Port Macquarie Pacers Running Club

February saw the reemergence of the Pacer Train at parkrun where a phalanx of speed is used to help a Pacer comrade achieve their speed goals. Amazing times from Jon and Stevie were helped along by willing teammates. Keep it in mind if you have a nagging desire to run a special time have a chat to the coaches about some serious preparation and training. More outstanding performances from the younger crew at the state 5k championships and the NSW Junior Championships. Congratulations to Ryan and Keelan who ran 5k PB’s including a new club record. Unfortunately there was no record of individual performances at Juniors before publishing.

On a lighter side Binny’s amazing increase in speed has made it impossible to keep him in B Grade so he is now head to head with Ryan again and in a shock turn of events has caught him in the parkrun Age Grade championships. Watch this space for future movements.

February saw many Pacers performing at triathlon events with Hugh winning the 18-24 years men’s category at the Geelong Ironman. On top of this there was a slew of podium finishes at the Trial Bay Tri event as well. Congratulations and we hope your performances have been boosted a little by the work you each do with the Pacers. I know you push others along to greater heights and we are lucky to have such a talented bunch in our club.

Stay well folks and hope to see you out and about.

Speed, speed and more speed were my highlights for the month of January within the Pacer village. From the amazing performances by the junior crew at the Country Championships {where each of the Junior Pacers claimed podium finishes with 7 of them being Gold} to the equally amazing month of speed by Binny (new 5k PB as well as a 21.1k PB) and Rob Fish (3 Port parkrun PBs in a row and then an away win at SWR to top it off).

As usual we had our monthly speed week and Pacer Mile with the long competition this month being the half marathon

Many Pacers made the tourist pilgrimages for away parkruns with Pacers picking up 3 away wins at Urunga, Gloucester and South West Rocks. We covered 4 states in our meanderings in January. Imagine what may have happened if we all felt at ease with travel.

On the social front Pacers were busy with the Hottest 100 Laps on the public holiday a meeting point for young and older. A number of Pacers made it to Queens Lake Laurieton for the Henry Kendall parkrun rehearsal with the opening next weekend at 8am.

Stay well folks and hope to see you out and about.

Parkrun restarted on xmas day so all the local runners had something to celebrate. Excellent results for Ingrid, Daz and Archie who beat their previous best times at Port. Other highlights for the month included the youthful squad at NSW All Schools coming home with amazing efforts. We had an all ladies podium at the Pursuit with the fast finishing back markers not able to run them down. Parkrun Tourism was back in force with Pacers venturing far and wide.

Still no parkrun or sessions open for every member but they are getting closer. Our Pacer events were back big time in a virtual format with the mile, (not) parkrun and 10k run in November. This culminated in a big turnout for the first Sunday distance event of the season. With a change to how we are running the distance events it is great to see the interest (we now have only 1 a month with 8k Pursuit, 10k and 21.1k each being run once every 3 months). Beach 2 Brother was very popular within the club and some massive PRs were run by some members.

Some action shots of Ryan Binskin at the State men’s 10000m open champs held on the weekend. The youngest in the race which featured Olympians, Melbourne marathon winners, the current state 5000m champion. Snuck into 11th place in the field of 24 in a new pb of 32:40. Next up is nsw all schools 5000m in ten days time.

We were back to social and training sessions this month with a return to Pacer Comps that are not just virtual early next month. We still had some highlight performances with Amanda F being the first woman home in the Halloween Dusk To Dawn Trail Run Half Marathon on her return to competitive running after injury. Huge congratulations.

Elsewhere James ran the Run For Autism Marathon raising awareness and funds for helping children cope with autism in a world not set up to help them. A worthy cause we wholly support. Well done.

Meanwhile our Pacer sessions have been popular with Tuesday Intervals and Wal & Talk both recording near record numbers. A big welcome to all our new members and welcome back to all our returning members. Stay safe and we will see you out and about.

Are you tired of solo iso running? Try the daily Run Buddy shoutout each day in the Pacers Facebook page. There just might be a running mate for you to catch up with on your socially distant exercising.

And there it goes … our almost normal running existence is back to Covid 19 running rules but not before some amazing performances within our club. Since our last report James and Steve had numerous brilliant runs smashing their Individual Best times in different distances. Ryan, Jon and Lyndsey won on the road and there were the usual array of Pacer Happenings including Carina’s 250th parkrun.

Stay safe and well.

August Competitions

parkrun News and items of interest.

Amazing as it sounds but the cancellation of the Gold Coast Marathon weekend was turned into the Pacer Port Macquarie Marathon which for all the participants will live on as a cherished running memory. With no fewer than 21 official club finishers in the marathon and 10 in the half it was such positive experience pulled from the ashes. Best summed up by EJ (there are too many thankyous to list)

A HUGE thank you to those who ran with us, cheered us on course, rode bikes alongside, delivered a mobile aid station service, created a great finish experience, had special medals made… the list goes on.

You made a ‘virtual’ experience an outstanding experience

As usual we had our array of competitions. Amanda L became the first dual winner of the Pursuit backing up her win in May. Ebanie and Ryan sat atop the Mile Podium once again. While Leigh, Ryan, Steph, Pete, Alice, Brent and Melissa won their parkrun Age Grade Champions Monthly comp. A large number of Port parkrun PBs were recorded as we approach the end of our yearly championships with Ryan, Keelan, Neil, Steph, Tanisha, Robert, Annick and Emily setting new marks from our senior ranks. Added to this Beau, Annabelle and Theodore(twice) recorded new fastest times in our mini Pacers.

Pacer parkrun tourists were out and about at Airlie Beach, Avondale University College, Blackbutt, Cairns (no photo though), Gloucester, Horseshoe Bay Reserve SWR, Surfers Paradise, Taree, Urunga and Varsity Lakes.

Among the celebrations we had Beau’s 10^th as well as Amanda, Pete and Adam’s 100^th parkrun milestones. Pacers were out on the Elephant Trail with Kate and Molly getting podium results.

August brings more race travels but no one is confident in predicting what will be next. In the meantime keep preparing and hope for the best. Good luck and safe travels to Tamworth and beyond.

It’s been another busy month, with the main event being the SWR Running Festival, which saw over 55 members competing! A big shout-out to our first time marathoners – Eb, Brent, Michelle and Haley – welcome to the marathon club, and to Mel and Sophie doing their first half. I hope it was everything you were expecting and more. There’s been so many PBs and special achievements this month. We’re all running so well, and with GC just around the corner, and taper started or starting, we wish the best of luck to those that have set goals for the GC event.

As usual we had our array of competitions (though the Pursuit was cancelled due to the clash with other events). The dual format mile saw Dan B join the podium with his evening run while new members Christine and Jodie from the Tri Club also figured in the top 3. Jack had his first win and joined Eb at the top of the podium this month. Many parkrun PBs were achieved with Mark breaking his best twice during the month and Neal’s PB taking him to a win in the parkrun Age Grade Championship where he joined Leah for the Carroll family to top the A Grade podium. Emma and Molly were mini pacers who improved their PBs also.

Pacer parkrun tourists were out and about at Armidale, Forster, Grafton, Maitland, South West Rocks, Taree and Wauchope. In an amazing feat of tourism James managed to appear in 4 different tourist parkruns even bringing home first place at Wauchope last week. Congratulations Jimmy.

Among the celebrations we had Lizzie’s and Nick’s 50^th as well as Lyndsey, Mark and Pat’s 200^th parkrun milestones. Gary came away from Brisbane with an age group win and a sub 90 minute time in the half marathon. A good time was had by all celebrating no one making a fool of themselves on the bare foot bowling green (due to the rain cancellation). We must try again later.

July brings more race travels with the Gold Coast Marathon weekend coming up soon. So here’s hoping GC is on and Covid free with Pacers celebrating success and great results to reward the work put in.

The Marathon Bus Training sessions continued through May as our members prepare for the South West Rocks and Gold Coast Running festivals. Numbers remain high at training sessions and we look forward to welcoming numerous new members into the marathoners club. Good luck to all who will be competing soon and maybe a few other members may even consider the possibility in the future.

We had our usual array of competitions with the new format mile adding interest with the Ladies event bringing podium changes once the evening crew had competed. Adam joined Eb at the top of the podium this month.  Amanda L. won the pursuit joining a select group of qualifiers for the finals which are closing in fast. Many parkrun PBs were achieved  with Bernadette and Melissa both breaking their best twice during the month. Amira and Grace were mini pacers who improved their PBs also.

Pacer parkrun tourists were out and about at Burley Griffin, Campbelltown, Galston, Kirra, Lawson, Mt Penang, Newy, Nulkalba, Urunga, Varsity Lakes and Wauchope. Added to this Steph and Dave were our first Covid international bubble parkrunners at Queenstown.

Among the celebrations we had Jades’ 100^th parkrun at Port Macquarie. The UTA crew came back with amazing trail running stories in the cold. While the GC 30 pair had a 4 star experience despite the queues and late starts.

June brings more race travels with Brisbane, South West Rocks, Sydney and Gold Coast just some of the venues I am aware of while the Port Tri Club have been invited to join Tuesday’s speed session for a training challenge over the winter months. Enjoy your bowling, rehabbing, walking and running.

April saw the Gold Coast Marathon Training group or bus as it is better known kick into gear with a massive contingent of Pacers signing up for races over the GCM weekend but an amazing number of first time marathoners. This has seen the popularity of different training sessions spike with 27 Pacers out our last Pacer West interval session. So good to see. The other standout for me has been the array of Pacers getting out and about at races and parkruns up and down the east coast.

We had our usual array of competitions with the mile taking on a new look as an evening group added fast times to the morning crews efforts and taking half the podium. James won the pursuit with his competition seemingly scared off by his amazing PBs in the mile and parkrun 5ks. Numerous parkrun PBs were achieved by  Paul G, James, Amanda F, Alana and Trent.

Pacer parkrun tourists were out and about at Ashgrove, Bendigo, Bright, Campbelltown, Casino, Coffs Harbour, Lismore, Main Beach, Menai, Parramatta, Queanbeyan, Rooty Hill, South West Rocks, Stockton, The Entrance, The Ponds, Urunga and Warwick.

Among the celebrations we had Karina’ 100^th parkrun at Port Macquarie, Paul’s 50th and Jon’s 200^th parkrun. The NewRun Crew came home with a 20 minute pb and an age group win in the half. The Canberra marathon mob had a pb, a first time finishers and 2 equal times. The lone Gold Coaster had an age group win and 30 year pb in the half marathon.

All this happened as the Super Series cranked into overdrive but with Speed Week beginning on Saturday all things could change so we will report on that later.