COBURG 24 HOUR CARNIVAL, HAROLD STEVENS ATHLETICS TRACK, COBURG, 9-10 APRIL 2022
Coburg 24 Race Certificates
Coburg 24 Hour Race Report
Coburg 24 Hour Results
Coburg 24 Hour Lapsplits
Coburg 24 Photo Galleries
Our 2022 Coburg 24 Hour Carnival saw a very healthy entry list of 110 athletes (83 runners and 27 walkers). Not everyone makes it to the start line each year and 2022 was no exception, with 95 athletes (70 runners and the 25 walkers) making it to the start line.
The Carnival boasted a variety of events – 24 Hour, 12 Hour, 6 Hour and Marathon – and saw us playing host as usual to the Victorian 24 Hour Track Championship.
Daytime conditions were perhaps a bit too warm, with temperatures peaking around 26C on Saturday before cooling to a pleasant 15C on Saturday night. Sunday dawned warm and sunny, ensuring more demanding conditions for our tired runners and walkers.
In the women’s 24 Hour Run, new Zealander Jaime Stevenson led the field for the first couple of hours, before Christy Lambert caught and passed her. From then on, it was Christy all the way, passing the 12 hour mark with 100.8km and eventually reaching a final distance of 175.348km in her first ever 24 hour run. Fleur Douy passed Jaime at the 14 hour mark and went on to take second with 166.592km, a lot further than last year. Jaime held on well to take third with 158.533km.
In the men’s 24 Hour Run, Dion Finocchiaro started like a train, intent on challenging his 6 hour and 100km PBs. He passed the 4 hour mark with 59.2km and looked on schedule for some great times. But it had been hot and Dion had been running hard, a combination that proved too much for him. He slowed in the fifth hour and eventually retired at 80km, reached in 5 hours and 38 minutes. With him now gone from the race, it was Simon Austin who found himself in the lead, ahead of David Patterson and Phil Ryan. Simon passed the 12 hour mark with 106km, around 10km ahead of David and Phil, and it was a case of just how big his win would be. He finished with 193.331km, nearly 17km ahead of Phil (176.582km) who had passed David in the final couple of hours, David finishing third with 163.596km.
24 Hour Run Women
1 Christy Lambert VIC 175.348 km
2 Fleur Douy VIC 166.592 km
3 Jaime Stevenson NZL 158.533 km
4 Heather Christison NSW 143.842 km
5 Karen Chan NSW 127.988 km
6 Annmarie Darcy VIC 126.225 km
7 Cassie Smith QLD 72.869 km
24 Hour Run Men
1 Simon Austin VIC 193.331 km
2 Phil Ryan VIC 176.582 km
3 David Patterson VIC 163.596 km
4 Scott Marden NSW 151.286 km
5 Dean Metcalf TAS 150.674 km
6 Luke McDougall VIC 138.024 km
7 Jason Williams VIC 131.063 km
8 John Timms VIC 118.013 km
9 Colin Tickner VIC 114.494 km
10 Jared Truscott VIC 101.187 km
11 Dylan Joseph NSW 91.356 km
12 Ryan O’Hara QLD 91.078 km
13 Liam Green VIC 89.600 km
14 Shai Waitford VIC 85.843 km
15 Bill Bardsley VIC 81.282 km
16 Jason Hyde VIC 80.000 km
16 Dion Finocchiaro VIC 80.000 km
18 Duc Do VIC 63.035 km
19 Ken Marsh VIC 62.205 km
20 Tom Henderson VIC 55.200 km
21 Adam Miller VIC 54.000 km
The 24 Hour Walk included 13 men and 4 women and boasted five international walkers of repute, all Centurions in their own countries (Remy Van Den Brand and Arie Kandelaars of the Netherlands, Andrew Titley of the Isle of Man and Erin and Dave Talcott of USA). Add in Australian Centurions Sharon and Justin Scholz, Pramesh Prasad and David Billett and we were going to be in for some very competitive and high quality walking.
In the women’s 24 Hour walk, Erin led out, with Sharon always within a lap of so. Alas, the American started to suffer after 6 hours and surrendered the lead to Sharon. By the 8 hour mark, she had been forced to retire, leaving it to Sharon to power through to her 9th centurion finish, reaching the 100 mile mark in just under 23 hours. Content with her day’s work, she then retired, Further back, NSW walker Linda Christison was intent on her own centurion qualification. Things looked good at the half way mark – she had covered 87km in the first 12 hours and only needed 74km in the second half. Alas, the wheels fell off at the 20 hour mark with her goal in sight, as her Parkinson’s Disease kicked in, and she was forced off the track. To her credit, she came back on after recovering, eventually completing 149.136km in the 24 hours. It was so disappointing for her.
The men’s 24 Hour Walk also had its own dramas, as first Pramesh Prasad, then Dave Talcott and finally Arie Kandelaars succumbed to the conditions and retired. Justin Scholz took control after the first couple of hours. Walking strongly, he passed the 12 hour mark with 99km, some 5km ahead of Remy Van Den Brand and seemingly well in control. But Remy had timed his walk to perfection and, from then on, he gradually bridged the gap, eventually catching and passing Justin with 4 hours to go. Remy reached the 100 mile mark in 21:04:52 and continued on, walking to a final distance of 175.029km. Justin reached his 100 mile goal in 21:17:26 (his 19th centurion walk) and stopped, his goal achieved. David Billett and Andrew Titley also reached the 100 mile mark (in 22:33:38 and 22:48:59 respectively), Andrew also content to stop then but David keen to walk on to a final distance of 170.137km
24 Hour Walk Women
1 Sharon Scholz VIC 161.668 km
2 Linda Christison NSW 149.136 km
3 Fonibear Williams VIC 60.125 km
4 Erin Talcott USA 58.343 km
24 Hour Walk Men
1 Remy van den Brand NED 175.029 km
2 David Billett SA 170.137 km
3 Andrew Titley IOM 162.114 km
4 Justin Scholz VIC 161.223 km
5 Paul Sweet VIC 132.591 km
6 Mark Kani VIC 121.360 km
7 Beow Lim VIC 111.342 km
8 David Isaacs VIC 91.300 km
9 Arie Kandelaars NED 73.931 km
10 Dave Talcott USA 70.368 km
11 Dennis Lazar VIC 51.218 km
12 Pramesh Prasad VIC 49.295 km
13 Laurie Tinson VIC 16.034 km
Five walkers completed 100 Miles (160.934km) within the requisite 24 Hours.
C83 Remy van den Brand NED 21:04:52
C61 Justin Scholz VIC 21:17:26
C50 David Billett SA 22:33:38
C84 Andrew Titley IOM 22:48:59
C63 Sharon Scholz VIC 22:53:06
The 24 Hour Carnival also hosted the Racewalking Australia 100km walk championships, with placings as shown below.
RWA 100km Walk Championship Women
1 Sharon Scholz VIC 13:31:12
2 Linda Christison NSW 13:54:57
RWA 100km Walk Championship Men
1 Justin Scholz VIC 12:08:27
2 Remy van den Brand NED 12:47:08
3 Andrew Titley IOM 13:21:33
The meet also included 12 Hour and 6 Hour Run and Walk and Marathon Run Championships. The Marathons started at midday on Saturday, the 12H races started at 6PM on Saturday while the 6 Hour races started at 6AM on the Sunday morning.
The runs were won by Michelle Thompson, Matt Callaghan, Nicola Wright, Steven O’Connell (a fine 122.636km for the 12H), Michelle Barwick and Dan Camac (a fine 76.144km in the 6H). The 6H was the most competitive of the shorter runs, with fine times also by Kevin Muller (74.220 km), Kay Bretz (69.749 km) and Stuart Hughes (67.311 km).
Marathon Run Women
1 Michelle Thompson VIC 4:20:16 km
2 Vanessa North VIC 5:18:36 km
3 Robyn Fletcher VIC 5:26:41 km
Marathon Run Men
1 Matt Callaghan VIC 3:40:54 km
2 Michael Collins VIC 3:49:18 km
3 Richard McCormick VIC 4:10:59 km
4 Peter Mahoney VIC 4:43:35 km
5 Stephen Pyle VIC 5:02:17 km
6 Paul O’Brien VIC 5:42:07 km
DNF James Wolsencroft VIC (24.568 km) km
12 Hour Run Women
1 Nicola Wright VIC 83.250 km
2 Lib Smith TAS 79.271 km
3 Aovana Timmerman VIC 70.643 km
12 Hour Run Men
1 Steven O’Connell VIC 122.636 km
2 Daragh O’Loughlin VIC 118.311 km
3 Mark Henderson VIC 114.285 km
4 Greg Wilson VIC 100.940 km
5 John Vlachos VIC 100.939 km
6 Hugo McNeill VIC 98.369 km
7 Danny McCarthy VIC 78.610 km
8 Rohit Sharma NSW 76.317 km
9 Trevor Marsh VIC 55.904 km
10 Greg Ponych VIC 55.044 km
11 John Nuttall QLD 50.314 km
11 Mark Sims VIC 50.314 km
13 Simon McFarlane QLD 40.423 km
6 Hour Run Women
1 Michelle Barwick VIC 53.750 km
2 Diane Nicholls VIC 53.245 km
3 Tracy Feiner VIC 46.013 km
6 Hour Run Men
1 Dan Camac SA 76.144 km
2 Kevin Muller QLD 74.220 km
3 Kay Bretz VIC 69.749 km
4 Stuart Hughes VIC 67.311 km
5 Paul Pratt VIC 66.249 km
6 Craig Vickers VIC 61.323 km
7 Martin Buden VIC 60.500 km
8 Troy Brown VIC 57.017 km
9 Paul Gibbs VIC 55.532 km
10 Kevin Combe VIC 51.766 km
11 Daniel Lewis VIC 49.134 km
12 Patrick Byrne VIC 47.202 km
13 Douglas Leith VIC 45.481 km
The shorter walks were won by Marnie Grace, Saul Richardson, Sue Fitton and Ken Carter. Our challenge remains to attract bigger fields for these events, which continue to be under subscribed.
12 Hour Walk Women
1 Marnie Grace VIC 67.373 km
2 Lorraine Billett SA 39.192 km
3 Elise Hess VIC 12.024 km
12 Hour Walk Men
1 Saul Richardson NSW 64.027 km
2 Albin Hess VIC 54.906 km
3 Anubhav Tewari VIC 43.115 km
6 Hour Walk Women
1 Sue Fitton VIC 31.148 km
6 Hour Walk Men
1 Ken Carter VIC 22.292 km
The perpetual trophies were awarded as follows
Victorian 24 Hour Track Champion: Simon Austin (VIC)
Coburg Endurance Award: Ryan O’Hara (QLD)
Jim Gleeson Trophy: Justin Scholz (VIC) and Sharon Scholz (VIC)
Gordon Smith Trophy: Remy van den Brand (NED)
A number of walk performances bettered Australian age group records:
Linda Christison 50 Km Walk W60 Residential 6:40:03
Linda Christison 50 Miles W60 Residential 11:03_40
Linda Christison 100 Km W60 Residential 13:54:57
Linda Christison 12 Hour Walk W60 Residential 87.132 km
Lorraine Billett 6 Hour Walk W75 All Comers and Residential 39.192 km
Remy Van Den Brand 24 Hour Walk M45 All Comers 175.029 km
David Billett 24 Hour Walk M50 Residential 170.137 km
2022 was the 35th annual staging of this iconic event. We will be back in April 2023 for another exciting weekend of racing. See you all then.
Tim Erickson
Race Director
Saturday 16th April 2022