A LONG-TIME athlete who has fought back from injury and a newcomer to the track have taken the top honours in this season's Parker Electrical-backed Tuesday night series raced at Flora Hill.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Charles Chambers from Bendigo University, and Justine Graham who raced on invitational basis were named the series winners.
Entry numbers for the 2019-20 season at the Latrobe University Bendigo athletics complex in Retreat Road were regularly above the 30-mark.
Summer competitions manager for Flack Advisory Bendigo Region, Peter Barrett said selection of overall winners was based on number of races contested, and improvement in times.
"Charles Chambers fought back from an injury-riddled run the past few seasons to run some excellent times," said Barrett.
Now in his mid 60s, Chambers ran best times of 12:51 and 12:55 for the 3000m distance.
In seven other races which went for 7 1/2 laps, Chambers was in the 13-14 minute bracket.
He also tackled the 5000m distance in seven rounds, and contested the Leigh Purtill 10,000m championship.
"Justine was a newcomer to the Tuesday Night Series and made dramatic improvement as the season rolled on," Barrett said.
Times for Graham in her first two attempts at the 3000m distance were 16:40 and 16:26.
By season end she had a personal best of 15:16.
Barrett said a change to allow younger athletes to compete at the longer distances, provided a parent or guardian was in the race, was a great success.
"We had a wide range of ages and abilities in the shorter or longer distance events."
Athletes as young as seven and eight were regularly on the track, as were many in their 50s, 60s, and 70s.
"The Tuesday Night Series showed athletics can be people of all ages, no matter how fast you can run."
Feature events on the Tuesday Night calendar were the Jack Davey 5000m and the Leigh Purtill 10,000m championship.
Barrett said the support of series sponsor Adam Parker Electrical, as well as the volunteers who took on tasks such as recording, photo finish, set-up and packing-up equipment, ensured the Tuesday Night Series continued to grow.