Baker delights in victory
In a week in which Stawell received a deluge, Nathan Baker posted his first cross-country win since 2014 in a five-kilometre handicap race.
His success emulated Peter Barham’s drought-breaking win the previous week
Like Barham, whose appearances with Stawell Amateur Athletic Club have been spasmodic, Baker has been hampered by injury, limiting his number of starts to 25 from a possible 90 since his last taste of success in June of 2014.
“I had a bulging disc in my lower back which really troubled me for about 18 months and even now I do stretching exercises every morning and night to manage the problem as best I can,” he said.
Having conceded more than 11 minutes’ start to front-markers, Baker jostled with fellow back-markers Gary Howden, Bal Sukhpreet and Col Barnett as they threaded their way through a packed field.
Placegetters Rebecca Hurley and Naomi Hunter fought for supremacy for most of the race, but Baker snatched the lead with just 250 metres to run and dashed clear to set up a 0.17-second winning margin. The rest of the chasers finished within five minutes of the winner.
Baker, a consistent and mentally focused runner, trains from 6am most mornings.
He has no lofty ambitions to run marathons or endurance but is keen to break 40 minutes for 10 kilometres during his time with the club.
“Other than that I’m just happy to share the activity and space with my son Jerome, who runs with the sub-juniors, and my wife Angela,” he said.
In a one-kilometre sub-juniors race, Henry Dunn scored a week-to-week win over the determined dead-heaters Colten Kenny and Barney Baker
The club returns to the Ironbarks for a five-kilometre Kieran Ryan Handicap on Saturday. Fun runners are invited to meet at Stawell’s North Park Clubrooms from 9.30am.
Reynolds a winner
Ararat schoolteacher Andrew Reynolds was a little shame-faced after winning a Concongella Vineyard Handicap race on Sunday, admitting zero preparation for the race.
At the post race presentation he pointed admiringly to Stawell and Ararat Cross Country Club stalwart Jack Trounson, who is almost twice Reynolds’s age, trains most days and finished fourth in his 650th run with the club.
“I had a really busy week and didn’t have time to train, but Jack never makes excuses. His ankles might be crook, but still he backs up every week and is an inspiration to us all.”
Reynolds, however, does have reason to be proud of his own achievements.
The 37-year-old played rugby and hockey in his youth, but after a bout of clinical depression his weight soared to 105 kilograms.
Ten years ago he turned to running for a remedy, shed more than 25 kilograms in seven years with the club and is now one of the five fastest runners every time he starts.
“I’ll never achieve what Jack has achieved, but then he has set records with the club that will never be broken,” he said.
“I’d love to run a sub 20-minute five kilometres, but Jack and others at the club were doing that with ease in their youth and my best is a tick over 22 minutes, so I still have a long way to go.”
At picturesque Concongella, winding between rows of grape vines and briefly climbing a bush track behind the vineyard, Reynolds picked off the front-markers one by one and cruised to an unassailable lead with a lap to run.
Runner-up Paul Fenn posted the fastest time of 28.07 minutes in the 6.5-kilometre event but under handicap conditions had given Reynolds four minutes start. He closed the margin to just 0.26 minutes at the finish.
Ian Mccready was a distant third ahead of Trounson who picked himself up after an early stumble to run his usual honest race.
The club has a bye this Mother’s Day but starts the eight-kilometre Lindsay Kent Memorial at 9.45am from Pipetrack Road in Stawell on Sunday week. Fun runners are welcome.