Hunters back to win races

David Hunter’s tale of woe about his battle to be a cross-country runner almost rivalled his wife Naomi.

But all ended well after he won the eight-kilometre Lindsay Kent Memorial Handicap at Stawell, emulating Naomi’s maiden win from seven days before.

Naomi had taken 12 months to recover from a ruptured achilles tendon, while David had his own problems with an arthritic big toe.

“I felt absolutely disgusting at the start of the season. I couldn’t walk and didn’t think I would ever win a race again,” Hunter said after winning the event from Terry Jenkins. “I’ve had to take it slowly and only started training again, very slowly, last month.”

The 40-year-old landscape gardener, on his feet all day, blamed wear and tear for his advanced arthritis and tries not to think about a second operation to repair similar damage on his other big toe.

Daughter Olivia completed a success-filled fortnight for the Hunters by winning a one-kilometre sub-junior race

The Lindsay Kent was hosted by Stawell Amateur Athletic Club, sharing the event with Stawell and Ararat Cross Country Club, which ran their own race within the race.

Rice rocks clubmates

Rhonda Rice, who has a habit of coming from nowhere to score stunning wins, broke a three-year drought when she did exactly what was unexpected of her.

Not only did she win the Stawell and Ararat Cross Country Club’s version of the Kent memorial she stunned club-mates by beating pre-race favourite Ian Mccready by 2.03 minutes, by far the biggest winning margin since 2015.

Peter Gibson was a further 0.28 minutes away in third place.

Rice had previously won the Kent as far back as 1998 and again in 2012.

She was typically matter-of-fact about the 20-year span of her hattrick. “I didn’t plan anything,” she said. “It just happened.”

While she races infrequently, she trains in the Stawell Ironbarks with long, slow disciplined runs over 16 and 18 kilometres at weekends and now adds a speed session at Stawell’s Central Park on Monday nights.

She is not expected to line up in the club’s most challenging race this Sunday, a three-kilometre King of the Hill, which curls to the top of Ararat’s torturous One Tree Hill. Fun runners are welcome and can accept the challenge by meeting at the Pits Car Park from 9.15am.