No Bus Ride For Blakey

By Brian Marantelli 8 May 2012

The Victorian Cross Country League ventured to Warringal Park in Heidelberg on Sunday for the 23^rd running of the Rendina Family 8km Handicap. Tony, Charlene and Christian Rendina have been long time sponsors and competitors with the club and Warringal Park is one of our more scenic courses.

The race was won by Gary Blake in a very comfortable manner with a margin of 29 seconds to spare over Mark Howard and Colin Davis. Gary showed by his placing at Karkarook that this win wasn’t far away and he is the third winner for the season to come off a VAL track season. Mark Howard, the VAL CEO, having his first run since 2010 chased hard and recorded his best cross country finish to run 32:34. Colin Davis continues his long awaited return to form and the rolling hills of Greenvale, in a fortnight, look most suitable to his style of racing. The run of the day belongs to the fifteen year old first starter Lucy Bartholomew who certainly showed she can handle the competitive side of handicap racing with her time of 32:24. Lucy finished sixth and also gained the first female novice award. Mark Howard was first male novice. The overall fastest time was Simon Field with a solid 25:39 and Corina Kapusta for the females with 30:34. Finishing in the top ten were Joel Donnar and David Haigh, winners from the first two weeks of the season.

Just outside the top ten was Tony Rendina, finishing a close eleventh. Tony, whose best ever run was a tenacious second to Pheidippides, has rediscovered his youth and seems likely to take a serious hand in this season’s events. The recently purchased “steward’s cam” will be used to follow Tony around in his next few races.

The VCCL would also like to thank Matthew Taylor for his generous sponsorship of the bonus that goes with this race every year. Hopefully Matthew will be back running with the VCCL in the near future.

The next race is two weeks away and is the 17^th Caruana 8km Classic at Woodlands Park in Greenvale, sponsored by Machelle and Joe Caruana. The race is a joint event with the Bendigo, Stawell and Ararat clubs. Please note the start time is 11am. The venue is one of the oldest homesteads in Victoria originally owned by the Greene family. A member of the Greene family was, as we all know, Sir William Stawell, Chief Justice of Victoria but apparently not a paid up member of the Stawell Cross Country Club.

The race set down for the 5^th of August will not be conducted around the two bridges (Yarra River) this year and a new venue will be announced in the next few weeks.

Have a happy Mother’s Day and enjoy your week off (that’s the runners not the mothers).

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