Perfect race conditions for the State Road Races at Homebush on Sat. May 4th.

A great time was had by all at the State Road Races, as can be seen below. There are plenty more photos of all the races on the ANSW face book page, which I suggest you all 'like'. Also, do send a request to join the 'Sydney Striders Juniors' closed face book group so you can get the news when it happens!!! Full results are on the ANSW website www.nswathletics.org,au.

 

The 10K was first at 7:45, with many parents running, including me, Andrew and Kate Wilson, Tom Highnam and Michael Halmy, who were all in Striders teams.

 

Next came the 5K at 9:05, in which we had an under 20 girls team of Hannah, Bethany, Amelia and Jess, winning bronze, with Hannah Gibson top in the state!!. We also had an under 18 boys team made up of 4 from Daniel Francken, David Gardiner, Adam Halmy, Paul Loader and Gus Wong,  which won gold with Daniel Francken 4th overall. Our under 16 boys team was made up of 4 from Dan Watts, Fraser McKinlay, Ben Jagger, Nick Corel and Jadon Wilson, which won bronze, with Dan Watts 4th boy overall. Olivia Hogg and her mum ran together in the 5K, and parents Roslyn Halmy and Nick Cooper also had a run - this was because they put the fun run on with the road race this year.

 

Finally, the much anticipated 2.5K for the under 14s and under12s. We'd had so many dropping out with injuries and illness in the couple of days leading up to the race that we only just managed to get two teams together on the day. Will arrived at the race with no time to pick up his timing chip, as he got stuck in traffic, so did not show up in the results, but luckily we still had just enough! The under 12 girls were gorgeous, as you can see below, and got silver, while the under 14 boys with Tom D, Sophie G, Benji and Ewan also got silver. Benji was 4th under 12 boy in the race and Sophie Gocher was 4th under 14 girl.    We had a lot of juniors coming 4th!!!

 

Emma Kirkland, Emily Gocher, Ciara Sinclair and Nicola Hogg before the 2.5K race.

 

The boys have a chat before the 2.5K.

Will Law is not there yet!!

 

Benji, Ewan, Tom D, Will, Emily, Ciara and Nicola seen here taking off.

Another view of the start. Nearest is Sophie Gocher.

 

Tom Davies in full flight.

 

Benji and Ewan battling it out.

 

Nerves on the 5K start line: Hannah G, Adam, Nick and Fraser with Dan Watts behind.

Bethany, Hannah, Adam and Fraser on the start line

 

Daniel Francken, still our fastest Strider - running 5K in just over 16 mins.

 

David Gardener, with Dan Watts and Adam Halmy in hot pursuit. All finished between 17:05 and 17:15.

 

Paul Loader running well

 

The' Lanky Gus Wong' (as ANSW call him) in some pain!

Fraser showing good style.

 

He with the moves - Ben Jagger.

 

Amelia Gorman looking very strong indeed.

Jess Vernon.

 

Jadon Wilson

Olivia Hogg with mum Katherine Hogg crossing the line in the 5K.

 



The Wilson family - Andrew and Kate ran the 10K, Jadon the 5K and Benji the 2.5K

Bethany and Jess take off their timing chips

 

Promising Kick off to the Winter Season at Scarborough Park on 20th April

It was a typical day for cross country if you lived in the UK - rainy, windy, cold. So, it is not surprising that junior Strider numbers were lower than usual for the novice cross country championships at Scarborough Park, Ramsgate on Sat. 20th April. However, what we lacked in quantity we certainly made up for in quality twentyfold!

Below is the link to the full set of over 700 photos taken by St. George - there are plenty of all Striders who raced there - some very good ones. Full results are on their website too. http://www.sgdac.org/Gallery/Gallery_13/2013_Novice/mywebalbum/index_2.html
We also have some of our own photos of just us - see below....

The 2K was first up, and in that Tom Davies was 1st in the under 12 boys in 7:15, with Daniel Cooper 3rd. Ewan Shingler and Benji Wilson also ran well. Tom and Emma Kirkland were running well before mishaps on the muddy, slippery course.




Tom Davies, 1st under 12, records his result, with Daniel Cooper coming in 3rd. Striders dominated!

Here are Tom and Daniel receiving their medals in the rain!

Next up was the 4K, of which I have no photos at this moment. Also, I am not sure where the results are. They are not on the ANSW website. I know Daniel Francken  was first junior home in apx. 13 mins. with Josh Phillips, Lachlan Cooper, Adam Halmy, Fraser McKinlay, Ben Jagger, Gus Wong, Jayden Wilson and dad Michael Halmy in hot pursuit!

Next we had the 10K invitation race, which Melinda Vernon, sister of Jess Vernon, won! Andrew Wilson also ran in this, putting in his usual sterling performance.

Then we had the state women's 7K. In this we had running Hannah Gibson, who came second overall, Bethany Halmy, Caroline Yarnell, Kim Wilson (Benji and Aiden's mum) and Jai from Senior Striders. This was a great team effort, with Juniors, mums and members of the Senior club :) Results are to be found at www.nswathletics.org.au under results 2013.

The scene at the start of the 7K

Left to right: Kim Wilson, Bethany Halmy, Hannah Gibson, Caroline Yarnell and Jai

 

Caroline







Hannah





Bethany

Kim











Hannah Gibson 2nd in the 7K in 26:55

Finally we had the novice 10K. Paul Loader was our only Junior in this, running 38 mins. and 5th Strider home overall - just missing out on a place in the gold medal winning Senior Striders team!

Lindfield Fun Run 2013

It has become a bit of a Junior Striders tradition now to officially start off the winter season with the Lindfield Fun Run. We did this on Sunday 7th April. It was extra special this year as Frank Dearns, long time Strider and key organizer of the Fun Run turned 80 this week and also ran the 5K. We are usually lucky with sunny weather, and this year was no exception. We had our tent and goodies for one and all afterwards, as you can see from the photos below.

There were too many non-junior Striders there to mention, as this race is now a 'super series' event - so apologies for concentrating on juniors only!

David Gardiner, aged 16, WON the 5K outright in 17:26. He did not stop grinning from that moment on - his happiness increased by the fact that he won a nice trophy and a Garmin! Ewan Shingler won the under 12 boys in 21:15, Josh Phillips won 12-15 boys in 18:41, Jadon Wilson ran 23:24 and Benji ran 28:16. Beth Murray was 4th 12-15 in 25:43. Caroline Y won the 50-59 age group(!) and Jason McIntosh was 2nd in the whole race with 17:42 - he is not a junior, but his son soon will be.

In the 10K, Cath Rasmussen (a veteran at this event) ran with 12 year old son Daniel, with both running an impressive 52:02. John Bowe ran with daughter Leila and junior strider Ronan McCarthy. Gus Wong was third in the 16-19 age group, with dad Tony Wong running a respectable 43:57.

Some had left, but most are here grinning at you.

Josh and David in the early stages of the5K.

David receives his prize.

I can vouch for the fact that Benji did not look this happy as the race wore on!

A gorgeous picture of Beth!

Lindfield Fun 2011 - can you spot the younger versions of your mates?



One of our favourite junior striders photos ever - Lindfield Fun Run 2010.

Calendar of Events for the 2013 winter season

Here is a list of some of the things you can do with Sydney Striders Juniors this 2013 winter season.

Striders ‘in house’ events are in green – they are only for Striders members. To join Striders go to www.sydneystriders.org.au. Family memberships are also available. For full information on the 10Ks go to www.sydneystriders.org.au/10K/
 

 Athletics New South Wales (ANSW) events are in blue. You need to be a Striders member AND registered with ANSW. We would like you to do as many of these as possible! If you have been doing little athletics, you can register for free as a dual athlete. Otherwise, junior or senior, just register at the ANSW website and then phone ANSW on 9746 1122 to chivvy them along if you don’t get your cloth numbers within a few days. You can claim this registration money back at the end of the season if you run at least 3 races for Striders. Let us know when you have your cloth numbers please!
 

West Met, see their schedule of Sat. pm .races (you must be a Strider and registered with ANSW as above): http://www.coolrunning.com.au/runningguide/wiki/index.php/Sydney_West_Metropolitan_Cross_Country.

 
Fun Runs etc. are in red. Anyone can do these - you do not need to be a Striders member.

March

Mon. 25^th 6pm. Narabeen track. Easter Bunny Handicap Mile race – green eggs for all!

Thurs. 28^th 6pm. 5K Easter Bunny Handicap race 6:00pm. from Shelly Beach, Manly. Green eggs again!

April

Sat. 6^th Lane Cove10K for Juniors who are at least turning 15 in 2013

Sun 7^th The Lindfield Fun Run 5K and 10K. http://www.lindfieldrotaryfunrun.org.au/ We will be there en masse and have the Striders tent. Meet for a warm up first if you so wish.

Sat 20th April 2013  NSW Novice Championships – www.nswathletics.org.au.  

Sat. 27^th Lane Cove handicap 10K for Juniors who are at least turning 15 in 2013

May

Sat. 4^th Sydney 10 and state road race championships. 2.5K for u12 and 14s, 5K for the rest.  Enter at www.nswathletics.org.au NOW and tell us you have entered! This is an individual AND team event all at the same time, so we need everybody out.

Sun 12^th – Mothers Day Classic at the Domain and at Paramatta. 4K and 8K http://mothersdayclassic.com.au/register-online. Also sand races up to 2K at North Steyne, Manly.

May 10^th Senior Striders awards ‘do’ Darling Harbour, above the Imax cinema. We have a juniors table and the 2 BIG awards for juniors are presented at this event – winter and summer athletes of the year. The event is heavily subsidized at $50 per head, including dinner, a great speaker and lots of spot prizes, so do think about coming along even if you don’t think you’re up for an award!

 

Sun. 19^th May Manly Scenic Fun Run 2K, 5K and 10K. Same day as the SHM.

June

Sat. 1st Striders 10K for Juniors who are at least turning 15 in 2013

Sat 1st June 2013  NSW Cross Country Relay Championships – everyone’s favourite! If there is any doubt about team selection, it will be based on results from the road race championships. The club pays for relay entry, so you just need to let us know you are going to run – then you will be assigned to a team. Only death is then an excuse for not showing up and letting your team down!

TBA Manly Soft Sand Classic 1.6k and 9K.

 Sun 16th Minimosmarathon 2K, 5K and 10K races.

Sat 22 June 2013 NSW Cross Country Championships in Nowra. This is about 3 hours away, but there are scenic lookouts on the way. It is well worth making the trip and you are very much needed whatever your level of ability.

July

Sat. 6th Striders 10K for Juniors who are at least turning 15 in 2013

Sat 13 July 2013 NSW Road Relay Championships – the club pays for your entry in these.

August

Sat. 3rd Striders 10K for Juniors who are at least turning 15 in 2013

Sat 3rd August 2013  NSW Short Course Championships – all hands on deck.

Sun. 11^th City to Surf 14K. Striders usually have a meeting place with breakfast, as after the 10Ks. There are Striders teams you can enter.

Sun. 25^th Pub 2 Pub 14K. http://www.pub2pub.com.au/

Mon. TBA one mile End of Winter Handicap race 6:00pm. at Narabeen track

Thurs. TBA 5K End of Winter Handicap race 6:00pm. from Shelly Beach, Manly.

September

Sat. 7th Striders 10K for Juniors who are at least turning 15 in 2013

Sat. 1st or Sat. 8th Striders Juniors awards party, 1.00pm. Mosman (TBA).

 

The Easter Bunny Handicaps 2013 - the mile, the 5K and the 6.7K

Junior Striders have a' handicap race week' three times per year. This gives us a chance to reward those who have improved the most. We have just had our Easter Bunny handicaps with nice trophies,  lots of Easter eggs and bunnies and an Easter Show ticket as prizes. At the moment we only have pictures from the 1 mile, which was won by Lachlan Cooper in 4:58 - an improvement of 16 seconds. Nine runners improved, which is pretty good going. New Striders Ciara won best dressed with an amazing Easter creation - a sort of bunny head / chic nest - see below.

 

Josh Phillips won the 5K handicap in 17:30, an improvement of 2:02! David Gardiner was fastest boy with 16:45 and also improved. Hannah Gibson fastest girl with 18:08. Also very impressive were the times some of our younger Striders (some under 12s still) ran - well under 19 mins. Our two new under 12 girls ran in under 24 minutes too! Sadly we have no photos of this race

 

The Nepean River 6.7K handicap was run on Thursday 4th April in very wet conditions. It was won by Gabe Corke, our u18s 400m runner, who improved by 33 seconds. Daniel Francken, holder of the course record, ran  22 mins. 28 seconds. Alex Jagger, son of the organizer, Janet, came straight from school with no time for a warm up and cruised round in 35:08. Well done all.

 

Lachlan Cooper, our mile handicap winner, with his trophy and bunny



Ciara Sinclair, best dressed winner, with Tessa, Sally and Amy



Our gorgeous trophy amidst just some of the eggs which were won by our nippy Striders.

Gabe Corke wins the much coveted trophy for 1st place in the Nepean River 6.7K handicap 2013

The rainy scene as runners prepared for a warm up before the Nepean River handicap.

Our 13 juniors at the Australian Athletics Championships 2013

 

Junior National Athletics Champs are now all done and dusted, and we have 9 Nationals medals to our name: Hannah Gibson silver in the u18 2K steeplechase (6:53.48) and bronze in the 3K (10:00.74), Ben Carter silver in the u14 boys 90m hurdles (13:87), Edita Grinbergs won silver in the u14 girls 800m (2:20.39), Luke Gorman won silver in the u16 boys 2K steeplechase (6:14.18), Josh Phillips won bronze in the u15 3K (9:28.99) and in the 2K steeplechase (6:39.47), Bethany Halmy won GOLD in the u20 girls 400m relay and Ben Carter won bronze in the u14 boys 100m relay.

It's been very exciting outside the medlas too: Tessa, 13, made the final of the u17 400m hurdles (71:35), Bethany made the 400m u20 girls final (58:41) and ran well in her 800m heat, Gabe Corke ran 51:66 in the u18 boys 400m, Daniel Francken (ill) came 9th in the u16 boys 3K with 9:08:80 and 5th in the 1500m (4:10), Adam Halmy (u17) and Joe Burgess (u18) came mid div. in their steeplechase races (6:48.25 & 6:37.58), and ran close to their PBs in the 3K (9:32.78) and 800m heat  (2:00.16) respectively. Amelia Gorman ran 7:47 in the 2K u18 girls steelplechase - in the middle of the field - with a massive PB, after a break through at last minute steeplechase training the Sunday before Nationals. Luke Gorman also came 5th in the u16 boys 1500m with a time of 4:13.60. Edita, aged 11 (!!!) made the u14 girls 400m final with 61:05 and came 4th. Lachlan Cooper qualified for the u15 boys 800m final with 2:06.1. Ben Carter was 5th in the u14 boys triple jump and long jump.

Adam Halmy leading the pack on the water jump in the u17 boys 2K steeplechase

 

11 year old Edita Grinbergs with her silver medal from the u14 girls 800m, which she ran in 2:20.39. Note what she is carrying - the Sydney Striders special issue back pack which we gave all our Nationals athletes - isn't it lovely?




Ben Carter is presented his silver medal in the under 14 boys hurdles by none other than Sally Pearson :)





Amelia Gorman and Hannah Gibson bonding before their 2K steeplechase.





Hannah on the podium for silver in the 2K steeplechase

Hannah Gibson leading the u18 girls 3K at 200m into the race.



Hannah still in the lead in the 3K at this point in the race. 



Hannah wins bronze in the u18 girls 3K with a PB of 10:00.74

Josh Phillips wins bronze in the u15 bopys 3K with 9:28.29

Josh Phillips on the podium again, this time for his 3rd place in the u15 boys 2K steeplechase, run in 6:39.47

Bethany Halmy on the no. 1 podium, far right, for the 400m u20 girls relay

Bethany at the start of the GOLD medal winning 400m relay u20 girls.

 

 



Daniel Francken, the juniors' overall fastest runner, in the 1500m. He's next to the guy taking a tumble!



 

  Under 16 boys 1500m - look at the running styles!





Tessa Constantine, 13, friendly as ever, in the longer NSW shorts, chats to the under 17 girls in her 400m hurdles race. She made the final and came 6th with a time of 72:14 (slower than her heat time of 71:35



Tessa again - can't anyone photograph her from the front, or even the side!!!???



Juniors Striders are a force to be reckoned with at 10K races

Striders have 8 certified 10K races Feb - Nov., which are open to those who turn 15 this year, but only if they are members of Sydney Striders. See the Sydney Striders website for more detail.

Over the first weekend in March Hannah Gibson and Paul Loader (both state under 18 state steeplechase champions) decided to add to their birthday celebrations by running the Striders 10K at Noth Head. David Gardiner, winner of the 14-15 age group last year, was there to defend his title. Hannah won the ladies race entirely in a time of 38:26. David was 17th overall and first 16-17 year old boy in a time of 36:26. Paul just caught Hannah, with a time of 38:22.

Hannah Gibson (17), Paul Loader (16) and David Gardiner (16) at the March 2nd Striders 10K at North Head 

At the state 10K on the track at Homebush, Daniel Francken, aged 15, won the B race in a time of 33:59!!! We have no photo of this event at the moment. His time was exactly the same as the time the Striders 10K was won in - what a coincidence.