COBURG 24 HOUR CARNIVAL, HAROLD STEVENS ATHLETICS TRACK, COBURG, 17-18 APRIL 2021

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Coburg 24 Hour Results
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Our 2021 Coburg 24 Hour Carnival saw a record entry list of 140 athletes (122 runners and 18 walkers). Not everyone makes it to the start line each year and 2021 was no exception, with 122 athletes (104 runners and the 18 walkers) making it to the start line.

The Carnival boasted a variety of events – 24 Hour, 12 Hour, 6 Hour, Marathon and 100km – and saw us playing host to the  AURA Australian 100km Track Championships.

The weekend proved just about perfect, with temperatures peaking around 19C on Saturday before cooling to a pleasant 11C on Saturday night. We saw a brief stint of rain during the night but Sunday dawned overcast and cool, ensuring the good conditions continued overall.

The 24 Hour runs saw Karen Mickle (190.308km) and Daragh O’Loughlin (232.470km) take line honours. Both runners recorded PBs.

In the women’s race, Karen led from start to finish. She had come third at Coburg in 2019 with a PB 173km. This year, she was a vastly improved runner and was ahead of that schedule the whole way. She passed the 12 hour mark with just over 108km so was well on target to better 200km. She faded in the second half, but still hung in there to record a PB 190.308km for her win. Annabel Hepworth had gone out with her early, but was forced to stop after 70km. That left Fleur Douy in second place and she passed the halfway mark with 102km, just under 2km ahead of Cheryl Symons. Alas, Fleur then started to slow, eventually struggling home for fifth place (147.255km). There were no such problems for Cheryl who came home strongly to take second with 188.449km. She had been making up ground on Karen over the last 6 hours but could not bridge the gap. Nikki Thompson started conservatively but worked her way up through the field to take third place with 184.454km.

In the men’s race, Philip Balnave led out for the first 4 hours before being caught by Darren Linney. Darren then led for the next couple of hours before being caught by Daragh O’Loughlin. Once Daragh hit the lead, it was all over, as he increased his lead hour by hour. He passed the 12H mark with 122.5km and did not slow much at all in the second half, winning with a PB 232.470km. David Eadie was perhaps the surprise packet of the day. He had started conservatively and did not reach second spot until the 23rd hour of the race. His finish time of 209.016km was a PB and an impressively even effort. Like David, Ben Nicholls had also started conservatively and was in 4th place behind Dan Camac for most of the second half. It was only in the final hour that he passed Dan to take third spot with a distance of 201.512km. Dan finished fourth with 200.000km, after stepping off the track with 8 minutes left on the clock. Overall, it was an enthralling race to watch.

24 Hour Run Women
1. Karen Mickle VIC 190.308 km
2. Cheryl Symons VIC 188.449 km
3. Nikki Thomson VIC 184.454 km
4. Kris Ryan QLD 156.999 km
5. Fleur Douy VIC 147.255 km
6. Leigh Hawkes NSW 143.604 km
7. Lib Smith TAS 127.382 km
8. Sarah Barnett SA 100.939 km
9. Cassie Smith QLD 88.971 km
10. Annabel Hepworth NSW 70.000 km
11. Jody Daff VIC 48.400 km

24 Hour Run Men
1. Daragh O’Loughlin VIC 232.470 km
2. David Eadie VIC 209.016 km
3. Ben Nicholls VIC 201.512 km
4. Dan Camac SA 200.000 km
5. Philip Balnave NSW 172.177 km
6. Patrick Farnan VIC 168.036 km
7. Duc Do VIC 148.682 km
8. Adam Fitzgerald VIC 146.563 km
9. Mathew Schubert VIC 144.003 km
10. Matt Brassington VIC 142.243 km
11. Bill Bardsley VIC 137.843 km
12. Tony Ayris SA 135.266 km
13. Dean Metcalf TAS 133.646 km
14. Stephen Lewis QLD 122.108 km
15. Angelo Portelli VIC 120.039 km
16. Luke McDougall VIC 119.602 km
17. Hugh Hunter VIC 107.332 km
18. Zackary Beasley VIC 106.400 km
19. Mike Cardiff VIC 106.400 km
20. Frank Palermo VIC 106.008 km
21. William Rayner VIC 100.400 km
22. Darren Linney SA 100.000 km
23. Richard North VIC 99.200 km
24. Nathan Stradling VIC 94.137 km
25. Jason Hyde VIC 90.820 km
26. Stephan Kent SA 90.800 km
27. Mike Smith VIC 65.200 km
28. Kerry Clapham VIC 54.740
29. Simon McFarlane VIC 53.082
30. Jevvan McPhee VIC 50.000

The 24 Hour Walk saw 8 men but, alas, no women. Victorian racewalker Pramesh Prasad led from the start, his main aim to reach 100 miles (160.934km). This he did in fine style, in a time of 20:43:42. Justin Scholz was next to reach 100 miles, with 21:32:28. Neither walker was keen to do much more, and they ambled a few more laps over the remaining hours to clock up final distances of 165.756 (Justin) and 163.559km (Pramesh). Sim Beow Lim took third place with a good firstup 122.998km.

24 Hour Walk Men
1. Justin Scholz VIC 165.756 km
2. Pramesh Prasad VIC 162.559 km
3. Sim Beow Lim VIC 122.998 km
4. David Isaacs VIC 107.573 km
5. Mark Kani VIC 103.468 km
6. John Timms VIC 102.049 km
7. Anubhav Tewari VIC 61.016 km
8. George Alexandropoulos VIC 50.327 km

Two walkers completed 100 Miles (160.934km) within the requisite 24 Hours. Pramesh was awarded Centurion badge C81 for his first centurion walk For Justin, it was his 15th centurion walk.

C81 Pramesh Prasad VIC 20:43:42
C61 Justin Scholz VIC 21:32:28

The 24 Hour Carnival also hosted the Racewalking Australia 100km walk championships, with placings as shown below.

RWA 100km Walk Championship Men
1. Justin Scholz VIC 11:49:11
2. Pramesh Prasad VIC 12:43:46
3. Sim Beow Lim VIC 19:38:04

The meet also included 12 Hour and 6 Hour Run and Walk Championships. The 12H races started at midday on Saturday while the 6 Hour races started at 6AM on the Sunday morning. The 12 Hour Run Men was particularly exciting, with Ross McLean (127.371km) holding out David Wilson (125.371km).

12 Hour Run Women
1. Kirsten Maplestone VIC 81.268 km
2. Lucy Stabb VIC 73.525 km
3. Connie Schroeder VIC 41.470 km

12 Hour Run Men
1. Ross McLean VIC 127.371 km
2. David Wilson VIC 125.712 km
3. Greg Ponych QLD 119.477 km
4. Cody McKellar VIC 112.134 km
5. James Bodycoat VIC 111.167 km
6. Cooper Wilson VIC 107.880 km
7. Ken Marsh VIC 107.302 km
8. John Yoon VIC 106.556 km
9. Garrath Holdstock VIC 93.113 km
10. Andrew Corbett VIC 90.421 km
11. Bryn Ward VIC 86.483 km
12. Steven O’Connell VIC 68.011 km
13. Hayden Turner-Davey VIC 67.182 km
14. Regan Doyle VIC 63.035 km

12 Hour Walk Women
1. Elise Hess VIC 49.823 km

12 Hour Walk Men
1. Laurie Tinson VIC 75.827 km
2. Albin Hess VIC 73.470 km
3. Patrick Stiles VIC 55.404 km
4. Ian Hoad VIC 43.645 km

6 Hour Run Women
1. Nikki Wynd VIC 59.027 km
2. Jeanine Edmands VIC 57.360 km
3. Nicola Wright VIC 51.072 km
4. Meg Dunn VIC 48.819 km

6 Hour Run Men
1. Stuart Elliott VIC 72.762 km
2. Thomas Lumb VIC 70.231 km
3. Damiano Ambrosini VIC 64.365 km
4. Gordon Ewing VIC 57.790 km
5. Francis Cosson VIC 53.553 km
6. Colin Tickner VIC 50.633 km
7. Shadi Samir ACT 50.179 km
8. Dan Fitton VIC 47.604 km
9. Francesco Ciancio VIC 46.023 km
10. Rohit Sharma VIC 45.202 km
11. Bradley Sala VIC 45.095 km

6 Hour Walk Women
1. Marnie Grace VIC 45.421 km
2. Tracy Colbert VIC 33.659 km
3. Donna-Marie Elms VIC 20.000 km

6 Hour Walk Men
1. Tony Wilms VIC 29.012 km
2. Ken Carter VIC 20.882 km

A 100km run was added for the first time and saw 8 starters. Clay Dawson showed wonderful form to win the men’s race with 7:07:33, ahead of Andrew Heylen (7:46:15) and Anthony Boyle (8:06:41). Clay was under 7 hour pace for most of the race, but just lost his momentum a little in the final few hours. Karen Chan was the only female entrant and ran solidly to finish with 15:42:14.

100km Run Women
1. Karen Chan NS 15:42:14

100km Run Men
1. Clay Dawson QLD 7:07:33
2. Andrew Heyden NSW 7:46:15
3. Anthony Boyle NSW 8:06:41
4. Stuart Hughes VIC 9:41:43
5. Phil Ryan VIC 10:48:17
6. George Mihalakellis VIC 13:57:53
Axel Carlsson VIC (42.805 km)

The AURA Australian Championship placings went to the first 3 finishers in each race.

AURA Australian 100km Track Run Championship – Women
1. Karen Chan NSW 15:42:14

AURA Australian 100km Track Run Championship – Men
1. Clay Dawson QLD 7:07:33
2. Andrew Heyden NSW 7:46:15
3. Anthony Boyle NSW 8:06:41

Marathon Runs were scheduled for the first time in 2019 and attracted 12 entrants. This year, we had 23 starters, a pleasing increase. Wins to Nicole Vaughan (4:12:41) and Paul Pratt (3:03:52).

Marathon Run Women
1. Nicole Vaughan VIC 4:12:41
2. Kaz Tappouras NSW 4:14:15
3. Merle Want VIC 4:35:38
4. Michelle Edwards VIC 4:44:25
5. Jacqueline Tol VIC 5:08:59
6. Jane Sturzaker VIC 5:09:56
7. Aovana Timmerman VIC 5:52:37
Vanessa North VIC (36.154 km)

Marathon Run Men
1. Paul Pratt VIC 3:03:52
2. Adrian Cilmi VIC 3:22:53
3. Oliver Carey NSW 3:24:45
4. Fraser Bennett VIC 3:39:55
5. Paul Jenkins VIC 3:49:42
6. Matt Callaghan VIC 3:51:01
7. Peter Mahoney VIC 3:57:26
8. Jim Poussard VIC 4:03:50
9. Patrick Byrne VIC 4:21:33
10. Kai Ooi VIC 4:48:51
11. John Kaparelis VIC 5:04:30
12. Zhuojin Miao VIC 5:06:22
13. Kevin Barry VIC 5:06:43
14. Luke Gibson VIC 6:04:09
Joshua Healey VIC (30.584 km)

The perpetual trophies were awarded as follows

Victorian 24 Hour Track Champion: Daragh O’Loughlin (VIC)
Coburg Endurance Award: Matt Brassington (VIC)
Jim Gleeson Trophy: Pramesh Prasad (VIC)
Gordon Smith Trophy: Pramesh Prasad (VIC)

A number of performances bettered Australian age group records, so have been submitted to the relevant governing bodies.

Clay Dawson 100km Run M35 7:07:33
Grey Poynch 12 Hour Run M55 119.477 km
Cody McKellar 12 Hour Run M20 112.134 km
Pramesh Prasad 100 Miles Walk M45 20:43:42
Pramesh Prasad 100 km Walk M45 11:49:11
Pramesh Prasad 12 Hour Walk M45 100.652 km
Pramesh Prasad 6 Hour Walk M45 52.693 km

2021 was the 34th annual staging of this iconic event. We will be back in April 2022 for another exciting weekend of racing. See you all then.

Tim Erickson
Race Director
Wednesday 28 April 2021