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2003 Sydney Marathon Festival Results
14 September 2003Full Results are here
Flora Sydney Marathon - Men
1. Oswald Revelian, TNZ – 2:26:03
2. Paul Arthur, NSW – 2:31:28
3. Jeremy Horne, NSW – 2:33:27
Flora Sydney Marathon - Women
1. Tausi Jumi, TNZ – 2:46:25
2. Helen Verity Tolhurst, QLD – 2: 58: 58
3. Karen Ryan, NSW – 3:05:59
Flora/The Sunday Telegraph Half Marathon - Men
1. Damon Harris, NSW – 1:07:09
2. Dickson Marwa, TNZ – 1:09:59
3. Dean Degan, NSW -1:11:15
Flora/The Sunday Telegraph Half Marathon - Women
1. Jenny Wickham, NSW – 1:26:13
2. Dawn Tiller, NSW – 1:27:37
3. Belinda Halloran, NSW – 1:27:39
The Sunday Telegraph 10k Bridge Run - Men
1. Scott Wescott, ACT - 29:49
2. Russell Dessaix-Chin – 30:26
3. Erwin McRae – 30 :36
The Sunday Telegraph 10k Bridge Run - Women
1. Kate Seibold-Crosbie, VIC – 34:37
2. Angela Sheehan, NSW – 35:04
3. Kim Tunnell, NSW – 36:25
The Sunday Telegraph 10k Wheelchair Race - Men
1. Paul Nunnari, NSW - 23:31
2. Grant Buckley – 24:34
3. Patrick Baker – 24 :45
The Sunday Telegraph 10k Wheelchair Race - Women
1. Yen Tran – 39:02
Junior Tanzanian runners Oswald Revelian, 21, and Tausi Jumi, 20, have raced to glory in their Australian running debuts taking men's and women's line honours in today's Flora Sydney Marathon.
Paul Arthur, of the NSW Central Coast, and Helen Verity Tolhurst, of Queensland's Gold Coast, were the first Australians across the line, both finishing in second place behind the Tanzanians to claim the Australian Marathon Championship titles. The national title also earned them selection in the 2003-2004 Prime Minister's Team - Running For A Future, which was launched in Canberra on Thursday.
The PM's Team was victorious in The Sunday Telegraph 10k Bridge Run with Canberra's Scott Westcott and Melbourne's Kate Seibold-Crosbie, who Prime Minister John Howard named on Thursday, both taking line honours today.
In the Flora/The Sunday Telegraph Half Marathon, mother-of-two Jenny Wickham, of Seaforth in Sydney, made a sensational return to running, winning the women's race after recovering from serious injuries suffered in a car accident earlier this year. Damon Harris, who won the inaugural Flora Sydney Marathon in 2001 and the 10k last year, completed the Sydney Marathon Festival trifecta this year, winning the men's half marathon today.
Paralympic silver medallist Paul Nunnari, of Campbelltown in Sydney, won The Sunday Telegraph 10k Wheelchair Race.
More than 12,500 people took part in today's Sydney Marathon Festival, an annual celebration of the Sydney 2000 Games and the only community road race that closes the Sydney Harbour Bridge to traffic.
The festival also featured the inaugural Kids Fun Run 4 Health for under-12's, at Sydney Olympic Park, which was led by Australian 800 meter champion Tamsyn Lewis.
Tanzanian coach Suleiman Nyambui said he was delighted with the performances of his two young runners.
"It was very windy out there today which made it tough for Oswald and Tausi, but I'm very happy with their runs," said Nyambui. "They arrived in Australia this week and this is their first competitive run here, so to win the Flora Sydney Marathon is a great result. It will build their confidence and make them more mentally tough, hich will be of great benefit to their future careers."
Patrick Nyangelo, the early race favourite and winner of last month's City to Surf, has been suffering from the flu for the past week, but ran today to help pace his fellow Tanzanians, finishing 6th.
For former Australian representative athlete Paul Arthur, winning the Australian Marathon Championship title was the realisation of a goal he set a year ago. Today's marathon capped Arthur's comeback to competitive running after a three-year battle with depression.
"I was a bit concerned before the race because I've been sick for the past three days and the wind made it pretty difficult," he said. "But I really wanted the national title so I just kept fighting all the way and pulled through - I'm stoked!"
Arthur said it was also an honour to be selected in The PM's Team, a Federal Government partnership to identify and foster Australia's up-and-coming marathon runners. Each year the five runners selected in The PM's Team will be given opportunities to further their careers, including being teamed with business and sporting mentors such as Herb Elliott, Rob de Castella; Steve Moneghetti and Kerryn McCann.
"It's an absolute honour to be included in The Prime Minister's team," said Arthur. "I've represented Australia before and am very proud to be able to run as a member of the Prime Minister's team for the next year.
Helen Verity Tolhurst echoed Arthur's sentiments.
"I'm rapt," she said. "To be selected in The PM's Team is an honour and a privilege. I'm competing in the Paris marathon in April and will be extremely proud to be an ambassador for my country and The PM's Team. I am very grateful for the assistance that I will receive in the coming year and I am sure it will give me extra motivation."
While Tolhurst's time was more than 10 minutes outside her personal marathon best of 2:47:00 she said she was pleased with her run.
"I just really wanted the Australian title today so I was running for the place rather than the time," she said. "It's a tough course and it was very windy today so I'm very happy with my performance."
While today's marathon determined the final two positions in The PM's Team , the remaining three members for 2003-2004 were named on Thursday with Westcott and Seibold-Crosbie both thrilled they could post wins in their first outings as members of the team.
"Today's win was a great relief because I wanted to run well today under the Prime Minister's banner," said Westcott. "As I was running for the leader of our country, my goal was to lead all the way and I'm very pleased to have achieved that."
Westcott said today's 10k win was excellent preparation for the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in October and his marathon debut in Japan in December.
"I too was very proud to be running today as a member of The PM's Team and it's great to come away with the win," said Seibold-Crosbie. "My next major run is the Zatopek 10,000, in Melbourne in December, and my goal is to run under 34 minutes so I'm very happy with my time today."
The fifth member of The PM's Team, 17-year-old wildcard selection Shane Hayes of Hornsby Heights in Sydney, competed in the half marathon, clocking 1:30:20.
Olympian and Australian 800m Champion Tamsyn Lewis hailed the success of the inaugural Kids Fun Run 4 Health.
"Sport should be all about fun and participation and this what the kids run today was all about," she said. "It was great to see all the kids smiling and obviously having a great time - I really enjoyed it."
Background information and media releases are available at www.sydneymarathon.org
For further information or to arrange interviews; photographs or TV footage, please contact Mary-Anne Dibbs on 0419 288 102.
The Sydney Marathon Festival, incorporating the Flora Sydney Marathon, the Flora/The Sunday Telegraph Half Marathon, the Sunday Telegraph 10k Bridge Run and the Kids 2k Run For Health, is an annual celebration of the Sydney 2000 Games. It is the only community road race that closes the Sydney Harbour Bridge with the marathon, half marathon and 10k runs all crossing the world famous landmark. This year's event is on Sunday September 14, with the marathon and half marathon finishing at Sydney Olympic Park, venue of the kids run, while the 10k will finish at the Sydney Opera House.
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