Another beautiful day in Cairns on Sunday 13 September 2015 for the Cairns Half Marathon and 10k – and final event in the Athletics North Queensland (ANQ) Half Marathon Series. The spectacular view up the Barron Gorge from the start line painted a picture of things to come for the 110 runners covering the 21.1km distance. Although a little gusty at times the wind favoured the runners on the way out to Lake Placid and onward to the Barron River Power Station. Then it was down hill….well almost, until a short sharp ascent around 13kms to test some runners on the journey to home.
Not as far but far from a sleepy lay in on a Sunday morning was the 10km race starting an hour later at 7.45am. About 80 runners stepped up to the line for the out and back course to Lake Placid with our own Toby Gillen, a Cairns Road Runners junior collecting the gold medal in a sub 40 minute time. Post race treats replenished the runners and all those involved afterwards.
The events saw runners from interstate and New Zealand visit Cairns. I spoke to two runners, one from Mackay and the other from Weipa that travelled to Cairns especially for the event and for their 1st Half. And, yes – the Townsville runner Liz Maquire, visiting the fairer of the two cities to be the first Half Marathon female.
Cock & Bull (drink vouchers), Flying Monkey Cafe (coffee vouchers) and PhyxMe Physio (pilates/yoga/massage vouchers) deserve thanks for their contributions. Disappointments – there were a few, the 15 volunteers on the day that couldn’t run but rather gave up their time to help make it happen. You know who you are and so do the runners, as without you they wouldn’t have had such a great event! I applaud all of you. See you in 2016.
Photos to follow on Facebook, or if you can’t wait see Cairns Runners page for a sneak preview. Race results…. click HERE
Glen Robinson | Race Director
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