With the Tan Relays over for another year, our winter cross country season (XCR) comes to a close. This season we ended up taking home 2 Premierships - the Female Div 5 and Male Div 6. A fantastic season for all our teams and runners, well done to everyone that competed through the season and a big thank you to those that continually showed up to support or fill club helper roles.
PREMIERS: Female Open - Div 5
With the premiership having already been won in the second last round it was nice to have a celebration run in the last round knowing they couldn't be beaten. They won 5 of the 10 rounds and finished in the top 3 for the other 5 rounds. The team was led by Rachel in her first XCR season and what a season she had. Running PBs all winter, always turning up and supporting everyone at the same time, even with a young family. Your commitment to the team is truly outstanding Rachel. This premiership wouldn't have happened without Fiona and Chloe. The difference between Ivanhoe and Williamstown was Fiona and Chloe who were always there to score points and make a full team. Both in their first XCR season also, they really stretched themselves to achieve some super results of challenging distances and conditions across the season. We had a number of other runners support the team with Kate and Nat in the relays, Thea in the earlier rounds and Victoria in the ½ marathon. Everyone's contribution made this such a good team effort and we are excited for the move up to Division 4 in 2026.
Male Open - Div 2
We finished 6th on the ladder behind a very good top 5 all capable of progressing to Div 1. We started the season strong finishing 2nd in the first 2 rounds. We had strong results on the cross country courses because of our willingness to turn up. With the right recruitment and time for athletes to mature we should be able to stay competitive at the top of Div 2 for the next few years. Thanks to our main contributors of the Division 2 team: Owen, David, Ben, Alex, Jamie, Liam, Ollie, Nick and Harley. Owen was there every week to led the team through the whole season with some fantastic PBs over 5k and 10k in particular. Fielding full teams most weeks meant we were able to have strong runners filling places in the Div 6 team to help secure the premiership there. Well done on some great performances through the winter and for being there to support the team.
PREMIERS: Male Open - Div 6
A great premiership win for the team and promotion to Div 5 for 2026. We won the first and last rounds and finished on the podium another 3 times. Melbourne Uni not scoring any points at Ballart 15k hurt them a lot. Simon being our only runner in the team at the State CC Championships in Ballarat scoring 14 points critical in securing the premiership, without Simon's effort here this premiership doesn't happen. Well done, Brenton, Peter, Liam, Ollie, Max, Nick, Simon, Alex and Charles for all contributing to the Div 6 Premiership team.
Male Open - Div 7
It was a difficult year for our Div 7 men with Barry, Matt and Claude all struggling with illness and injury through most of the season. Claude had one of his few runs for the year as he continues to return from injury, well done on getting around Claude.
A record turnout this year with 42 runners. The run away winner on the day was Max Small who ran 31m 43s, a massive 7m 17s under the handicap time.
Second was Theodora Halley in a time of 31m 50s, 3m 10s under the handicap time.
Third was Victoria Crane in a time of 29m 50s, 2m 50s under the handicap time.
Apart from some outliers (or form hiders), the handicap times were relatively close to actual times ran.
• 35 out of 42 runners ran within 2 mins of their handicap time
• 27/42 ran within 1 min of their handicap time
• 14/42 ran within 30 secs of their handicap time
A new course record was run by Jamie Blackburn in 18m 46s, 34 seconds quicker than his prior course record set in 2023.
Owen Dumsday also broke the previous course record running 18m 56s.
Very fast times in excellent conditions.
The annual 6km all comers handicap is coming up on Saturday, April 5 at 9:30am (registration at 8:30am). Ivanhoe Harriers host the event each year to kick off the AV Cross Country season so if you are interested, contact us at info@ivanhoeharriers.org.au and we'll get you an entry and a handicap sorted out.
Location: Eaglemont Tennis Courts car park, The Boulevard, East Ivanhoe.
This is a great way to introduce yourself to the club and the program if you're thinking of having a go at Cross Country this year. All ages are welcome!
Don't forget to hang around for the sausage sizzle as well. See you there!
Join us to celebrate 110 years of the Ivanhoe Harriers!
We're looking forward to reconnecting with old friends, teammates, and fellow club members for a relaxed and enjoyable afternoon.
Event Details:
This special event is for Members, Past Members, and their partners.
If you haven't recieved your invitation yet, please contact the Club for details on how to purchase your ticket.
Please purchase your tickets by Friday, 24th January 2025. Your early booking is greatly appreciated - it will help us confirm final numbers with the caterers.
The club is proud to subsidise this event, and we look forward to enjoying a fantastic afternoon with everyone!