myhusband Brad who started in a higher group (and was tryingto catch me)! Some words of encouragement from MumDecember 2007 Vetrunner – Page 15and Dad (Kathy and Geoff Sims) who I passed going theother way as they head out for the longer course, as well asthe motivation to see my toddler who was at the kids tentall meant I crossed the finish line in time for a medal. Ijoined the Vets earlier this year so this is my first ever runningmedal…. But maybe if I practice and get faster itwon’t be the last!. Jodie also mentioned “A special thankyou to all the officials and helpers, I’ve really enjoyed allthe monthly handicap events I’ve participated in – and thechild minding is a great idea!”Paul said “I thought the course was fairly challenginggiven the hills and humidity; the run went OK, but wasvery glad to see the finish line. I was surprised to finish4th as I thought I was further back in the field and one ofthe other place getters went past me like I was standingstill!” This is Paul’s second medal as he won a bronzemedal last year at Curtin in the Frylink event.In the pointscore competition Kerry Boden’s 67 pointsfor the day reduced the gap somewhat to leader Ken White(62) to 14 points. Katie Forestier (63) moved into third justahead of John Parker (48) and Bob Chapman (70). With 40points separating this top five, anyone of them can still winit.WaddellM75 Greg O’Neill strolled to the Gold this month, hisGroup 5 start, 40.49 (37.59 net) time, per km rate of 9.30and age percentage of 62.9 putting him comfortably aheadof the next eligible walker. M60 John Busteed celebratedhis 200 th monthly handicap in style by pick up the Silvermedal. Coming off a Group 9 start, he needed a 42.07(36.32 net) time, per km rate of 9.08 and age percentage of56.8 to stay ahead of the speedy M55 Rick Hatcher. Rick’sBronze came off a Group 38 start, 42.19 (25.39 net) time,per km rate of 6.25 and age percentage of 78.6.Rick reports “At the start of the course, officials had toldme that the course was downhill to the turn around anduphill all the way back. But it wasn't!! Some of the uphillwas steep, some was gentle, but none of it was extremelylong. I think that everyone enjoyed it. It was pleasantweather for the start of daylight saving. There did not appearto be many who arrived late after forgetting to puttheir clocks forward.”He observed “Having an out-and-back course made iteasy to see the order of those in front which helped pushoneself a little harder. Quite close to the finish line, I couldsee John Busteed pushing hard so I had to give him a yellthat I was on his tail. Perhaps I should not have!!!! I couldn'tget past him. But I was extremely surprised to find thatI won the bronze. Let's hope the official handicappers don'tpenalise me too much for the November event!” Prior tothis event Rick had won 3 gold, 7 silver and 4 bronze medals,and is “Looking forward to the final race for the year.”In the pointscore competition Rick’s efforts saw himbecome the big mover, his 38 points closing the gap toleader John Suiter (33) to 9 points. Dave Mackenzie (36)keeps his chances alive, with 4 th placed Trish Thomas (22)and 5 th Alan Burdon (28) possibly losing a bit too muchground coming into the final event.Continued on Page 16
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