Matilda waltzes to finish
Matilda Iglesias, fully fit after a long recovery from freakish injury, returned to the scene of her first win with Stawell Amateur Athletic Club in 2012 to triumph in a Concongella Vineyards handicap on Saturday.
A dedicated trail runner, the 37-year-old mum had built an impressive portfolio of endurance credits before misfortune struck in October last year.
“I was really fit and loving my running when I caught a cold and bulged a disc in my back during a coughing fit,” she said.
“If that wasn’t painful enough, my hip then locked up just before Christmas and I could hardly move. It all seemed to be related and it was very frustrating.”
Iglesias was out of action until January when she eased into a running program, which eventually had her fit enough to tackle a Surf Coast Trail Marathon in June.
Her experience on all types of terrain served her well on the damp and undulating 6.5-kilometre course and she always held a commanding lead over her chasers.
Her scalps included schoolboy champion Tom Walker, whose blistering fastest time of 24.24 minutes was not enough to overcome the punishing nine-minute start he had to give the winner.
Walker, whose next target is Australian Cross Country Championships in Wollongong on August 26, has earned a ‘bridesmaid’ tag after four seconds this season but a win seems imminent.
With her fitness and confidence restored Iglesias will now join club-mates Jess Cass, Nathaniel Warren and Kayleen Urquhart in September, each running a 25-kilometre leg in the Surfcoast Century ultra-marathon along the Great Ocean Road.
In sub-juniors over one kilometre, rookies Kelsey Hurley and sister Eva battled for bragging rights ahead of Chloe Hunter.
The club travels to Rupanyup on Saturday for a handicap event on a flat and friendly eight-kilometre course that starts from Rupanyup football ground. Fun runners are welcome.
All-girl trifecta
Youth triumphed over experience when 14-year-old Emma Mccready proved too nippy for Rhonda Rice and Julie Hertz who shared a rare all-girl trifecta in a Stawell and Ararat Cross Country Club race at Stawell.
Mccready won with a bold but simple strategy.
Under handicap conditions of the Josh and Sylvia Logan Memorial Handicap, the Ararat schoolgirl had to give just under two minutes start to Rice and Hertz, but reeled in the more seasoned runners before the half-way mark.
“Once I did that and then set up a gap of about 20 metres I was determined to hold that lead all the way to the finish,” the youngster said.
“I must have looked over my shoulder four or five times to see where Rhonda was because she kept on sneaking up on me and I had to put on an extra spurt to stay in front.”
Mccready was able to find energy when she needed it most and she sprinted away at the finish to score by 0.30 seconds with Hertz the same margin behind in third place.
Rice was having her 199th race start.
Defeat meant she is a warm favourite to celebrate her 200run milestone with a win in the 10-kilometre Garry and Pauline Jenkins Handicap at Ararat on Sunday.