The Paine Family Memorial ten kilometre handicap at Burnie is conducted over a tough hilly circuit and this is exactly the kind of course favoured by the winner of the race, Yolla runner Cobie Walker.
Walker’s previous win, which was last year, was over a similar course and he enjoys trail running hills, having completed the Gone Nuts event earlier this year.
However, the win came as a surprise to him, so much so that none of his family, who usually support him, were there to see him break the tape.
Walker took up running to lose weight a few years ago and he has lost a total of forty-two kilograms. He is another great example of why this sport is such a healthy one.
Chasing him home for a strong second was Simon Gates. He has not been able to attend many events this year but showed that another win is not far away if he is able to run consistently. Gerard Lowry was a fast-finishing third, just in front of the club’s oldest runner, Ken Williams.
Other strong performances were returned by Ellen Elphinstone and Ann Horton, while Kim Steven looked good in finishing seventh. Winners earlier this year, Owen Thomas and Josh Febey, both continued their great form finishing in “the ten”.
Jono Price and Lyn Saint-John were the fastest man and woman respectively, with Saint-John fifth fastest in the whole field.
The “Feature Race” nominated time winners were Ashley and Mia Fehlberg, Robyn Luttrell, Indra Taylor and Thomas Ward, with Will van Rooyen first finisher.