Rookie member Meggy Boan “blew” what would have been her maiden win with the Stawell Amateur Athletic Club when she stopped about 200 metres short of the finish line in the 6.5 kilometres Advanced Bricks Handicap and watched in confusion as three more seasoned runners sailed past her.
Horsham couple Sharon and Gary Howden landed their second quinella with the club in three years when they forged on to beat the fast-finishing Col Barnett, with Meggy recovering to finish an unlucky fourth after realizing her error.
“I saw a white car and that’s where I thought the finish was. It didn’t occur to me that there was an actual line I had to cross. It’s very embarrassing!” Meggy said.
Her untimely “blue” enabled Horsham runners to complete a clean sweep of the event and maintain their unbeaten record in Stawell this year – all three winners so far this season have made the trip down the Western Highway to compete.
In fact, Meggy, who separated Brydie Scollary and Sharon Howden in the all-girl trifecta in the Barham Insurance race the week before, is all that has stood between the Horsham runners filling all nine podium finishes so far in 2012.
The Howdens, who have not long returned from a trip to Spain where they did very little running, have quickly gained fitness by training with the Horsham Triathlon group.
“I’m actually training for the Gold Coast Marathon in a couple of months time, but I don’t know if I’m going to be able to get up there,” Sharon said.
“It helped me out there today that there was a bit of rough stuff, plenty of twists, turns and hills (through the Ironbarks Forest) that I love,” she said.
“In Horsham we see none of that, so it’s always a pleasure to come here.”
In the Junior division of the Advanced Bricks, Horsham’s Jeremiah McKenzie made an auspicious debut, scooting over the three kilometers to win on handicap in an impressive 12 minutes and eight seconds. Only the more experienced Paris Pannozzo ran faster – her 11.51 was full of promise.
In the Sub-Juniors race, Alex Boan showed up mum, sprinting to the line like a true professional to account for debutant Austin McKenzie.
By Keith Lofthouse