Port Macquarie Pacers Running Club

The month started with the Port RunFest where Pacers ran extremely well in all the distances. Fish and Lizzie were joined by a host of Juniors as podium finishers in the outright events. The most memorable results were in the half marathon Ladies 30s category where 8 of the first 10 finishers were Pacer members proving once and for all that we are better at running than filling in entry forms (a number had missed the club bit which was across the whole suite of races). Huge congratulations to Christine and Maree who had impressive away wins in their March events.

February 2025 was a quiet month as members prepared for the racing season with many fine tuning for Port RunFest early in March and many grinding through their preparation for the marathon season later in the year. The sub 20 crew grew again with Erinn successfully beating the 20 minute time not once but twice. Congratulations and well earnt.

The highlight for January had to be the outstanding performances by Pacer members at the NSW Country Championships on a wet and windy weekend in Maitland. Congratulations to all the participants on their efforts on the track and in the field where just getting to the meet was something to celebrate. Other celebrations included Dawso’s 250th, a return by Ryan from running OS and congratulations to all for getting out in the incredibly humidity Jan 25 brought.

A link to the council petition re an athletics track is here

Please print it out, get your signatures and return to Laura in person so she can attach and present to council

Lots happened in December even though we had less planned. Standouts included the Pacer Xmas party where we owe the social committee Jo, Rach, Sue and Laura huge thank you. Others deserving mention are Timo for leading the festivities and Dave for set up and pack up.

Coach Rob Lloyd has his Trail Running program attracting big numbers on the days he organises. The Super Series also ran in the heat with Andy O scoring a well-earned top of podium in the 5k on a day where he was also official timekeeper. Multi-talented or what?

November saw the Run Haven running festival, a terrific success for our club. Madz, Christie and Jon have organised a super successful event that is proving incredibly popular with the local running community and an increasing number of visitors. Congratulations to the super trio on their efforts and to all the volunteers who make the event possible. A special thanks to Hales as well, who is a very engaging and interesting MC.

Great results for all Pacers at Run Haven as well as the Queenstown Mara Crew and Jacaranda RunFest crew at Grafton. A brilliant month for Archie W at PMQ parkrun with a set of PBs which is worth a mention.

October finished with a crescendo when Carly and Rob Fish were crowned Pacer Champions in the Diamond Grade. Congratulations on a fine achievement to you both as can be witnessed by the quality of athletes you finished in front of. Other major award winners Tim, Corinne, Rolfey and Madz deserve to be commended as well as all the other Grade winners.

Vicki and Timo shone in major European Marathon Race Days while the Kaddatz family saw Chel and Blake both run 5k PBs at the Port parkrun on 2 occasions in October.

The other big news was Fi’s send off. We are all so sad to see her jet off but at the same time we are excited for her. We all wish her the best and hope she reappears at Pacers in the future when she returns.

There were three big events where multiple Pacers competed this month. The Sydney Marathon was a windy and difficult day which produced a number of first time marathoners and PBs. Congratulations all. Beach To Brother was run with Hunter taking an outright first which is just amazing for a runner of his age. Coffs Running Festival saw Adam M win the Half Marathon. Numerous minor placings and age group wins were achieved in these as well.

In club events the 5k Spring competition was concluded in a shortened version due to the realigning of our athletics season with the Athletics NSW season. This allowed us to find the winning runners in the 2023/24 season who will be announced at our Annual Awards night coming up very soon. Results for September will carry over into the 2024/25 season Spring competition. The HM/10k Super Series was run with Adam C, Carly, Rob Fish and Kylie J topping the podiums. Well done everyone.

RunHaven is nearly upon us as well as the Annual Awards night and the Hottest 100 Laps so there is lots to look forward to.

Another outstanding month of running in August wrapped up our winter program. The 5k Winter comp saw Kayliana take over 8 minutes off her 5k handicap and Markus over 5 minutes from his. Truly outstanding achievements. Each grade needed over 1 minute or more off to win the grade. The training programs really do work. Thanks, coaches for your efforts to help us all improve.

Other efforts that should be acknowledged are Rob Fish winning the Half marathon at Forster, Carly’s club record in the 10k, Ryan’s great result in the US… I could go on but just have a look at the photos.

The efforts of the Pacer Ladies taking on the City To Surf was my most memorable moment in August. Congratulations to you all.

The biggest memory of July 24 has been the efforts of the legions of Pacers who headed to the Gold Coast Marathon Running Festival. Whether they were jumping onto the Sub 3 hour Blue Wave in the marathon or braving the cold and wet for a family running reunion or just having a wonderful time cruising in the crowd what a fantastic effort from all. Standout performances were the Carrall family get together in the 10k, Rob Fish’s Half club record, Carly and BJ both breaking the old Marathon club record, Neil and Christine winning their Age Groups (8 Age Group Top Ten finishes) …

Back home, Sarah K and Markus both broke their 5k PBs twice; Robbie, Nathan and BJ won their events at The elephant Trail Race and Kyle had a win at The Pacer Pursuit. All this has happened as numerous Pacers have had brilliant results at the School and District Athletics events which have been too numerous to keep track of.