Sri Chinmoy 10km/4km Fun-Runs 2011

A dusting of fresh snow on the distant Brinbabellas was fitting backdrop for this year's Sri Chinmoy Labour Day 10 km & 4 km Fun-Runs from Canberra's Acton Ferry Terminal.

Yes it may say October on the calendar, but the breeze across the lake this morning missed its appointment by about 3 months. Thankfully the sun shone and post-race pancakes were warm and scrumptious, leaving a cheerful gathering dispersing to their various Monday holiday pursuits.

Stuart Grey showed his cleanest heels in the 10 km run, his 35:37 a really decent time in the cool breeze, with Tony Piazza and Mark van deer Plaeg filling out the podium positions. Alex Gossman ran a super 43:32 to take out the Male 50-59; Jim White winning the Male 60-69 in 50:55 and the inexhaustible Bob Chapman leading home the Male 70+ division in 57:36.

Meanwhile, Kim Wilmshurst dominated the women's field with her fine 41:48, ahead of Lydia Stove and Patricia McKibbin. Diana Wright took the honours among the Female 50-59s in 1:00:26; with the evergreen Caroline Campbell taking the Female 60-69s with an impressive 54:17.

It's not often that an entrant wins a race outright from the Under 13 Girls category – yet that's just what Keely Small achieved with her superb run over 4 km of 15:35! She was nearly 9 minutes ahead of the first Female 17 and Over runner, Philippa Brotchie in 22:32.

Gary Potter took out the Male 17 and Over category with 16:02; Callum Burns winning the Boys Under 13s in 16:27 and Nathan Runge the Boys Under 17s in 17:09.

Despite Winter's final fling, a wonderful morning was enjoyed by runners and organisers alike.

Full results are now published along with a photo album from the course.

The Sri Chinmoy Sydney Labour Day 10 km & 4 km Fun-Runs were held from the Acton Ferry Terminal along the Sri Chinmoy 10 km Recreational Running Course on 3 October 2011. Full results by age category for each of the distances follow:

Sri Chinmoy Labour Day 10 km run, 3 October 2011 full results by category>>

Sri Chinmoy Labour Day 4 km run, 3 October 2011 full results by category>>

The cold weather of the early morning, which threatened to provide the wettest  Sri Chinmoy10-kilometre run for some time, rapidly gave way to sunshine and perfect running conditions.

For this runner, it was the first race since a car accident, three and a half month ago, had left me in hospital (for a brief time) and unable to run (for a longer time). I hadn’t run so far for several months, and I was overtaken by many well-trained people, but the hilly bitumen course proved to be an excellent venue to return to my running.

Out on the field, I couldn’t not witness the excitement the 4km “sprint” race, in which the first four people were all members of the phenomenal Torly family, all winning for different categories. But while I didn’t know who was winning, or even who was behind me, there was plenty of excitement for me as I transcended my own injuries and raced to the end, never stopping to rest. At all the races in which I’d helped with timing or registration, the pancakes had never tasted so good.

In the 10km race, Anthony Kennedy came home first in 36:21, followed seconds later by Chey Pettingill and Stuart Grey. In the womens' division, Mace Neve won in 43:06 followed by Fiona Hedgecoe then Lydia Stove.

Full results are published, as well as a photo album of the race.

The Sri Chinmoy 10 km & 4 km Fun-Runs were staged from Acton Ferry Terminal, Canberra on Sunday 6 March 2011.

Results by age category for Sri Chinmoy 10 km Run>>

Results by age category for Sri Chinmoy 4 km Run>>