Stawell Amateur Athletic Club runner Phil Burns scored a great win in the handicap section of last Saturdays Chris Blake 3km Championship, while last years club aggregate winner Nathaniel Warren took the mud and rain in his stride to take out the open championship section.
In a mass start, twenty-five senior and junior runners set off along Centre Road in the Iron Bark forest north of Stawell, with the first runners home taking out the championship points. Handicaps were then applied post race to determine the normal club handicap results.
Nathaniel Warren clocked the fastest time of the day over the slippery and hilly course, posting a smart time of 11 minutes 14 seconds.
He finished 10 seconds clear of Daniel Faravoni, with Adrian Tyler another 11 seconds back in third. Susie Ellis was the first female home taking the womens open championship in a time of 12 minutes 48 seconds, 42 seconds ahead of Ilana Jorgensen.
When handicaps were applied, Phil Burns scored a well earned win, after being relegated from second to fourth place the week before in the last 150m. Making it a family quinella, Phil’s partner Carolyn Lehmann came home second, with Susie Ellis third.
Liam Scott took out the junior boy’s championship in a time of 13 minutes 43 seconds, while Emily Parnaby took the junior girls championship with a time of 13 minutes 46 seconds.
After handicaps were applied, Elly Barnett was declared the junior race winner, with Emily Parnaby second and Liam Scott third.
Georgia Barnett scored a narrow win in the sub-junior 1km handicap, 9 seconds ahead of Liam Burns with India Burns third
Liam Burns was the fastest sub-junior in a time of 5 minutes 55 seconds. Georgia Barnett was the fastest sub-junior girl with 6 minutes 16 sec.