42 replies to this topic

[superflake]

Details are here Zatopek

Racing starts at 7pm from Olympic Park Melbourne.

The Womens 10,000m field includes:

Benita Willis, Eloise Wellings, Lisa Weightman, Melinda Vernon, Lara Tamsett, Lauren Shelley and Hanny Allston amongst the 21 entrants.

Mens Under 20 3000m includes:

Ryan Gregson, James Nipperess, Kane Grimster and Kevin Batt.

Also a Men's 1500m with:

Bromley, Kealey, Renshaw, Roff.

And the Men's 10,000m includes:

Birmingham, Dent, Dessaix-Chin, Haber, Hunt, McNeill, McRae, Perrett, St Lawrence, Tucker and USA rep Bobby Curtis.

Should be a great night of racing.

The Australian 10,000m titles are up for grabs on the night. And if they get under 28:05 for men and 32:10 for women a Comm games qualifier.

[EnduranceMachine]

might go down and watch i was going to enter the u/20 3000m but i don't think i would have had any chance of being put in the race haha

[superflake]

Might not be that good conditions for the races. 15-24 degrees with a 90% chance of rain.

Oh well!

It will still be good to watch. Not that I can from here.

[Emrun]

A stronger women's field for the 10,000 than we seen for a couple of years, I am looking forward to watching this one!

[Fossil]

I'm tipping Lara Tamsett for the 10,000m. I have been in same training squad as Lara for 5 or 6 years now and never has she been so good - running very smoothly and very fast just now and I think she'll have an excellent race on Thursday.

[lateriser]

Weather doesn't look good but I am planning on heading down to watch. Keen to see if Dave can take it out again.

[RHCP26]

This is huge this year and I can;t wait. I am agonising over if or what channel is broadcasting this. I am in Brissy and can't seem to track down whether this will be broadcasted live. Any ideas? Will Fox broadcast it nationally? Can I watch live on the web?

[KevinCassidy]

I wouldn't miss this for quids.

A fantastic nights entertainment for every runner [even if you just jog around the block once a week].

This year looks like being one of the better quality years we've seen for a while.

Settle in to your seat at Olympic Park, crack open a drink and enjoy watching our very best in action.

[CosmoKramer]

Fossil, on Dec 8 2009, 08:18 AM, said:

I'm tipping Lara Tamsett for the 10,000m. I have been in same training squad as Lara for 5 or 6 years now and never has she been so good - running very smoothly and very fast just now and I think she'll have an excellent race on Thursday.

of course you do keith. Top 5 would be a pleasing result for tamsett in that field.
1. Chapele
2. Willis
3.Weightman

[Fossil]

CosmoKramer, on Dec 8 2009, 08:41 PM, said:

of course you do keith. Top 5 would be a pleasing result for tamsett in that field.
1. Chapele
2. Willis
3.Weightman

[RHCP26]

KevinCassidy, on Dec 8 2009, 07:36 PM, said:

I wouldn't miss this for quids.

A fantastic nights entertainment for every runner [even if you just jog around the block once a week].

This year looks like being one of the better quality years we've seen for a while.

Settle in to your seat at Olympic Park, crack open a drink and enjoy watching our very best in action.

Yeah I would love to but Olympic Park it is a fair walk from the southside of Brisbane. I have checked and guess what not even SBS is televising this on their fourth channel! What a surprise. Oh well maybe if I hang out on the forum one fo you guys can give me a lap by lap update

[KevinCassidy]

RHCP26, on Dec 8 2009, 10:15 AM, said:

Yeah I would love to but Olympic Park it is a fair walk from the southside of Brisbane. I have checked and guess what not even SBS is televising this on their fourth channel! What a surprise. Oh well maybe if I hang out on the forum one fo you guys can give me a lap by lap update

Another reason why we are the sports capital of the entire universe!!!

Our hospitals, schools and transport may be neglected but we do have about 500 sports stadiums in central Melbourne so our priorities are definitely right!!

[swaggerer]

Quote

Birmingham, Dent, Dessaix-Chin, Haber, Hunt, McNeill, McRae, Perrett, St Lawrence, Tucker and USA rep Bobby Curtis

.


And lets not forget Qld rep. and City to Surf winner, Michael Shelley.

[Rabbits]

I won't try and pick winners but both the 10,000m races should be fantastic. It's such a shame we can't watch this live but hopefully athsvic, runners tribe or someone will put together a highlight package after the event.

The fields are stronger than they've been for many years from what I can tell so hopefully the pace is on so some fast times are run. It would be great to see sub 32:30 for women and low 28:00 for the men which I think is on the cards depending on how they pan out. Sub 28 would be awesome.

Nikki Chapple has run well of late but I wouldn't expect her to have it all her own way in this field. I'm also curious to see how Shelley runs. He seems to have kept a fairly low profile since C2S but has performed well in any big races he's taken on recently so if he's a starter I think he'd be close. It's hard to separate many of the rest but obviously the Aussie record holder deserves to be the favourite.

Also... go Benny!

[Long Arms]

Emrun, on Dec 7 2009, 03:34 PM, said:

A stronger women's field for the 10,000 than we seen for a couple of years, I am looking forward to watching this one!

I will go one step further that. This is the deepest female field for a long distance track race ever in Australia.

It appears that a very good number of females are going to make the start line in one piece. The current best distance runners are there. Might take a sub 32.00 to win, with potentially 10 or more running sub 33.00, with possibly5 of those going under 32.30.

The men's field is looking deep as well. Possibly a couple under 28.00, should be plenty under 29.00. I am tipping 3 or 4 left at the bell and the best kicker to win- a bit like last year's scenario, but who knows.

Some excellent junior 3000m races as well, with future superstar Ryan Gregson running his last race as a junior. Let's not forget some top class 1500m fields as well!

If you live in Melbourne I urge you to come down to Olympic Park from 7.00pm tonight. Track racing is the best way for fans to see the elite for the entire race and it is easy to have a chat with any of the big names trackside when they are not racing. They are almost all very approachable.

[Rabbits]

Long Arms, on Dec 10 2009, 10:26 AM, said:

I will go one step further that. This is the deepest female field for a long distance track race ever in Australia.

It appears that a very good number of females are going to make the start line in one piece. The current best distance runners are there. Might take a sub 32.00 to win, with potentially 10 or more running sub 33.00, with possibly5 of those going under 32.30.

The men's field is looking deep as well. Possibly a couple under 28.00, should be plenty under 29.00. I am tipping 3 or 4 left at the bell and the best kicker to win- a bit like last year's scenario, but who knows.

Some excellent junior 3000m races as well, with future superstar Ryan Gregson running his last race as a junior. Let's not forget some top class 1500m fields as well!

If you live in Melbourne I urge you to come down to Olympic Park from 7.00pm tonight. Track racing is the best way for fans to see the elite for the entire race and it is easy to have a chat with any of the big names trackside when they are not racing. They are almost all very approachable.

I haven't been around for as long to be able to make big claims about depth of female fields over the years but it doesn't surprise me. I'll be interested to see how the Great Aus Run times and form for Chapple and Benita translates to the track.

Weather forecast is for clearing showers and wind up to 30 km/h so hopefully that doesn't affect things too much.

[superflake]

Don't like the look of the current weather for Melbourne to run fast times.
17 degrees, showers and a 48k Southerly wind.

Hopefully some fast times can be run.

[akajan]

I can't make it to Melbourne to watch. There is no coverage on TV or Internet. What is wrong with sport coverage in this country?
All I can watch is cricket and footy; it makes me sick.

[Tony123]

I can't understand why there arent any live results on the Athletics Victoria website, I am sure they had them last year.

Its very dissapointing, they dont make it easy to follow this sport.

[akajan]

I just found a link to Live results at Athletics Victoria website.

[Tony123]

swaggerer, on Dec 9 2009, 07:49 PM, said:

.


And lets not forget Qld rep. and City to Surf winner, Michael Shelley.

Hey Ron, What about the other Qld rep? Hope Jon runs well

[Tony123]

akajan, on Dec 10 2009, 08:35 PM, said:

I just found a link to Live results at Athletics Victoria website.

Thanks akajan

[Bellthorpe]

http://www.nswathlet....au/answ/live2/

[Tony123]

Bellthorpe, on Dec 10 2009, 08:50 PM, said:

http://www.nswathlet....au/answ/live2/

There is something ironic about going to the NSW athletics website to view the results from one of Athletics Victoria's major meets

[EnduranceMachine]

Wow 6 B Q Commenwelth games times ran in the Womens 10000m Race

[RHCP26]

What a great performance from the Saint, but I bet he is peeved to miss the A qualifier by 00.00.73! How does the B qualifying time work?

[DistanceRunner]

Two very good races tonight, depsite the (cold) wet and windy conditions. In the women's 10000m there were 5 or 6 in contention for most of the way. Nicki Chapple did most of the pacing (after a few laps by Kaila McKnight) but was then outgunned by the others in the last few laps. Quite a strong wind to be leading into. Eloise Wellings is really back in form, being too strong for both Weightman and Tamsett when she gunned it over the last couple of laps. Weightman finished really well though, proving what a great and gutsy runner she is. Rebecca Lowe finished 4th in under 32:24 minutes. I have to say I haven't heard of her before.

The men's race was also a good contest , with Birmingham doing very little until about 850m to go. Most of the pacing for nearly 20 laps was done by Michael Shelley out front, with Birmingham, Dave McNeil, Hunt, St Lawrence, Tucker and Dent and Liam Adams (not always in that order)in the main group, Indian file. Tucker and McNeil blew gaskets in a big way in the second half and Adams peeled off slowly leaving the rest to follow in Collis's wake when he finally kicked just over 2 laps remaining. Ben StL did a great job though of hanging on; he didn't lose any ground over the final lap.

I have to say that this was the best Zatopek in years. Pity that this will probably be just about the last time Olympic park will hold such a meet.

[Emrun]

I really enjoyed the women's race, it was fantastic to see such a strong field with the top 10 runners totally re writing the best 10 Aussie performances this year!

I was disappointed for Nikki Chapple after she set the pace for most of the race but Eloise Wellings really shone when she took off with 600 to go and never looked back, gusty race to the line between Lisa Weightman to just take 2nd from Lara Tamsett.

And for those of us watching, GREAT race

[Quinkin]

I believe Rebecca Lowe trains in the US on a uni scholarship. She won the 2008 City to Surf.

What a great run by Eloise Wellings. I think she only made her return from injury mid year.

Go Sutho! Well done to Lauren Parson who went sub 10 in the Junior 3000m

[KevinCassidy]

The weather undoubtedly kept many spectators away which was a pity given that this was one of the best Zatopek meets for many years.

The men's races in 1986 and 1996 and women's in 1991 have always been the standout contests that remain in my mind.

This years women's race was every bit as exciting a contest as I have ever seen while the men put on a race that was certainly amongst the better ones I've seen here for quite a while.

Many in the crowd were wondering what happened with Dave McNeill. He was looking strong and well positioned to repeat his 2008 win when he suddenly dropped off the pace about six laps out. He appeared to be favoring his right side and completely lost his usual rhythm. Hopefully all is ok. He did guts it out to the end but pulling out may have been a wise move in the circumstances.

Ben Saint Lawrence put up a mighty performance to finish second and may well be ruing the 73/100ths of a second that separated him from a Commonwealth games A qualifier.

If things have changed in the last few years then I am happy to be corrected but a B qualifier used to mean that you could be considered for selection [at the discretion of the selectors] if no one had achieved an A qualifier. Given that Collis Birmingham recorded an A qualifier, it would appear that Ben Saint Lawrence's run will not get him into the team. Oh so close.

[Tom31]

Geez, hope the selectors exercise some discretion for Benny getting so close, especially after his 5km B qualifier earlier in the year. He's just getting better and better. Women's race looks like a Christmas Cracker with Wellings showing her class. Wish I'd been there.

[glenda]

Great field this year. Excellent running by the ladies and gents.

[Tiger Boy]

Fantastic racing last nght.
Didn't get to see a lot of the womens race, had my back to it as I was raking sand in the TJ pit, but we were finished in time to watch the last few races.
Chapple did a great job, but was dropped when it got to the crunch, she didn't give in, but the other girls just seemed to find something more.
The mens race was a beauty. Collis, Ben St. L, and Tucker let the others do all the work, and then Collis just decided with 2 and a bit laps left, that he was going to go. Ben St. L tried to go with him, and coming up the back straight appeared to be making a bit of ground, but Birmingham just went again and held him out.
In the 6 years I've ben going to this event, this was the best nights racing I've seen.
Echo the thoughts that it is sad we won't see much more of that sort of stuff at Olympic Park.

[DistanceRunner]

According to the Australian rankings for 2009, Collis, Forrest and Shelley all ran sub 28 minutes in April/June of this year (in the US). Does anyone know whether this is within the Commonwealth Games selection period? I agree that Ben StL's run was very impressive to watch. If this is representative of his ability then he would be unfortunate to miss out in Delhi.

It looked like Dave NcNeil had a stitch - he was clutching his side and slowed down tremendously. Then I noticed that he seemed to recover and picked up the pace again in the last few laps.

It really was fantastic to see so many of our top women in form. Too many women's Zatopeks in recent years have been individual time trials. Hopefully the renewed competition will mean one or two will be pushed to a new level next year.

[moby]

Yeah they were both great races – both run at good pace the whole way as qualifiers were in the offing and the number in contention slowly getting whittled down the further things went on. Gregson’s run in the Under20 3000 was also great to watch.

I thought Nikki Chapple got caught in front for far too long and then didn’t have another gear after doing all the work. Tamsett ran well just getting pipped by Weightman for second at the end.

I’ve noticed Eloise Wellings on TV recently in a few of the UK Great Run events, but not in contention. Obviously she has been building and improving and came in here totally right to go. Apparently only her second 10,000 on the track.

I couldn’t help feeling there was a bit of a changing of the guard with Benita Willis dropping off the pace about half way and getting lapped by the leaders. Maybe just another bad night, but given the depth of the field and the performances of others it just seemed pretty symbolic.

McNeil and Shelley did most the leading in the men’s and also seemed to pay the price. Birmingham sat in 3rd or 4th until 2 laps to go when he exploded away and was very impressive.

[superflake]

Congratulations to Birmingham and Wellings on their wins.

I could be wrong but Ben St Lawrence ran about 1 min PB last night.

Long Arms may know better?

[RHCP26]

KevinCassidy, on Dec 11 2009, 07:55 AM, said:

The weather undoubtedly kept many spectators away which was a pity given that this was one of the best Zatopek meets for many years.

The men's races in 1986 and 1996 and women's in 1991 have always been the standout contests that remain in my mind.

This years women's race was every bit as exciting a contest as I have ever seen while the men put on a race that was certainly amongst the better ones I've seen here for quite a while.

Many in the crowd were wondering what happened with Dave McNeill. He was looking strong and well positioned to repeat his 2008 win when he suddenly dropped off the pace about six laps out. He appeared to be favoring his right side and completely lost his usual rhythm. Hopefully all is ok. He did guts it out to the end but pulling out may have been a wise move in the circumstances.

Ben Saint Lawrence put up a mighty performance to finish second and may well be ruing the 73/100ths of a second that separated him from a Commonwealth games A qualifier.

If things have changed in the last few years then I am happy to be corrected but a B qualifier used to mean that you could be considered for selection [at the discretion of the selectors] if no one had achieved an A qualifier. Given that Collis Birmingham recorded an A qualifier, it would appear that Ben Saint Lawrence's run will not get him into the team. Oh so close.

Good stuff on the B qualifier info, but alas, I hear that Birmingham may not run the 10,000m at the Games, therefore opening the door for The Saint. Either way it would be great to see the Saint make it. Does anyone know why his training partner Tim Rowe didn't run?

[DistanceRunner]

moby, on Dec 11 2009, 12:57 PM, said:

I couldn’t help feeling there was a bit of a changing of the guard with Benita Willis dropping off the pace about half way and getting lapped by the leaders. Maybe just another bad night, but given the depth of the field and the performances of others it just seemed pretty symbolic.

To me Benita looked a bit "overweight" compared to when she runs well and looked generally out of sorts. I wouldn't read too much into one run. If she again approaches anything like best form, she'd still be the superior act of Australian running. Mind you, she's been struggling, relatively speaking, for a while now.

Ben St.Lawrence has a 13:25 (US) in 2009, which was a big improvement on his 13:56 is 2008. No 10,000m appears in the rankings since 2006 when he recorded a 31:25.

Edited by DistanceRunner, 11 December 2009 - 01:35 PM.

[Long Arms]

the 10km races lived up to the pre-race talk .I was really impressed with teh top 5 men and top 5 women. A massive negative split by the men with a world class final 2 laps by Collis and Benny

[EnduranceMachine]

to be honest i was a little surprised to see that tamsett outrun rebecca lowe in the womens

[Rabbits]

Fantastic results! I would have loved to be able to see both 10000m races but hopefully highlights will be shown somewhere. I think I would have gone awfully close to predicting the winning times in the mens and womens if I'd stuck my neck out a bit more beforehand! There were great performances across the board.

I was surprised that Eloise Wellings put in such a strong run after her recent State 3k performance but there's no doubt she has the talent based on her past performances. Very gutsy effort to comeback from the injuries. 5 female runners under 32:30 bodes very well for the future, especially for Lara and Becky who have improved so markedly in the last year at such a young age. Have many other 21 year olds run 32:20s over the years?

The mens result almost leaves me speechless, how can anyone run 10k in just over 28 minutes!? Ridiculous. I know Bekele and co make it look like a jog but anyone that runs knows how freakish it really is! Great run by Collis, and the Saint proves his class every time he runs. I'm not sure how it affects Commonwealth Games selections but I imagine there will be other opportunities anyway.

Let's hope the current crop of men and women can stick together and push each other to even better performances over the next few years.

It would be remiss of me to sign off without mentioning the other great performance of the night, Long Arms. Fantastic effort to have two elite runners peak at the right time while also encouraging people of all abilities to get out, improve and enjoy their running. Keep up the great work!

[RHCP26]

Just watched the womens race and I think that Chapple blew her chances by setting the pace for so long. Maybe it was planned that she took it out strong and make a break, but on a flat track with top quality runners right behind her I think this was somewhat flawed. From what I watched Chapple sets the pace and seems to be working quite hard for the first 25 minutes only to drop off the pace quite quickly then hold the distance between her and the leaders right up until the last lap.

[Fossil]

CosmoKramer, on Dec 8 2009, 08:41 PM, said:

of course you do keith. Top 5 would be a pleasing result for tamsett in that field.
1. Chapele
2. Willis
3.Weightman

My support was based on current form