As one senior Box Hill supporter commented on the course, conditions were typical at Bundoora this year, freezing with a strong biting wind. This was noticed by the army of Box Hill supporters who travelled to the course to assist with officiating and manning the canteen tent. Box Hill runners competed in almost every race. Haley Tomlinson clearly won the 14 years’ race beating many older competitors running at the same time. Juliet Thornton finished 4th in the 16 years’ section from Georgie McCallum, 5th, in the same race, with Kate Thornton finishing 18th and Sarah Evans managed 23rd. Andrew White ran well in his race to finish 2nd. Jess de Bruin ran well to finish 4th while Audra Papworth finished 8th in the 20 years’ division. Michael Bourne running in the 16 years’ section placed 24th in the 6k.
Sam Hassett returned to race after a long layoff due to injury and ran very well indeed in the U/20 race finishing in 8th position ahead of Alan Craigie, who finished 10th.
Adrian Vincent ran very impressively in the 18 years’ division to place 6th, with Daniel Clark, just over a minute behind in 18th position. It is really pleasing to see the number of Marcellin boys representing Box Hill, thanks to John Meagher’s encouragement.
Anna Thompson was very prominent in the 8 k. race, positioned just behind Susie Power, who is running in sensational form at present, after the first 2 k lap. Eventually Power drew clear of Anna, who maintained her momentum to place 2nd, well clear of Serena Gibbs who finished 3rd. Nicki Chapple ran a solid race to place 7th and looks to be improving her fitness level, which is a good sign. Megan Sloane completed the Women’s team, and placed 2nd in the 45 years’ age group.
The Open Men’s (12 k.) and Women’s (8 k.) races. attracted 12 athletes representing Box Hill. We were able to field only one senior men’s team for the second consecutive race. However we finished a senior women’s team this week.
There was strong competition at the top end of the field with two NSW runners, Kim Gillard and Nick Cope and a New Zealander, Blair Martin, contesting the race. Paul Fenn, running for Eureka, was again prominent together with Nick Harrison, Rod de Highden, Darren Wilson and several other well-credentialled athletes.
Gillard eventually broke clear and maintained his lead until the end of the race, with Paul Fenn making up considerable ground to be only 2 seconds in arrears at the finish. Nick Harrison ran away from the Wellington runner, with Darren Wilson and Rod De Highden filling fifth and sixth positions respectively. Box Hill’s leading contenders were John Meagher, Kynan Dawes and Graeme Olden. Kynan and Graeme had a ding dong battle the whole race with Kynan just getting to the finishing line ahead of Graeme, by a very slender margin, after trading places a number of times throughout the race. Luke Yeatman started off powerfully, but was caught by both Kynan Dawes and Graeme Olden, and was unable to get back on equal terms in the concluding stages of the race. Dale Bickham produced another workmanlike performance, slowing in the second and third laps but lifting again in the final lap. Tony Bird and Adam Pepper ran in close proximity to each other, with Tony drawing clear in the second half. David Ayers demonstrated that the batteries in his alarm clock need replacement, doing his warm-up from the car park to the start line. He offered to run as anybody in his haste to get a running tag, as the starter raised the starting gun. His bag revealed that he does his training by carrying 10 house bricks to the track and competition. Dave Boyd completed our contingent plugging away to finish in 57 m. 33.
Ian Sloane
| Name | Lap 1 | Lap 2 | Lap 3 | Lap 4 | Final Place (unofficial) |
| K Gillard NSW | 36 m. 35 | 1 | |||
| P. Fenn Eureka | 36 m. 37 | 2 | |||
| N. Harrison GH | 36 m. 46 | 3 | |||
| Martin | 36 m. 52 | 4 | |||
| D. Wilson APS | 37 m. 00 | 5 | |||
| R. De Highden Don | 37 m. 01 | 6 | |||
| J. Meagher | 9:28 | 19:26 | 29:33 | 39 m. 36 | 26 |
| K. Dawes | 9:50 | 20:14 | 30:48 | 41 m. 00 | 40 |
| G. Olden | 10:01 | 20:16 | 30:45 | 41 m. 01 | 41 |
| L Yeatman | 9:55 | 20:13 | 30:50 | 41 m. 28 | 46 |
| D. Bickham | 10:09 | 21:06 | 32:19 | 42 m. 55 | 62 |
| T. Bird | 10:40 | 21:26 | 32:27 | 43 m. 42 | 73 |
| A. Pepper | 10:36 | 21:36 | 33:04 | 44 m. 05 | 78 |
| D Ayers | 12:13 | 24:30 | 50 m. 05 | 174 | |
| D Boyd | 13:22 | 27:43 | 57 m. 33 | 247 |
U/20
Sam Hassett 8th 28 m. 20
Alan Craigie 10th 28 m. 36
U/18
Andrew White 2nd (inv.) 20 m. 15
Adrian Vincent 6th 20 m. 48
Daniel Clark 18th 21 m. 52
U/16 Males
Michael Bourne 24th 27 m. 26.2
Women’s results
Susie Power 1st 26 m. 28
Anna Thompson 2nd 28 m. 35
Nicki Chapple 7th 29 m. 59
Megan Sloane 41st 35 m. 03 (2nd 45 years)
U/20 female
Jessica de Bruin 4th 24 m. 25
Audra Papworth 8th 27 m. 14
U/18
Kate Thornton 11th 16 m. 43
U16
Juliet Thornton 4th 15 m. 27
Georgie McCallum 5th 15 m. 38
U/14
Hayley Tomlinson 1st 14 m. 13
Sarah Evans 23rd 18 m. 33