Race Report by Christine Williams
The AV season burst into life with the Lakeside 5, a fast, furious opener designed to blow out the cobwebs and fire up the legs for winter. At just 5km, it’s over almost before you’ve had time to question your life choices — a quick out and back along the northeastern arm of Albert Park Lake, starting just outside Lakeside Stadium and finishing with a celebrity-style sprint down the home straight on the iconic blue track.
Although still relatively new on the AV calendar, the Lakeside 5 has quickly become a favourite: flat, fast, scenic, and just long enough to hurt in all the right ways.
The morning delivered perfect racing conditions — cool air, a light breeze, and the luxury of a fully blocked off road section, giving runners a rare sense of speed and space. The Albert Park vista was at its best, and the course was alive with runners making the most of a crisp autumn morning. And yes, with the race falling on Mother’s Day, there was a gentle sense that some of our usual crew were exactly where they needed to be — which made our small but mighty OXAC contingent all the more impressive.
Runners charged down the 2.5km ‘there-and-back’ course, unleashing whatever speed they had left for the stadium finish. There’s something undeniably special about crossing a finish line on a proper athletics track — even the most recreational runner gets a moment of Olympic fantasy.
OXAC athletes turned up ready to race, ready to test early-season form, and ready to set the tone for the AV winter competition ahead. And they did not disappoint.
🏅 AgeGroup & Team Results
There were some excellent age-group and team performances across the board that earned points for OXAC.
Female Age-Group: F50+: Di Guiney – 6th • F45+: Claudia Haeger – 10th • Fleur Shaw-Jones – 11th (F55+), Marina Scarff – 12th (F55+)
Female Teams: Div 2 – 5th • Div 4 – 7th • 40+ – 8th • 50+ – 4th
Male Age-Group: M60+: Bruce Davie – 4th • Michael Tsorlinis – 12th (M50+)
Male Teams: 60+ – 6th
🏅 OXAC Results (All Athletes)
Female Open: Annabelle Colman 17:21 • Georgia Powning 18:49 • Di Guiney 20:52 • Aya Fukunaga 22:10 • Claudia Haeger 23:18 • Fleur ShawJones 23:46 • Lexi Guiney 23:50 • Marina Scarff 23:51 • Jennifer Tod 30:52
Male Open: Justyn Bove 16:32 • Bruce Davie 18:45 • Michael Tsorlinis 19:25 • Carlo Manolitsas 20:01 • David Martini 20:11 • Thuan Ma 20:56 • Richard Dickmann 23:17 • Gus Llano 25:00 • Robert Meek 26:27 • Christopher Worsnop 29:34
Male U18: Joshua LlanoMachado 17:49
Male U16: Christos Tsorlinis 19:22
🌟 PB ShoutOuts
Jennifer Tod, Gus Llano, Marina Scarff — outstanding PBs!
A short race, a short report — but a brilliant start to the AV season. Well done to all OXAC runners who raced, supported, or cheered. Another great day for the red and black.
