Running among the vines under blue skies at St. Anne’s Winery in Bendigo, the OXAC crew made the most of a challenging 8k course to come away with a good collection of team and individual medals. Lauren Mosbey showed she is back in top form, winning the F40 division in a time of 32:23, while Darren Templeton (31:21) continued his winning streak with another gold in the M55 division. Di Guiney (35:09) picked up the bronze in F50, as did Bruce Davie in the M60 (32:39) while Margaret Fitzgerald continued her return to form with a bronze in F60 (40:44).
On the team side, the women’s 60+ team (Margaret, Josita Hicks, Christine Williams) won gold again. The men’s 50+ team (Darren, Alan Colman, Bruce) scored their first silver medal of the season while Bruce, Richard Dickman and Bob Meek combined for bronze in men’s 60+. The women’s 40+ team (Lauren, Di, Belinda Blackburn) also took bronze, with the women’s 50+ (Di, Belinda, Aya Fukunaga) finished 4th.
In open competition, the women took 7th in premier division (Lauren, Di, Belinda, Aya and Margaret). In men’s Div 3 it was another 7th place finish thanks to Jeremy Higlett (29:01), Darren, Alan, Lachlan Warren (32:03) and Bruce. The strength of the OXAC masters teams is definitely helping our open teams to remain competitive.
Next up in AV competition is the Sandown Relays, a race around an auto racing circuit that will provide a sharp contrast to the ups, downs and rabbit holes of Bendigo.
Photos by Grace Munro and Christy Bonstelle