VETRUNNERY f ISSN 1449-8006 Vol. 40 Issue 8 — March 2019 Patron: Dick Telford Website: www.actmastersathletics.org.au Facebook: ACT-Veterans-Athletic-Club The monthly magazine of the ACT Masters Athletics Club Inc. Email: [email protected] Club needs a registrar; please contact president at [email protected] 2019 track and field program on page 22 KENT WILLIAMS; TALENTED RUNNER FORSAKES PERSONAL VICTORIES TO MAKE HANDICAPS MORE ENJOYABLE FOR OTHERS Reporter: Bryan Thomas in the Canberra 50km (winning in 1994 in 3:16) and Brinda- bella Classic “ultras” and many half marathons. He has com- Like many parents, Kent and Lynn Williams were drawn pleted fifteen ACT Veterans’ Half Marathons winning his back to running because of their children’s involvement in age group seven times - as an M45 in 1993, M50 in 1997, junior sport. They made their comeback in the 1989 Canber- M55 in 2004, M60 in 2008 and 2009, M65 in 2011 and as an ra Times Fun Run because of the cash prizes being offered as M70 in 2015 with a record performance. He also had the best “lucky draws”. male performance, as determined by WMA Age Standards As Kent had been a talented middle distance runner (AS) on five occasions. His 2011 run as a 66 year-old earned during his time at university he performed better than ex- an AS 87.7% which is currently the third best male in the pected. This new enthusiasm for long distance running en- history of the event. couraged them to join the Cross-Country Club, then a couple In recent times Kent has forsaken his chances to win of months later the ACTVAC. medals and earn points in the annual competition for the Since his debut monthly handicap on the old Cooleman monthly handicaps because he has often commenced his run Ridge course in May 1990 Kent has gone on to complete an- amongst the earliest groups in order to get back to help other 223 runs. All have been in the long course and until speed up the process of recording results. This is typical of recently always as a back-marker. Despite being a talented Kent. Always wanting to make our monthly run/walk handi- distance runner Kent has only won a gold and a silver medal cap program more enjoyable for others. Such an attitude is in his twenty-eight years of participating in the handicaps. just one of the reasons Kent is the recipient of this year’s However, he has won the Best Performance Award (as prestigious club-person award. determined by averaging WMA age graded percentages) for In 2004 Kent and wife Lynn were joint recipients of the Thomas Series six times, in 2003, 04, 12, 14, 15 and year, the Encouragement Award for their many years of participa- 2018 as well as being runner-up in 2011 and third in 2006. tion and service to our handicap program. Now fourteen In 2012 he was also crowned ‘King of the Mountains’ for the years later Kent is the recipient again - but on this occasion series. in his own right. Kent made his marathon debut in the tough up-hill ‘Man from Snowy River Marathon’. He has since completed Congratulations Kent Williams on being the 44th several more with a PB of 2:38 in the 1994 Gold Coast Mara- recipient of the Encouragement Award thon and is currently sixth and second best on our M45 and M50 marathon rankings. Apart from marathons Kent has also enjoyed success Bryan Thomas Run/walk handicap roster lists for 2019 The Roster Lists and the Alphabetical List for 2019 are now on the website. Thank you to all those mem- bers who volunteered for duty. Those who didn't volun- teer by mid January have been allocated duties. Please have a look at the Alphabetical Listing at the top of the monthly Duty Roster Lists which shows the month of duty for each member, and advise the Roster Manager at [email protected] if the allocated duty month is not suitable. There are still vacancies for the months of May, June, August, and September . Rosemary Parker Kent Williams M70 presented with the 44th Encouragement award, one of the two most prestigious awards given by the club. To the right, President Shane Hutchison. (Photo; Suzie Gaynor) Page 2 — March 2019 Vetrunner Club Sponsors Need new flashy shoes for the Melbourne Cup? Be like Winx and get shod with the latest foot- wear at the Runners Shop. Note, however, they only sell pairs! Philip Store: 76 Dundas Court Ph: 6285 3508 Gungahlin Store: Level 1 46/50 Hibberson St. Ph: 6241-7054 KINGSTON PHYSIOTHERAPY & SPORTS INJURY CENTRE HAS MADE THE MOVE! After 19 years Craig Wisdom and his Physiotherapy & Massage team have relocated to brand new premises in Green Square Centre, Kingston. ACTMA discounts & contacts unchanged: P : 0 2 -6 260 82 44 E: [email protected] W : www.kingstonphysio.com.au Club Supporters The Club is grateful for the generous support of the following local businesses: National Mailing & Marketing for printing of Vetrunner, the Annual Report and other pamphlets Garry Maher of Manuka Drafting Service for donating prizes for the King and Queen of the Mountain in both Thomas & Frylink Series Belconnen Soccer Club for their support of the 200th Throwing Handicap and providing a venue for the AGM and committee meetings Go Troppo Fyshwick Markets for a discount on fruit for our regular athletic events and the ACTMA and National Half Marathon Championship The Runners Shop for discount to members for purchases, a percentage of sales to club member back to the club, and for providing medals at the Half Marathon. March 2019 Vetrunner — page 3 President’s Report The Canberra Festival of Athletics was a great success looking at other ways to entice ACTMA and YMCA for athletics in Canberra and for our club. It was a great members to participate more often and even take out dual opportunity to show the Masters athletes in front of a membership of our clubs. national audience. I would like to thank everyone who Last month I introduced the “One Sport” concept or joined me in the 4-Lap Spiral exhibition race (Peter Baker, “whole-of-life” athletics marketing approach being Nigel England, Jimmy White, Frank Kresse, Nikki Phelps, considered for the ACT. How “One Sport” might work in the Suzie Gaynor, Ken Smith, Robbie Costmeyer and Bryan ACT is being investigated, and along with representatives Thomas) and club members Kathy Sims, Raelene Campbell, from Little Athletics and Athletics ACT, we are developing Geoff Sims, Jill Pearson and Robert Kennelly who officiated a proposal and a way forward. I have organised a meeting on the track. (For the record Frank Kresse won. Ed) room for 7.00pm 18 March 2019 at the Belconnen Soccer It’s great to see everyone returning from the Christmas Club for discussions about the One Sport proposal. This will break with such enthusiasm, with 103 people participating be your opportunity to hear feedback on this strategy and in the first Cross Country and over 60 in the first Track and voice your opinion. Field in January. With Canberra experiencing record Speaking of saving dates, our AGM is on Tuesday 21 temperatures, it’s a reminder that some of our early year May, the venue to be confirmed closer to the event. competition events will be affected by hot weather. The club Our 40th anniversary polo shirt is now available for has advice on running in hot weather in our extreme purchase, Frank Kresse and Suzie Gaynor have put in a lot weather policy, available on our website. of effort to come up with a great design and coordinate There are two big events coming up for club members in orders. The club views the shirt as a great marketing the first half of the year, the 2019 AMA Nationals in opportunity and is discounting the shirt for the first 50 Melbourne in late April and the AMA half-Marathon in sales or up to the end of February – which ever happens May. Registrations are open now for the nationals in first! Keep a lookout for the flyer with all the information Melbourne, with Roger Pilkington our Team Manager, who listed. will be assisted by Jayne Hardy. We are hosting the AMA The investigation of the member inclusion support Half-Marathon championships in May, in conjunction with and protection issue has been completed. In my last the YMCA Canberra Runners Club half-marathon on monthly report I noted this was underway and regrettably Sunday 26 May. Registrations are already open for the announce that one member has been permanently expelled AMA Half, with new flyers, updated webpages, registration from our club. Respecting privacy, we will not be publicising and coordination with the YMCA runners club all done and names of people involved. However, I thank all those dusted early in the New Year. So please keep the date in involved for their understanding and professionalism in mind. 26 May is race day, and discounted early bird handling an unpleasant and personally traumatising registration closes on the 28 April. We are enthusiastic situation. Continued p.4 about teaming up with the YMCA to run this event and are ACT MASTERS ATHLETICS “Fitness Through Fellowship” The Vetrunner is the official Newsletter of ACTMA, ISSN 1449-8006 Postal Address: GPO Box 2356, Canberra, ACT 2601. Internet: www.actmastersathletics.org.au Facebook: ACT-Veterans-Athletic-Club Disclaimer: The views expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily the views of ACTMA Patron: Half Marathon: Catering trailer: (Run/Walk Handicaps) Dr Dick Telford AO Shane Hutchison 0419 009 403 Rod Lynch 02 6242 071 President: [email protected] Organizes roster for the trailer Shane Hutchison 0419 009 403 Competition (Track &Field): Equipment Officer & Throws Pent: