2007 Yearly Report

2007 Australian Centurions 24 Hour Walk
Coburg Athletics Track, Coburg, Melbourne
21-22 April 2007

2007 saw the 20th annual edition of the Coburg 24 Hour carnival, held as usual at the Harold Stevens Athletics Track in suburban Melbourne. Once again, the event was a popular choice for many experienced and first time ultra competitors and potential entrants had to be turned away when the event filled with 4 weeks to go.

53 of the 54 entrants made it to the start line and the mix saw 35 runners and 19 walkers spread across the 24 Hour, 12 Hour and 6 Hour categories. Of the 54 entrants, 31 chose the 24 Hour event, a pleasing sign for the future of the sport.

The race started on the Saturday morning at 10AM in warm sunny conditions but in less than 2 hours, rain had set in as Melbourne turned on one of its famous weather changes! The showers did not clear until late afternoon and all were then diving for dry clothes and shoes. From then on, the skies remained overcast and further squalls, some quite heavy, created an ongoing challenge for competitors, support teams and race organizers. The flip side was that night time conditions were relatively mild and competitors were not forced into too many layers of clothing.

On the walking side, two of the 24 Hour competitors, Terry O’Neill (C 18) and Geoff Hain (C 48), walked in excess of 100 miles within the 24 hour period. Terry won the walk overall with 169.741 km to add a second centurion badge to his first, achieved way back in 1979! It’s been a long wait to see him back in a 24 Hour event. For Geoff, it was his 6th centurion walk finish in less than 3 years, a great effort in consistency and mental toughness. It was nearly a case of triplets but Louis Commins eventually fell 2 laps short of a centurion finish, coming third with 160.150 km.

In the women’s 24 Hour Walk, first timer Catherine Cox won with 149.021 km, an excellent debut. She is someone who can challenge the centurion distance of 100 miles with further training. Australian 50 mile walk record holder Clarrie Jack was too strong in the men’s 12 Hour Walk and won in 88.370 km while last year’s winner Steve Jordan did a big PB to take second with 85.980 km. The women’s 12 Hour Walk saw Val Chesterton break her own W65 50 km Australian record by over 1 hour. She passed the 50 km mark in just over 7 hours and then called it quits, well satisfied with her day’s work. In the men’s 6 Hour Walk, first timer Paul Kennedy won with 52.800 km, beating Robin Whyte but just over 2 km.

All in all, the carnival produced a whole swag of top quality performances and lived up to its rating as one of Australia’s top ultra events.

CENTURION WALK QUALIFIERS

Terry O'Neill   Geoff Hain

C18  C49

The Jack Webber Trophy was awarded to Terry O'Neill for the most meritorious Centurion performance on the day.

24 Hour Walk
1	Terry O'Neill  (C 18)	169.741
2	Geoff Hain (C 48)	162.444
3	Louis Commins	160.150
4	David Attrill	140.950
5	Rudolf Skrucany	117.447
6	Bruce Webber	115.600
7	Pat Fisher (C 53)	105.302
8	Deryck Skinner (C 51)	89.200
24 Hour Walk Female
1	Catherine Cox	149.021
2	Karyn Bollen (C 45)	126.941
3	Sharon Chomyn	47.702
12 HOur Walk Male
1	Clarrie Jack (C 4)	88.370
2	Steve Jordan	85.980
3	Ross Jackson	63.718
4	Ken Carter	48.052
12 Hour Walk Female
1	Val Chesterton	52.000
6 Hour Walk Male
1	Paul Kennedy	52.800
2	Robin Whyte (C 29)	50.400
3	Alex Poore	3.60

AUSTRALIAN 100 KM WALK CHAMPIONSHIPS

Men
1	Terry O'Neill	13:08:08
2	Geoff Hain	14:04:47
3	Louis Commins	14:21:09
Women
1	Karyn Bollen	14:51:40
2	Catherine Cox	15:00:11