2016 COBURG 6 HOUR CHAMPIONSHIPS
Another great set of results from the 2016 Coburg 6 Hour Championships, contested on Sunday 6th March 2016 at the Harold Stevens Reserve in Coburg. The 6AM start time proved its worth once again as the early cloud made for ideal running conditions until the sun broke through around 10AM, in conditions almost identical to last year. The last 2 hours saw the temperature quickly climb but everyone was able to knuckle down in the sunny conditions and see it out. As usual, runners were allocated to lane 1 and walkers were allocated to lane 3. This worked well. We also used a chip system for lap recording, thanks to Robyn and Brett Saxon of TrailsPlus.
The Men’s 6 Hour Run Championship was a ripper with Francesco Ciancio giving a running lesson to all present. Last year, he came 2nd with 83.695km, beating the current Australian record but having to play second fiddle to Dion Finocchiro who won with 85.037km. This time he was out to make amends and that he did, powering through to a new Australian Open and M35 6 Hour record of 85.265km. Behind him, Kevin Muller was on his own record breaking mission and he was also successful, bettering Yiannis Kouros’ M45 record distance of 78.400km with a masterful 80.681km.
6 Hour Run Men
1. Francesco Ciancio VIC 85.265 km Aust Open/M35 Record
2. Kevin Muller NSW 80.681 km Aust M45 Record
3. Stuart Hughes VIC 69.461 km
4. Omar Farooq VIC 67.742 km
5. Shane Lawtey VIC 65.984 km
6. Gabor Jakus VIC 64.892 km
7. Peter Black VIC 64.405 km
8. David Jennings VIC 64.261 km
9. Mal Gamble VIC 64.256 km
10. Simon Austin VIC 62.192 km
11. John Winterburn VIC 60.681 km
12. Trevor Marsh VIC 60.027 km
13. Tim Green TAS 58.913 km
14. Xavier Meade VIC 53.600 km
15. Rohit Sharma VIC 49.793 km
16. David Wilson VIC 30.400 km
17. Jonathon Aspey VIC 18.400 km
The Women’s 6 Hour Run Championship saw an inaugural win to Amelia Griffith in her first track ultra. Although a new runner on the ultra scene, Amelia is a real talent and confirmed her credentials with an excellent 70.945km.
6 Hour Run Women
1. Amelia Griffith VIC 70.945 km
2. Lynne Maughan VIC 62.598 km
3. Sharon Scholz VIC 60.684 km
4. Emmy Nanscawen VIC 35.035 km
5. Cherise Bell VIC 25.600 km
The 6 Hour Walk Championships saw record breaking wins to Clarrie Jack and Michelle Thompson. Clarrie, having turned 70 recently, made short work of the current M70 6 Hour walk record of 50.741km, powering through to 512.227km. Michelle, a perennial winner here at Coburg, was the fastest walker overall and her winning distance of 55.782km bettered her W45 record distance of 55.731km and was only 83m short of her Australian Open record.
We also added a 2 person relay category this year to enable long time supporters Terry and Karyn O’Neill to participate. Walking in relay legs of 1 hour, they completed a distance of 50.974km.
6 Hour Walk Men
1. Clarrie Jack VIC 51.227 km Aust M70 Record
2. John Kilmartin VIC 47.338 km
3. Albin Hess VIC 45.063 km
4. Saul Richardson NSW 43.313 km
5. Gary Turner VIC 39.155 km
6. Louis Commins VIC 37.015 km
7. Ian Hoad VIC 36.642 km
8. Ken Carter VIC 23.463 km
6 Hour Walk Women
1. Michelle Thompson VIC 55.782 km Aust W45 Record
2. Sandra Howorth VIC 42.021 km
3. Liz Wrigley VIC 39.160 km
6 Hour Walk Relay
1. O’Neill Team VIC 50.974 km
All 4 winners showed how such an event should be tackled, with hourly laps splits of great consistency.
Francesco Ciancio 36, 36, 36, 35, 34 and 37 laps
Amelia Griffith 30, 32, 29, 29, 29 and 28 laps
Clarrie Jack 21, 21, 21, 20, 20 and 20 laps
Michelle Thompson 22, 23, 23, 23, 21 and 22 laps.