Keegan Powell, winner of the Total Performance Sports City of Devonport 10km handicap, receiving his trophy from TPS manager, Samantha Lawrence.
Wild weather conditions were presented for the Professional Cross Country Club of Tasmania’s Total Performance Sports City of Devonport 10 kilometre handicap on Sunday.
However this didn’t deter the eighty-three runners who turned up at Devonport Bluff for the first of the club’s “blue ribbon” races for the year.
The course used the walking track towards Victoria Parade before returning to The Bluff and then continuing west to do a loop in the Don Reserve.
Being the longest race of the season to date, the frontmarkers started conservatively but led until the halfway mark. At this stage Ron Chequer, Louise Morse and Garry Heazlewood were looking good but shortly after the middle-markers started to make an impression with the eventual winner Keegan Powell and Paul Birch pulling away from the field with a couple of kilometres left to run.
Devonport’s Powell was delighted to hold Birch at bay and take his first win. He had looked good for the win last week at Wynyard until he hurt his ankle couple of days before the race. However, fully recovered, he ran a good time to win comfortably. Third place went to veteran Wayne Wiseman who continues to impress and is close to a win. Consistent Evan Brett was fourth with the first of the women runners, Kate Hawley, in fifth.
Mathew Greenhill, Patrick McMahon and Greg Smith ran well to make “the ten”.
Fastest male and winner of the club’s 10 kilometre championship for men was Thomas Murton with the women’s championship taken out by Sally Haynes.