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The most amazing efforts over this time were the Sydney Marathon weekend runs by a huge cohort of members. It was an awe-inspiring effort from everyone who attended. Whether you were one of the many who trained for months or had to just throw together some short term training it must rate as the greatest weekend in Pacer racing history for many of us. Congratulations to each person for whatever distance you competed in.

We also had fantastic results in Coffs, Laurieton, Adelaide, Melbourne and in the 3 day endurance event. Added to the number of PMQ parkrun Personal Bests (3 each to Rosie and Josh, 4 members from the Medlin family) and the number of Pacers travelling on the parkrun Tourism trail it truly was a time to celebrate.

Special congratulations to Amanda L for winning the Pursuit and Tania for landing a national team position.

Another incredible month of running within our club leaves me in awe of our membership. Be it Trish finally getting to go on her trip to the birthplace of parkrun, Bushy Park, as the parkrun Hero or the inspirational heroes of Forster who completed their first Treble Bridge Busters – Luke, Kylie, Brent, Kristy, Kat, Julia and Jade. Not to mention the club securing 4 outright wins and 13 Age Group wins on top of the highest representation across the suite of races. Another highlight was Hunter’s outright 5^th and Age Group 1^st in the 5k while he was in the 00 to 12 age group which he followed up with a sub 20 minute parkrun at Port. Bring on Sydney and RunHaven.

NATIONAL GOLD FOR GRACE

On the weekend our very own Grace Morris competed at the NATIONAL Cross Country Championships in Canberra . Grace was then selected (top 5 from state school team- Grace was 4th) to race in team relay – 5x1500m, where the girls won gold , a GOLD National Medal

Looking back over July 23 seems to be all about acknowledging so many speedy runs – whether it be at the front of a race or challenging your own past achievements. It is a credit to the fitness programs and the long term planning for the Sydney Marathon festival to have so many runners performing brilliantly.

The month started with the Gold Coast Marathon Running Festival which saw Christine take an Age Group win, Neil a 2^nd and Trish, Leigh, Mark, Hugh and Jon Top 10 placings in their respective Age Categories. Sensational. The month ended with Rob winning the HM at Yeppoon and straight away he commented that Tamworth is next. Meanwhile Forster, Sydney and RunHaven are also in our sights. In the meanwhile Alice took AG 1^st at the Winery Run, BJ was outright 1^st at the Elephant Trail Race while Xander took a 2^nd place. Molly, Grace, Emily, Herbert, Theo, Hunter and Wilton (these are the individuals I am aware of – there may be others) all represented their schools at State Champs in the cross country and a number will be off to the Nationals.

Pacer records tumbled during the month with Carly running our fastest 5K (F) and Hugh running our fastest  Marathon (M). The list of new Top 10 Runners in the Pacer Records was amazing with Fi, Kylie and Jimmy recording T10 Mile times, Grace, BJ, Fi, Jimmy and Hugh T10 5k times, BJ, Fi, Kylie and Josh T10 10k times, Christine, Kylie, Laura C and Rob T10 Half Marathon times and Kate, Giulia, Jon and Rob T10 Marathon times. But that is not all we are about. How good is it to see Emily smash out 4 parkrun PBs at Port parkrun, Natalie 3 Pbs, Hugh, Alana and Grace 2 each with a number of family members also setting best times in July. So good.

Another month of brilliant running in June 23. Christine smashing the Port parkrun Age Grade record (the previous mark was hers and the one before that …) which now sits at nearly 97% is a standout effort. Amazingly she is being challenged by Vicki and Mechell in the same age group. What strength and depth we have in our Pacer Ladies members.

We also had numerous Pacer Juniors performing at outstanding levels with many of these getting that little bit extra from Mel’s Junior Pacers sessions. The club saw a huge turn out at the SWR RunFest not only winning the highest number of runners but wins in 5 races and domination of the half marathon (1st,2nd,3rd men’s and 1st,2nd women’s} which indicates to me how successful the training programs have been (not to forget the mighty efforts of all the runners who are benefitting from these programs and performing so well – thanks coaches and physios for your programs and leading of sessions).

May 23 saw another successful month competitively and socially for the Port Pacers. Starting with the fantastic level of support provided by club members for the Ironman event as official volunteers and interested spectators. It makes me proud to be a part of a club that so willingly supports all athletes in their endeavours. Pacers did well as athletes not only on the podiums but as first timers completing full ironman races like Brent.

Since the beginning of the month so many brilliant individual efforts have been recorded. Some of these include Ryan and Carly setting new age group records at Port parkrun – Carly’s run reclaiming the 5km female club record. Amaya finishing on the podium at the state age group championships over 2.5k, BJ finishing top 10 at UTA 50 and on the podium for her age group.

But it is not only about the record breaking and podiums. We should not forget Giulia smashing PBs as she gets deep into Gold Coast training, Karina is still setting PBs in all distances, shoutout to Ben with a 7minute 10km PB, Fish and Adam with the 3rd and 4th fastest half in club history as part of a long run. Xander and Wilton breaking 17, and Mark V sneaking very close to sub 22. Steph B setting PBs after 140 parkruns, Sue after 229, and Corrine after 125!  Luke in the Great Ocean Road Run and Sue in the Gold Coast 30. It does not stop there but there is not enough time to list them all. Well done you all and see you out and about the trails, paths and roads of Port and surrounds.

April saw some magnificent running, terrific social building and a terrible tragedy. Our individual and collective hearts go out to Trish for her loss and we offer our deepest sympathies. Please be assured that each and every one of your fellow members would do anything to help at this time.

On a lighter note the magnificent running was never better exemplified than by Sue Fitz who smashed by 8 minutes a long held personal record in the 10k distance and smashed her 10 year old 5k PB. Tania also lowered her 5k parkrun best twice and gained our female all time record and also managed to win the Bottlebrush Half Marathon. Allison R also managed a 10k PB and 2 parkrun PBs and was joined in that feat by Dominic for an outstanding family result. Carly and Hugh came away from NewRun with Age Group wins. Rob Fish joined Tania atop the Bottlebrush winners podium and Ryan won the Canberra running festival 5.4k outright. Meanwhile Christine bettered the Age Grade Record at Port parkrun again. Simply outstanding.

The most satisfying performances must go to our youth members this month though. With Grace topping the mile, Preston finishing on the podium for the first time and the Gen Z/Alphas taking out our inaugural My Generation Team Challenge. We certainly have many, many talented youth runners.

The month started with the Port RunFest which saw Grace win the 5k and Jon finish 3^rd outright in the Buster. It was a very successful 2 days for Pacers with numerous age group wins, podiums, top 10s and many Personal Bests. The training programs continue to see so many runners progressing their times and so many getting involved. Special mentions in a crowd of top achievers to Jon and Robbie who continue to improve their 5k times and also the Medlin ladies who both improved the parkrun times twice as well as both topping their grade in the Age Grade Champs. The sea of Blues at the parkrun Speed Week was outstanding. We look forward to April and the start of the Pacer Generations Challenge. All you need to do is make sure your parkrun club is set to Pacers and run the speed week parkrun on April 8 and you will be part of it.

Another month of amazing running as we prepared for the start of the local running season which begins next weekend with the start of the Port RunFest Half Marathon. A standout performance from Megan Purkiss who ran 3 successive PBs at PMQ parkrun. Jon and Robert became the 2^nd fastest Pacers ever in the 10k and HM respectively when they ran in the Quarterly Super Series events. A fantastic showing from the Juniors at the Little Athletics Regional event with many podium performances.

Internationally Leigh and Neil achieved podium performances at the New Zealand Masters games while BJ finished the Tarawera Ultra on the podium as well. Then as the month ticked down Tania finished on top of the podium at the Spartan race in Victoria.

The usual Pacer events were contested in Speed Week and we had a number of Milestones (Fi 50 parkruns on her present id number) and Ruby & Marcus reaching 10 parkruns as juniors.

There was a competitive break over the holiday period so we did not contest our usual speed week activities this month. With the resumption of training, we then had our Pacer 10k comp where Rob Fish was outstanding on a hot and humid Sunday morning. Pacers continued to battle the elements at parkrun and Brendan Field dominated with 3 PB’s over the month at Port. We saw Ryan run his last PMQ parkrun as a local, winning the event for the 89^th time. Now he is off to Uni to study and run with the elites in Canberra. Best wishes from all of us.

January turned into a month of celebrations and milestones as Zeke, Lyndsey and Carina ran their 25th, 250^th  and 300^th parkruns. Tammy had a big birthday celebration and Julia had a photo that ranks with the very best in Pacer uniform. In late news Pacer Women had a wonderful meet at the Country Championships for Surf Lifesaving with some fantastic results and a swag full of medals.

January Photo Of The Month

As the year closes and the weather heats up we are finally being able to prepare for Port RunFest in the humidity resembling what we are likely to face next March. December saw the usual set of competitions with Ryan and Fi standing atop the Mile podium, Rolfy being crowned the Pursuit champion for the quarter and repeat winners of the Age Grade Port parkrun championships. Special mention in the Port parkrun PB’s to Emily M and Josh S who each lowered their personal bests 3 times in the month. Congratulations to all.

Out and about we had Steph and Timo parkrunning in very different parts of the world and in very different sets of weather. Timo must have had cool feet in Germany which resembled the weather of our UTMB runners had at Kosciusko. Ryan, Alana and Jessica had major parkrun Milestone celebrations.

Lastly as we enter the New Year one of the great things to reflect upon is the success of our targeted training programs (special thanks to the organisers and coaches). The impact it has had on times can be seen in the Port parkrun fastest Pacer runners. Of the top 10 Pacer Men and Women 17 of the 20 PB’s run by our speedsters were run in 2022. Take a bow all 20 runners. Take a bow Jon and James for your programs.