Zatopek 2008 (B - D Grade)
Moonee Valley Athletics Track, Aberfeldie
Saturday, 6 December 2008

The lower grade races for the Zatopek 10,000 m track race were held at a different venue this season. With Start to Finish events management severing their ties with the event after staging it for many years at Box Hill, in 2008 Athletics Essendon took up the event for the first time

There would be three grades (B, C and D) to be run over two heats. Runners estimated to run under forty minutes were in the first heat, so some C grade runners were placed in the second heat. Heat 1 was a combined CD grade race and heat 2 to be a combined BC grade event. The fastest runner overall (male and female) would win prizemoney and a trophy with placegetters to get medallions, as would the winner of the Senior (30-39), Vets (40-49) and Masters (50+) categories

Four Coburg Harriers entered the event. In the first heat was Warren Burke and Ken Souyave. The second heat would feature Philip van Dueren and Jeremy Grey. Heavy rain throughout the day cleared by mid-afternoon and competitors were greeted with cool, but mild conditions with a gentle breeze - ideal for good times over this distance

Warren Burke was an early leader in the first heat and was in front through the first two kilometres. This early exuberance saw Burke drop off the pace through the later stages but still record an encouraging 41.55 for twelfth place and second in the Veterans class. Burke was pleased with the run, which was a significant improvement on his Sandown 10 km road race effort earlier in the year

Ken Souyave, who joined Burke in that first heat, had a wonderfully consistent race and he would finish in second place with 39.32, only four seconds behind the heat winner. Souyave would also finish in second place in the Masters category. Like Burke, this time was an improvement from the Sandown 10 km road race in May

The second heat saw Philip van Dueren and Jeremy Grey in action. Grey recorded 11th place with a mostly consistent race that was on track for sub 35 through halfway. The next seven laps would see Grey drop off to fall twenty seconds behind his target time. Nevertheless, a strong last five laps saw Grey complete the last two kilometres as quickly as his first two and finish in 35:19 and sixth place in the Senior age category

On the other hand, van Dueren had a stellar run. Set the challenge of competing in the faster heat, van Dueren went into the event with an estimated time of 38.30 but exceeded all expectations to finish in 37.45 and record 17th place. And this impressive performance saw van Deuren take out the Veteran's class

Well done to all four Coburg Harriers for supporting this event and they could not have done it without the invaluable assistance of Brian Delaney as lap scorer, so our heartfelt thanks to Brian. It was in the main well run and hopefully will be well supported by athletes into the future

Congratulations meanwhile go to club members Craig Brown and Michael Dziakiewicz who were selected to compete for the North West Region medley relay team at the A Grade Zatopek evening on Thursday, 11 December 2008 against Medley Relay teams from each other AV region. The two boys will run the 200 m legs, with Preston athletes selected to run a 400 m leg and an 800 m leg. It is fantastic to see the club's best elite sprinter selected alongside the club's best emerging sprinter. We wish them well and thank them for making themselves avaialble for this event

STOP PRESS .... STOP PRESS .... STOP PRESS .... STOP PRESS .... STOP PRESS

WELL DONE TO MICHAEL AND CRAIG WHO SET THE NORTH WEST REGION MEDLEY RELAY TEAM UP BEAUTIFULLY AS NORTH WEST REGION RECORDED SECOND PLACE TO LAST YEAR'S WINNER GEELONG REGION. MICHEAL STARTED FOR THE TEAM AND CRAIG CONSOLIDATED MICHAEL'S GREAT START TO BE WITHIN A FEW METRES OF GEELONG AT THE START OF THE 400 M LEG. WELL DONE GUYS ON AN AWESOME PERFORMANCE

As a footnote, Craig Brown would some twenty minutes later win the Victorian Athletic League 300 m final off scratch in a time of 34.49 - some 0.39 seconds quicker than his heat run. A great night for Craig Brown and family. Well done from all your friends at the Harriers