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President’s Tan Talk – February 2023
It didn’t rain!!
As long-time VRR members are aware, our monthly Tan Time Trial has an incredible weather record. In over 480 Tans it has only rained, by our count, on four occasions. It has rained before the Tan, and after the Tan, but only four times during the Tan.
On Saturday morning it was raining (not overly heavily) as people were driving in, and with it still raining at 7:24 it looked like history was about to be made, it was going to rain during the Tan, and then it stopped…!!
Once again, it did not rain during the Tan. I welcomed runners, sent them on their way, everyone finished, had a post-run chat, headed off, and then it started to rain!! Our record is intact! It doesn’t rain during the Tan.
Milestone achievement
Congratulations to Peter Black on completing 150 Tan Time Trials, well done, Peter.
VRR urgently needs a treasurer
After doing a great job as VRR treasurer over the last six years Doug Stokes has advised that he will not be continuing beyond our upcoming AGM. We thank Doug for all his great work for VRR over many years on the committee, and we now have an urgent need to find a treasurer. The role of treasurer is as it is with any small club, and clearly it is an essential role. I have a list of the tasks required of the treasurer and invite anyone with an interest to please contact me by phone (0411191115) or email (vrrpresident@gmail.com).
150 consecutive marathons
In this issue of Stride Out we have included an article on Erchana Murray-Bartlett having completed 150 consecutive marathons, what a great achievement!! We note that our own Jane Sturzacker has completed 300 marathons, and are hopeful of capturing her story in a Running Reflection sometime soon.
Where is Don Hampshire?
Long-time VRR member and great contributor Don Hampshire has not been seen since pre-Covid and we have been wondering where he is. Don was among other things a legendary fun run marshall who had his own marshalling spots: the ‘big tree corner’ at Princes Park, the first junction at both Westerfolds and Jells Park etc.
We had not heard from Don and I was delighted when his daughter contacted me to advise that Don has retired to Queensland to be near his family. He is an active walker, regularly going on longer walks than anyone else in his neighbourhood. I passed on VRR’s best wishes to Don, and I am hopeful that he will write a Running Reflection for us to publish in Stride Out. We are keen to receive running reflections from all VRR members who have not yet sought fame by contributing their story.
World Athletics Cross Country Championships
A number of VRR members are heading for Bathurst for this big event on 17-19 February, and we wish them all well in competing in their individual and team events. We will look forward to getting a report on how they went when they return. Good luck!
See you all next month,
Michael |
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Peter Black reached his 150th TTT in February.
Peter’s total was composed of 31 x 4km Tans & 119 x 8km’s, with a 4km PB of 16.54 & 8km PB 32.45.
Congratulations, Peter. |
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Whilst it’s not exactly a VRR Achievement Award, we couldn’t miss mentioning that VRR regular, Jane Sturzaker had a significant birthday in January and also racked up 300 Marathons.
Jane runs around Albert Park lake with a group self titled ‘The Lake Group’ – many of whom are also VRR members (as you can see in the photo).
Jane, many congratulations from VRR. |
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Another, ‘Not strictly a VRR Achievement’ but well worth noting.
Does the VRR President actually Run?
With Michael Kennedy having been VRR President for about 30 years, and not having run a VRR Tan or fun run since the 1980’s, most VRR members (apart from the Ferny Creek group he runs with!) may never have actually seen him run. Evidence comes in the form of this recent ‘podium finish’ photo in an Olympic distance triathlon at St Kilda, one of six tri’s he’s doing this season. Michael points out that ‘making podium’ may not be a significant achievement given the small fields in his age group!! (Ed: My experience has been that as the pool shrinks, the fish remaining get bigger!) |
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VRR PHOTOS
VRR photographer, Helen Myall takes many photos at each of our events and the one’s below are just a VERY small sample.
ALL the photos are posted on Facebook.
To access Facebook you can use your internet browser and type in the following address:
www.facebook.com/VicRoadRunners/photos |
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Well……
Yes we all woke to a reasonably wet first Saturday of the month in February, BUT true to form, There was nothing more than a mist during the TTT.
Here’s the tail end of the starters. |
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| Mick Wilson flew in for a run. |
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| Helen Corcoris put in a great run in the 4km. |
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| That’s SWEAT on Paul Trickey’s head – not rain! |
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| The patriarch of the Oehr family, Tarquin. |
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| It’s been absolutely great to see Lee Booth back at the Tan after a bit of a break whilst he grew his magnificent beard. |
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| Here’s a couple of our regulars, Grant Padula & Rowan Cole seeing how they measure up to the Tan ‘Hot Lap’ times. |
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| The following article was published in the Guardian Newspaper recently and we felt that as it could be of particular interest to VRR members, that we should reproduce it for you to read. |
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‘I don’t want this to end’: runner hits Melbourne after covering length of Australia in 150 consecutive marathons
Erchana Murray-Bartlett reaches end of epic journey from ‘tip to toe’ of Australia – smashing women’s record for consecutive daily marathons
Donna Lu
Months after starting out from the tip of Cape York, Erchana Murray-Bartlett is set to complete her 150th consecutive daily marathon in Melbourne on Monday, finishing a record-breaking journey through Australia’s eastern states.
Murray-Bartlett set out in August to run more than 6,200km, raising money for the Wilderness Society and awareness of Australia’s extinction crisis – just days before Ned Brockmann began his 4,000km run from the west to east coast.
Her journey has taken her along beaches, dirt roads and through Victoria’s high country, interspersed with visits to schools and conservation groups. To date, the runner has raised more than $98,000.
Murray-Bartlett’s final marathon is due to start at 1.30pm on Monday at the Pillars of Wisdom in Melbourne, and should end about 6pm with four loops of the Tan track.
The current Guinness world record for most consecutive daily marathons (female) was set last August by Englishwoman Kate Jayden, who completed 106 in as many days.
Murray-Bartlett has been keeping a detailed record of her daily runs, which the Guinness world records will consider for certification after her journey is complete. |
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‘You almost feel like you’ve aged 50 years’: Erchana Murray-Bartlett has had to eat between 5,000 and 6,000 calories a day while she completes her journey
The 32-year-old, who spoke breezily on the phone while finishing one of her daily marathons, said: “I’m so proud of what my body has been able to achieve. I’m so proud of the money we’ve raised.”
Murray-Bartlett has been joined by other runners in recent weeks.
“[They’re] keeping me going,” she said. “It’s distracting me from the pain in my hips and my knees and my feet.” |
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Nearly five months of daily running has taken its toll. Murray-Bartlett said her feet had increased half a shoe size and were covered in calluses.
“They’re not that sightly at the moment, to be honest,” she said. “I don’t have any tendinopathies or broken bones … just overuse and soreness in my knees, lower legs and in my back. Also I have this constant brain fog that is making everything really difficult.
“You almost feel like you’ve aged 50 years.”
The past several months have seen her run along the New South Wales coastline and around the Victorian peaks of Mount Hotham and Mount Feathertop.
“I did more hills in December than the rest of the trip combined – I think it was 14 or 15km of elevation,” she said. |
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Murray-Bartlett with other runners who have joined her on one of her many marathons
To allow her body to cope with limited recovery time each day, Murray-Bartlett ran slower than she would have if competing in a race; she completed her marathons in about four hours, at a pace between 5min50s and 6min a kilometre.
Throughout her journey, she aimed to eat between 5,000 and 6,000 calories a day. |
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“I’ve lost more weight than I anticipated, and as a nutritionist, I was very careful of that,” she said. “So what I even thought was a ludicrous amount of food wasn’t enough.
“My intake is now four or five big meals a day and just constant snacking. I’m at the point now where I’m almost too tired to eat.”
Murray-Bartlett’s final weekend of marathons involved a public group run along the Warburton trail in the Yarra Ranges, as well as a run with family members, including relatives who have flown in from overseas to see her cross the finish line.
“I don’t want this to ever end because I’m having a lot of fun,” she said. “But I also really do need to stop because my body is at its limit.” |
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February 2023
TTT Results |
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The March TTT will have the usual 7.30am start at the ‘Pillars of Wisdom’ and is on Saturday 4th March 2023.
Refer to the website (vrr.org.au) for more details |
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| Grant Padula
Grant took this holiday selfie on 13 November 2021 at Blairgowrie front beach on the Mornington Peninsula with his 2015 12 VRR time trials top and Sorrento in the background whilst away for the weekend in between Covid restrictions! |
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Don’t forget that we’d love to see your holiday snaps – wearing your VRR clothing, of course!
(email them to gprossor@bigpond.net.au with a sentence about when, where etc) |
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| VRR Annual General Meeting
In terms of the club’s rules the Annual General Meeting is to be held at 8.30am on Saturday, 1st April 2023 after the Tan.
The purpose of the meeting is to:
- to confirm the minutes of the previous Annual General Meeting.
- to receive from the committee reports about the previous financial year.
- to elect officers and the ordinary members of the committee.
- to receive and consider the financial statements for the previous financial year.
Doug Stokes, Treasurer.
Ed: Doug has notified the committee that after serving the club as Treasurer for a number of years, that he will be stepping down from that role after the AGM.
SO the club is now in search of a new Treasurer.
If you would like to help the club in this role, please contact Michael Kennedy. |
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Birthdays
VRR extends birthday greetings to the following members who will celebrate birthdays in February.
John H, Alan P, Dale D, Robyn K, Robert McC, Merle W, Chris G, Carl K, Matthew M, Xavier M,
Clare M, Damian M, Colin P, Robyn T, George Z |
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| If we missed your birthday we are very sorry. Please let us know so that we can acknowledge you in the next Stride Out. |
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| At VRR, we can’t promote every run that is on offer, but occasionally, we come across something that may be of interest to our members. |
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VRR LIFE MEMBERS
Stephen Barker, Kevin Browne, Sally Browne, Tony Doran, Graham Edwards, Jenny Field, Peter Field, Vern Gerlach (dec), Peter Gunn (dec.), Don Hampshire, Eileen Helmers (dec), Frank Helmers (dec), Betty Horskins, Graeme Horskins, Mike Kennedy, Lynn Kisler, Greig McEwan, Ross Martin (dec), Vin Martin, John Morris, Helen Myall, Peter Nicoll, Bill Noonan, Brian O’Dea, Rod Opie, Graham Prossor, Melissa Sirianni, Doug Stokes, Brian Toomey (dec.), Stuart White, Robert Wilson, Judy Wines, Tom Worrell (dec) and Val Worrell. |
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Can you ask your running friends if they are receiving their email copy of Stride Out.
If they aren’t, can you get them to send me an email (gprossor@bigpond.net.au) asking to be put on the distribution list. |
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RUN CALENDAR AUSTRALIA
Run Calendar Australia now list VRR runs plus lots of other runs.
Visit their website at runcalendar.com.au
or tweet them – @runcalendarau |
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