June 2016

Members of the Professional Cross Country Club of Tasmania will head to Devonport for their next race this Sunday.

The Molly Malone’s 6 kilometre handicap is a popular run as it takes a course along Victoria Parade to the Bluff and return via the climb up to the Bluff Lighthouse. Being mostly flat and also scenic, a big field is expected.

Following her great effort to run second in a tougher race last week, Kelly Baxter will start favourite. Baxter has been consistent all year but shown improvement in recent weeks.

Anna Murton is another of the female runners who is getting close to victory and it could be this week.

This is Alan Bakes’ home territory and the veteran could easily take it out. He was a very close third last week.

Other with strong chances include Owen Britt, who put in a great effort last week, Dwayne Barry, Matthew Greenhill and Patrick McMullen. The backmarkers look to have their work cut out, with Brad Taylor probably their best chance.

Runners should note the later time for entries this week of 10:00 with the race starting at 10:30.

There will be a nominated time event at 9:45 to which all are welcome.

The Professional Cross Country Club of Tasmania members this week tackle the Paine Family Memorial 10 kilometre event at Burnie.

The race starts at the council depot in Three Mile Line and is a hilly course over Mooreville and West Mooreville Roads

Members who ran the 25 kilometre Iron Man Classic at Forth last Sunday are bound to be still feeling the effects, so the best chances might come from those who gave the Iron Man a miss.

Kerrie Murchie was a close fourth at Somerset in Race 13 and looks well suited. She has had several other top finishes and a win is surely not far away. Richard Lawson in his first year of running surprised with his effort in a recent 5km event and could pull this off, although it is a much more difficult course.

Other runners close to a win include Andrew Bates, Rebecca O’Garey and Ron Chequer and any of the three would not surprise with a win. Patrick McMullen is another who has been consistently improving and is sure to finish strongly.

Front marker, John Purton, has specialised in this race and will be in front for a long way.

Entries close at 9:30 with the race starting at 10:00.

The nominated time events at 9:05 will have extra prizes thanks to the Paine family so big fields are expected.

IRONMAN 2016 Handicaps

This Sunday members of the Professional Cross Country Club of Tasmania head to Forth for the toughest race on their calendar – the Burnie Trophy Centre/Troy Atkins Accounting “Iron Man Classic”.

Although not the longest race of the season (that being the Marathon in a few weeks’ time) this 25 kilometre race which commences and finishes at the Forth Football Ground is a great challenge. It involves a circuit in the Forth Valley which includes the tough Paloona Hill and the infamous “Hamstring Hill” at Melrose.

The top chances will be runners who have done a lot of kilometres in training and who are proven over this sort of distance and terrain,

Among these, club champion Thomas Murton, Mark Saint-John, Greg Smith and Ben Hoare stand out.

These runners all finished close up in the 16.5 kilometre Burnie to Ridgley run recently and could well fight out the finish. Saint-John was, in fact, a very close second in that race. Murton rang an excellent time of 32:40 in the Launceston Ten last Sunday to show he is in top form, but he will be giving a start to the other three and will have his work cut out.

Other chances include Bryan Tuit while Rebecca O’Garey and Sally Haynes will fly the flag for the women.

Runners are advised that due to the flooding at the Forth Football ground, the club rooms and showers will not be available after the race as usual.

Entries have closed for the race which will start at 9:00am. There will be nominated time events at 9:15.

Runners are reminded that entries for the following week’s 25km Iron Man race at Forth must be in this Sunday.

The Professional Cross Country Club of Tasmania is conducting its second trail run of the season at Spreyton this Sunday.

The Spreyton Cider Company 5 kilometre handicap will be conducted mostly through orchards and runners should be prepared for some muddy, wet conditions, especially considering the recent rainfall.

The Trail Run series, consisting of four off-road races is a new instigation for the Club this year with trophies for the best performers across the series.

This looks to be a perfect race for Kerrie Murchie. Murchie followed a close fifth at Stanley two weeks ago with an excellent run into fourth in a tougher race last week. She looked the winner of that for some time before being caught late. Over the shorter distance on Sunday she could well hang on for her maiden win.

There are plenty who will be trying to prevent her from obtaining it however, and foremost among these will be Russell Horton who proved his liking for these conditions when fourth in the first trail run a few weeks ago. A strong second last week showed he has retained form.

Among others with a good chance are Patrick McMullen and Kelly Baxter while Bryan Tuit and Brad Taylor will be storming home from backmarks.

Runners are reminded that entries for the following week’s 25km Iron Man race at Forth must be in this Sunday.

The 13^th race of the Professional Cross Country Club of Tasmania’s season will prove lucky for someone this Sunday. The Somerset Pharmacy 10 kilometre handicap provides a challenging course using the Murchison Highway and Back Cam Road after starting beside the Cam River.

This looks to be a course suited to strong middle markers and the two that appear to have the best chances are Sally Haynes and Matthew Greenhill. Haynes was second, with Greenhill third, over a similar course at Stowport three weeks ago. Greenhill ran an excellent race in the tough King of the Mountains following that, while Haynes has been close up in may races this year and will be fresh, not having run at Stanley last week.

However, there are plenty of other chances including the rapidly improving Kerrie Murchie, and two tough competitors in Kim Denwar and Shane Hansen. Denwar in particular appears to be getting back to the form which saw him close to a win last year.

If a frontmarker is to cause an upset, it could be David Murton who ran well last week. Among the backmarkers the best chances would be Greg Smith and Bryan Tuit.

The race starts at 10:00 with entries closing at 9:30, Nominated time events will be held at 9:05. All runners or walkers are welcome to compete in these.