CLARK ON TRACK FOR BIG MEETS
TASMANIA’S marathon marvel Milly Clark will use the City to Casino fun run on Sunday as her stepping stone towards competing at the 2022 World Championships and Commonwealth Games later this year.
The Rio Olympian won the Melbourne Marathon in December to add her name to the list of contenders for this year’s world titles and Commonwealth Games, along with twotime Olympian Eloise Wellings, who was second in Melbourne.
City to Casino race director Haydyn Nielsen says Milly’s the one to beat.
“Milly is in stellar form. She has been running very well all year,” Nielsen said.
“She was third in the Bridge Run recently and there were a lot of interstate runners in that event and the field was very strong. Milly will be looking to run strongly here with the Commonwealth Games in mind.”
Hobart runner Meriem Daoui will be Clark’s closest rival, but defending champion Ruby Smee – who clocked 36m33s last year – will not be back to defend her crown.
Former champion Mel Daniels, who was second to Smee last year, will also be in contention.
James Hanson from the state’s North West Coast has been in strong form and is tipped to challenge reigning champion Dave Thomas for the men’s title. “James has been running very well in the north so he’s a strong chance to take out the men’s title but Dave Thomas will be very honest as well,” Nielsen said.
Previous men’s champion David Hamalock will be another contender, making it an intriguing three-way battle in the men’s event.
The course remains the same and a field of about 2000 will hit the pavement on Sunday morning for the annual event, covering either the 11km run, the 7km run-walk or 2.7km run for kids and their guardians.
“The numbers aren’t back to the level they normally are because Covid has affected it,” Nielsen said.
“People can enter until 4pm on Saturday at the Running Edge, so entries are still open. We are down about 1700 participants. When we had the 40th anniversary race in 2014 we had 4980, so that’s a lot different to what we see now.
“But, generally, numbers are down for fun runs and that’s because of Covid and people being reluctant to get among other people.”