The President and Committee of Stawell Amateur Athletic Club extends to all members and officials, a warm welcome to season 2016 of cross country running which enters a new era this year with a switch to morning runs from 10am.
As most of your know by now, this will be our 50 th Anniversary Year and we owe it to Keith Haymes and the founders of the club to make it successful.
We have deleted the Dooen Engineering Handicap and the Andrew Darnell Handicap from our previous Syllabus to accommodate new sponsors, Dave and Naomi Hunter Gardens and Landscaping and Meggy Boan.
The Seppelt’s Cross Country Classic has moved across the Highway and will now be known as the Best’s Winery Cross Country Classic on a new course.
Great Western racecourse, however, will remain a venue as it will host the 3km Chris Blake
Handicap towards the end of the year.
The committee decided that the previous straight course through the Ironbarks was logistically unsound and separated parents and their children for too long.
The President sponsored race this year is the Keith Haymes SAAC 50 th Anniversary Handicap. It will be a “stand alone” race, meaning that the Ararat Club, which does not race that weekend, can participate over the popular 16km figure eight
course.
To all newcomers, we offer a special welcome. Our races are conducted in the spirit of friendly competition, over well marked mostly bushland courses from 3000m to 16000m, and are handicapped to cater for runners of all abilities to give everyone a chance of winning sponsor donated trophies or prizes.