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BRYAN THOMAS reviews the 13thAnnual Chris Higgins Memorial800m Handicap that will take placeon Thursday, December 4.WHAT?This annual event is open to vets ofboth sexes and any age. It ishandicapped according to modifiedWMA (formerly WAVA) standardsrecognising age and genderdifferentials. Theoretically the firstrunner across the line is the best twolapperin the race.The handicapped starting procedureis the same as for the 800m in thePennington Series and is as follows:GOW7010 seconds W6515 M7519 W6024 M7027 W5532 M6533 W5039 W45 and M6044 W40 and M5549 W35 and M5053 W30 and M4557 M4061 M3564 seconds M30.WHY?Chris Higgins was a prominentpublic official and at the time of hisdeath he was Secretary of Treasury. Hewas also a popular and enthusiastic clubmember. Chris was a talented veteranathlete with PBs in all track eventsfrom 400m to 5000m and the marathonthat made him very competitive atnational level within the M45 agegroup.On a warm still evening in earlyDecember 1990 Chris collapsed at theend of an ACTVAC 3000m racesuffering a massive heart attack. Hewas unable to be revived and died onthe track.To commemorate his passing weconduct an annual 800m handicap raceduring our first track and field meet inDecember. This distance was chosenbecause it was Chris’s best andfavourite, and as he also really enjoyedrunning in handicap events it waslogical to make this special race an800m handicapWHEN?This year’s event will be conductedas the feature race of the Vets track andfield night on Thursday, December 4 atthe AIS Track (Bruce). It has alwaysbeen a popular event, usually attractinga large field of both men and women ofall ages and abilities. Everyone isencouraged to be part of this year’s raceand help commemorate the death ofChris and all our other friends withinveterans/masters athletics we have lostover the years. The event is a timelyreminder of our own mortality and theneed to look after our own health,respect our bodies and be mindful of thewell-being of others.WHO?Previous top place getters are listedin the chart.Some fascinating trivia from thehistory of this popular race:Most major placings:10 Tony Booth (2 firsts, 2 seconds, a third, afifth and 4 sixths.)8 Kevin Chamberlain (2 firsts, 4 seconds, aDecember Vetrunner — Page 7THE ANNUAL CHRIS HIGGINS MEMORIAL RACERace 1 — 19911. Tony Murray M402. Gary Hand M453. Denis Smith M454. Elaine Cooper W305. Keith Perroux M656. Tony Booth M50Race 2 — 19921. Denis Smith M452. Richard Game M453. Nev Madden M354. Ian Boyd M405. Tony Booth M506. Terry Scott M45Race 3 — 19931. Tony Booth M502. Geoff Sims M453. Merv Collins M654. Nev Madden M355. Jeremy Turner M306. Peter Ward M45Race 4 — 19941. Elaine Cooper W352. Tony Booth M553. Margaret Taylor W454. Fran Harris W505. Merv Collins M656. Ken Daniels M55Race 5 — 19951. Kevin Chamberlain M452. Tony Booth M553. Peter Ward M454. Ken Daniels M555. Stuart J Reid M606. Eric Hodge M50Race 6 — 19961. Rosemary Longstaff W452. Kevin Chamberlain M503. Elaine Cooper W354. Merv Collins M705. Keith Perroux M706. Tony Booth M55Race 7 — 19971. Ken Daniels M602. Kevin Chamberlain M503. Ian Boyd M454. Damien Ruttledge M305. Ken Phillips M306. John Neil M45Race 8 — 19981. Tony Booth M602. Kevin Chamberlain M503. Damien Rutledge M304. John Neil M455. Ian Boyd M456. Jill Brown W45third and a fourth.)4 Elaine Cooper (a first, second, third and afourth.)4 Ken Daniels (a first, fourth, fifth and a sixth.)3 Merv Collins, Nev Madden and DamienRutledge.2 Ian Boyd, Mick Konemann, John Morton,Keith Perroux, Geoff Sims, Denis Smith, PeterWard and Phil White.Women have won twice: ElaineCooper in 1994 and Rosemary Longstaffin 1996. Women have finished in the topsix on 10 occasions.A backmarker. M30’s and M35’s)has only won once when DamienRutledge stormed home on the rainsoaked grass track at Woden in the 1999race. Backmarkers have only beenplaced in the top six on 7 occasions.M45 age group has had fourvictories while the M60 and M55 haveeach won twice. W30, W35, M30 andM40 have enjoyed one win each. Noother age group have yet managed afirst place.Merv Collins broke the ACT M70800m Record in the 1996 race, (this wasallowable because he started at the“gun”). In the same race Keith Perrouxwho had led Merv for all but the final50m also went under Gordon Boag’sexisting record.Phil White was an appropriatewinner of the tenth race (December2000) because a decade earlier he wasalso the winner of the 3000m (December1990) which Chris collapsedimmediately after finishing. To provehis win in 2000 was not a “fluke” he didit again the following year and sobecame the event’s first and only “backto back” winner.THE TOP SIX IN THE PAST CHRIS HIGGINS HANDICAP RACESRace 9 — 19991. Damien Rutledge M302. Kevin Chamberlain M503. Tony Booth M604. Annie Van Herck W455. Ken Daniels M606. Robbie Costmeyer M50Race 10 — 20001. Phil White M452. Elaine Cooper W403. John Morton M404. Kevin Chamberlain M505. Mick Konemann M356. Tony Booth M60Race 11 — 20011. Phil White M452. Nev Madden M453. Kevin Chamberlain M554. Mick Konemann M355. Steve Bradford M456. Tony Booth M60Race 12 — 20021. Kevin Chamberlain M552. John Morton M403. Geoff Sims M504. Colin Farlow M405. Dale Moore M406. Maureen Rossiter W50