Sunday morning saw the club travel to Deep Lead to race the Logan Memorial 10km Handicap. The day started out foggy, and runners tried to warm up before the group started. Nicki Blackie volunteered to keep time this week, she got the group on their way. This race is around the Ironbarks with many puddles after the recent rain.
Young runner Gabe Tonks was the first runner to finish the course in 43 minutes. Jess Hunt yelled out to Peter with 100 metres to go challenging him to the finish. This made Peter dig deep to sprint to the finish, 4 seconds in front of her. Jess was the fastest female on course finishing in 54 minutes. Most got around the course before the rain started.
Once handicaps were applied, it was found the finish would have been quick on the stopwatch if the field had started in handicap pursuit. In third was Matt Haddow, one second behind Shev Healy in second place. The winner, with ten seconds clear, was veteran Peter Gibson. He proudly accepted the winners sash, which was the first 10km event he had won in 36 years with the club. Peter, delighted with the race said, ‘This means a lot to me, I’ve won many races over the years but never this distance’.
This was Peter's twenty second win with the club. He placed second in this race last year, then there was a gap of 4 seconds between first and second. Peter has trained consistently over the years with early morning training runs a ritual.
This race is named after Jock Logan who had trained many professional runners. This race has been going since 1979 and was named in his memory. Peter remembered when Jock would bring the runners he’d coached to the club. On its day the race would attract over one hundred runners.
The club has a break next week then we return on Sunday 10th July to McDonald Park, Ararat for the Fenn Family 8km handicap. Race starts at 9.45am, Race fee is $5. All runners are welcome.
