Matt Haddow took out the 10th running of the Stawell and Ararat Cross Country Clubs - Best’s Winery 8km Handicap on Sunday in majestic conditions. 

Starting and finishing at the beautiful location of Best’s Winery and running throughout the backroads of Great Western, Haddow was able to take the victory on Sunday after numerous high finishes in the SACCC, 2023 season. Taking out the minor placings was the very consistent Jack Trounson (2nd) and Shev Healy (3rd). 

Haddow has recently taken his running form to the next level since signing himself up for a new personal challenge of running his first Half Marathon (to be held on 16th July) at the ‘Run Melbourne’ event. Realising he needed to make a big commitment to his training for this event, he also made the decision to get his program set by local running coach Sue Blizzard.

In regards to the new regime, Haddow now mixes longer running, low heart rate runs, interval running, hill running and even a bit of Yoga or strength training into his training weeks. 

Haddow was awarded his sash, prize money and trophy by Best’s Winery’s, Hamish Thomson, the gracious sponsors for the past 10 years of this event. 

Matt is also raising money for a greater purpose in his upcoming Half Marathon and has decided to support the Black Dog Institute. At the time of writing this, he has raised almost $1500 for the organisation in order to turn their world-class research into life saving action for those who need it most. Those interested in donating to Matt for this can find the details at the following link:
https://runmelbourne23.grassrootz.com/blackdoginstitute/matt-haddow?tab=donations&utm_source=gr-notification&utm_campaign=DonationNotification&utm_medium=email

Fastest times for the female category were new SACCC members Leah Seebohm (39’53”) and Annie Brown (41’13”). In the men's, Paul Fenn took out the fastest time in a sizzling 29’39”, followed by Mark Thompson in 35’08.