It may have been football finals this weekend, but an athletic event of equal if not greater significance also took place on Sunday…The 2016 Cairns Half Marathon!
Around 125 runners in the 21.1km event and 60 in the 10km event lined up at the start, on a beautiful spring Sunday morning that had been preceded by heavy but refreshing rain.
The 21.1 km runners set off first at 7, including young Arie Eussen propelled along by his father John, in Arie’s custom-‐built race-‐mobile. Arie was not the only first-‐timer to a half marathon and so congratulations to him and those others as well who completed the distance for the first time. You picked a beautiful course!
After a few kms alongside cane fields, the runners dropped down onto the Barron River bike path then across the fishing bridge to the Lake Placid-‐Barron Gorge loop. Said loop is hailed by many in Cairns to be their ‘favourite run’, and it is indeed beautiful, especially after drenching rain, though many would be happy to have left out the hills and perhaps also the picturesque but undulating Stoney Creek road detour….but it would not have been 21.1 without it!
The 10km set off one hour later at 8am, and all runners were coming in under the clock thick and fast 9am.
Of course, not all runners are there to take in the views…especially when time matters. First place male and overall winner in the 21.1km was Jonathon Camilleri (1.26.44) followed by Jarrod Ausburn and Bryan O’Mahoney. First place female was Karen Ebdy (1.43.20) followed by Akane Goode and Toni-‐Lee Ferguson. Congratulations and we hope you enjoy your locally hand-‐created camphor wood cheese boards. The full race results lists for both events are published separately.
Other winners on the day were the recipients of spot prizes: a $500 Tint-‐a-‐Car voucher (thank you Jason & Sue Houlihan), Elva’s Café vouchers, FNQ Podiatry vouchers, and all participants received an ANQ satchel with an embroidered cap and a drink voucher from the Cock & Bull where many of us gathered later on Sunday afternoon.
Events such as this Half Marathon don’t happen without the help of volunteers. Thank you very much to course marshalls: Sarah Dart, Paul Robinson, Keith Fearon, Caroline Hardy, and Bruce Hansen. Start and finish procedures: Colleen Harrison, Laura Toyne, the whole Houlihan family, Kev Morrisey, Deborah Drummond, Lucille Pederson and Rosie Ball. And most of all, thanks to Glen Robinson (CRR President) for race-‐day co-‐ordination and the whole lot of leg work and preparation in the months leading up to this event.
We hope you all recovered well and the visitors enjoyed what Cairns has to offer. Happy training for your next event!
Alison Smith | CRR Treasurer,
On behalf of Glen Robinson |CRR President & Race Director.
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