Picnic In The Parkes

By Brian Marantelli 10 September 2013

Gary Parkes awoke from a winter slumber to spreadeagle the field in the season’s premier event, the Norm Charles Classic, at Lysterfield on Sunday. Gary, previously considered a 5km specialist, improved his recent form to have complete control of the tough, demanding 10km course at the half way point and entered the final 1000 metre run home with a commanding lead over his rivals. His winning margin of nearly two minutes was the clearest win in the event in its forty eight years of existence. The win was Gary’s sixth in his one hundred and ninety eight runs with the club.

Daniel Veith’s run was a great effort to finish second and record his best time of 36:23, just overhauling Kylie Donnar in the final stages. Kylie, in finishing third and first female home was awarded the Leo Charles Memorial prize and sash. The James family, Irene and Wayne, were next home and have both had excellent years with wins and several placing to their credit. Wayne must be considered hard to beat in the club aggregate award. Former Lysterfield Classic winner, Sean Quilty, was sixth home and recorded the fastest time of 35:33. Second fastest time went to David Haigh with a run of 35:35, finishing eighth overall. Splitting those runners was Greg Foran in seventh. The final runners to finish in the top ten were Mark Hipworth and Hugo Sarpa. The fastest female was Corina Kapusta (38:22) and the novice award went to Brigitte Seeley.

The VCCL would like to thank Normie Charles for forty eight years of generous support and dedication to the club. It certainly has to go down as one of the longest surviving sponsorships in Australian sport.

The final event for the 2013 season is the 6.5km President’s Sealed Handicap at Westerfolds Park on Sunday, starting at 10am.

As the season winds down the VCCL advises that nominations for the 2014 committee positions are open and invite anyone interested to think seriously about placing a nomination with Lyn McKenzie. The entire VCCL community would like to thank Lyn McKenzie and Leanne Callaghan for their contribution to the VCCL committee over several years. They will not be seeking re-election next year but of course will stay actively involved in the club. Download Committee Nomination Form.

The VCCL Presentation Night is on Saturday 5th of October. Please see Leanne for tickets.

The AGM is on October 20th at the McKinnon Hotel, 10am for a 10.30 start. Please come along and offer suggestions for next year’s events.

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