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.
The cool weather and fast approaching GCM have meant many Pacers are hitting peak performance in many different distances and at numerous different events.
At the club monthly mile Brendon Prince and Hudson McDonald set club PBs
At the Pacer Super Series event
10km:
Karina Symonds 48:45 is a 45s PB, last set in Jan 2023
Haley Branch 49:07 is a 1:50 PB, last set in Sept 2022
Jess Hammond 53:13 is a 1:15 PB, last set in June 2022
HM:
Paul Gagliardi 1:17:55 is a 2:01 PB, last set in April 2022, and 7th fastest club HM of all time
Brendan Prince 1:23:00 is a 21s PB, last set in March 2024.
Parkrun
Neil Carrall ,broke his new age category record at parkrun by over a minute
Josh Sund ran a 30s parkrun PB; our newest member of the #sub17 club, with a 16:59
Our 5k club record was obliterated with Carly taking over 30s off it, becoming just the 3rd female in Port parkrun history to break 18.
SWR RunFest personal bests
5km Harrison Blackman
10km Corrinne Medlin, Grace Ashton
HM Josh Sund, Kyle Connolly, Fi Bagley, Bec Dwyer, Erinn Smith, Carly Terrett (2 minute club record)
Marathon Jimmy Hamm (2nd fastest marathon in club history).
So much happened in May in Pacertown. Pacers were spotted competing all over the place. Congratulations to all those who competed with outstanding results from Mel, Vicki and Rob. Our 2nd quarterly 5k championships wrapped up with the top performers all being over a minute faster than their 5k handicap. Special mention to Lee and Meaghan who both continue their amazing improvements. We got to say thankyou to Sue for her many years of service to parkrun as she stood down from the ED role on the same morning that we saw the one off return of our most successful export Ryan (best wishes on his continued success OS).
What an effort by the Pacer crew at NewRun this year. Beginning with Maree’s Age Group win on the first weekend. She was faster than all the competitors in the next younger division and would have been on the podium for the age group under that. What a fantastic achievement. Then on the second weekend Adam Mainey’s outright 2nd in the marathon, Adam Carroll age group first, with AG podium finishes for Steve, Jodie, Jon and Kylie. Ed, Brendan and Fi also achieved top 10 AG finishes. An amazing number of podiums. Congratulations to all the Pacer competitors at NewRun who wore the colours and did us proud whether making these lists or just enjoying the day.
Pacers were also spotted at New York marathon, Canberra Marathon weekend, Sydney’s Backyard ultra and racing for the best spot at the feeding trough of a cruise liner. Brilliant to see you out there.
An early recount of Pacer happenings this month has to start with the celebration of our Juniors’ achievements in March. Three outright winners at Port RunFest, nine other podium finishes, Little Athletics State medals and PBs, Athletics NSW Youth Championships gold and silver …the list seems endless. Congratulations to all the athletes involved. It is so good that you are a part of our club.
In the senior ranks the thing that stands out has been the results of the Wednesday afternoon group who are either in the early stages of their running activities or returning from long lay offs. Lee and Meaghan especially stand out in my mind. Well done and thanks JB for running this program.
