King of the Mountain 2002
Traralgon To Mount Tassie 30 km Race.
The Traralgon Harriers King of the Mountain race of 30 km from Traralgon to Mount Tassie has been run annually since 1969 or 1970. As the Harriers are a distance running club it was decided to have this event in addition to the Traralgon Marathon. It is a grueling run rising approx 700 meters from start to finish. The King of the Mountain is considered an excellent training race for someone preparing to run a Marathon. On a clear day it is possible to see the finish from the start. This is unusual for an event of that distance. It is a challenge to the runners and a feeling of elation is experienced on finishing. It makes most runners feel like a "King"
Male
First Outright Steve Quirk 2.05.46
Second Outright Tim Cochrane 2.05.56
Third Outright Darrell Cross 2.07.25
First Veteran Roger Maximiw 2.12.02
Female
First Outright Julia Thorn 2.50.52
Second Outright Lynda Webber 3.01.30
Third Outright Merilyn Kelly 3.01.45
This race was run on Sunday the 22 of September. Gippsland turned on good weather being a mild fine morning with only a light wind at the start, this picked up a bit during the race to be a blustering type wind at the top of the mountain.
The course is mainly flat for 12 KM to Traralgon Sth then you start to climb and climb and climb right to the summit of Mt Tassie approximately 30 KM from Traralgon. 26 very fit competitors turned on a great race with only seconds between the first two male finishers and also between the second and third ladies. As the raced progressed the first three males were locked together at the 5KM mark in 19.30 with a second group of three males’ right on their tails at 20.30.
Steve made a break at about 8 KM opening up a slight gap. The ladies were having a great tussal also with Lynda and Julia going through the 5KM mark in 26 mins. At the 15 KM mark Steve had opened up a reasonable gap with a time of 59.38 with Tim and Darrell chasing hard at 61.17. Julia had saved herself on the flat and started to pick it up going through the 15Km at 79.55 with Lynda dropping back at 83.53. Merilyn caught Lynda on the hills and each took a turn at leading for the rest of the race. Lynda was able to break away just before the finish to beat Meriln in by a mere 15 seconds.
As for the males they had a great battle with Tim pushing Steve right to the finish line with Steve just holding of a fast finish from Tim by a mere 10seconds. Every starter finished which is a great effort by all on such a challenging course. Presentations were held at the Traralgon Harriers Clubrooms with lots of great food and trophies for the winners together with certificates for all competitors. During the presentations Steve praised both Darrell and Tim for pushing him so hard right to his limit and Julia was very complementary about the support during the event.
It should be noted that this was the first time Steve had run this event and that Julia was especially pleased with her 7 minute PB and rightly so well done to both of you.
Other competitors’ results:
M Franke 2.17.55, I Twite 2.19.46, D Styles 2.25.50, B Salisbury 2.27.13, R Matison
2.28.40, R Comber 2.29.34, I Fromholtz 2.37.59, P Chapple 2.38.18, J Coetzee
2.42.15, N Burgess 2.47.23, D Adshead 2.53.48, K Lancaster 2.56.50, D Spencer
2.57.56, B Kelly 3.02.45, B Summersgill 3.05.45, G Ives 3.12.15, P Grixti 3.19.02, B
Glover (WALKER) 3.27.18 and P Gray 3.43.48.
A Big Thank You to our King of The Mountain Race Sponsor
Morwell Leisure Centre.