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Kooralbyn Marathon - NE

Queensland, Australia, June 4, 2006

Results 

New race record as Sydney's martin wins

By John Michael Flynn at Kooralbyn Queensland

Blair Martin
Photo ©: John Flynn
(Click for larger image)

Sydney's Blair Martin has shaved 36 seconds off Mark Frendo's 2005 race record and upstaged a talented field of Australia's emerging endurance mountain bikers on his way to winning the 2006 Kooralbyn Marathon.

In a display of controlled riding and tactical nous, the ex-pat kiwi (New Zealander) made his move at precisely the right time, stylishly riding away from all comers on the brutal final ascent of the race - the aptly named "Wall".

On a mountain featuring gradients of up 18 per cent, Martin, in the space off five kilometres, managed to take more than five minutes out of his rivals by the time he reached the spectacular summit of the 460 metre climb.

From there it was (almost) all downhill to the finish line, where the Sydneysider waited more than ten minutes for his nearest rival, the rapidly improving Andrew Wilcher, to cross the finish line.

How it unfolded

Featuring perfect blue sky, a cool-ish Queensland winter's morning and next to no wind, conditions for racing at kooralbyn were ideal. As news slowly filtered through the elite men's division of the withdrawal of reigning champion (and hot favourite) Mark Frendo due to illness, the race was on to find contenders for the title of "Kooralbyn Marathon Champion."

Aspirants weren't slow in coming forward. From race start the pace was on, with the lead groups including Chris White & Adrian Booth (River City Cycles), Andrew Wilcher (Race Elements), Daniel Hallam (QAS), Blair Martin, Simon Frederiksen (Race Elements) and former Crocodile Trophy campaigner Andrew Wegener, among others.

Adrian Booth
Photo ©: John Flynn
(Click for larger image)

The first major move came in the second half of the race, when seasoned road campaigner Adrian Booth launched a spirited attack on the flatter profiled middle section of the course. Had Booth caught a glance of the course profile (which looked for all money like a heart attack patient's e.c.g.), the veteran stager might have thought twice.

Approaching the final two climbs of Mount Sugarloaf and the aptly named 'Wall', Booth's screams of 'get me water' provided a hint of what, inevitably was about to come.

"We just kept punching along and thought hopefully he'll blow up," Andrew Wilcher said of the move from Booth.

"Get enough time out there himself, was going to hit the wall sooner or later. He ran out of water in the end."

It was near the foot of "the wall" where Booth was finally caught by the two pursuing groups. There, Blair Martin made his move, with Hallam, White, Wilcher and the remainder of the race aspirants, unable to follow suit.

Racing on another level against older and strong riders, fifteen year old Daniel Hallam, who recently signed with the Queensland Academy of Sport program, had to dig deep to get over the final climb. The highly rated junior eventually finished fourth overall and first in the 18 - 29 year age category.

"About the 60 kilometre mark, that's when I started to fade," Hallam admitted.

"Can't really compare it to much because it's the first marathon race that I've done, just the climbs make it so mentally tough and physically draining."

Nearing the end of 85 kilometres, the fight for the minor placings turned into a hot contest. With the benefit of last year's inaugural Kooralbyn Marathon under his belt, it was Wilcher who prevailed, to claim second.

"I just managed to get rid of Daniel Hallam with about 3 kilometres to go, then saw Chris White and punched past him with about 300 metres to go," Wilcher said.

"It was hard, there was a lot of heavy lifting to be done out there and I think the secret was knowing what was to come.

"It's a long race, you don't get all the toys out of the cot in the first half out of the race, that was imperative."

Connie Silvestri
Photo ©: John Flynn
(Click for larger image)

Triathlete Silvestri wins women's event

The race for overall honours in the women's marathon proved to be another see-sawing contest, with triathlete Connie Silvestri prevailing against a class field which included World Cup adventure racer Narelle Ash.

Soon to head overseas to represent Australia in the age group divisions at the World Triathlon Championships in Switzerland, Silvestri showed the endurance skills necessary to succeed by bringing it home in the final twenty kilometres of the race.

Just as in the men's event, Silvestri launched an attack on the nightmarish ascent of "the wall", which proved decisive.

"I did it last year and I found it really tough," Silvestri said.

"Towards the end, that's when I kind of got a second wind on The Wall and I caught the other girl (Naomi Hansen). it was an awesome course."

Hansen though, had nothing to be ashamed off. The Sunshine Coast mountain biker produced one of the rides of the race, shaving more than one hour off her time from 2005, to claim second place overall

"From start to finish it was an experience, I did it last year and I found it a lot easier than last year," Hansen said.

"It was just, it was a huge personal challenge. The last hill she (Silvestri) passed me and my legs were just rat-shit, then it was just maintenance on the way home.

"It's full on man."

Lisa Mathison
Photo ©: John Flynn
(Click for larger image)

Mathison shows promising form

Cruising to victory in the women's division of the 65 kilometre "Lite Marathon", two time UCI Junior Cross Country Mountainbike World Champion Lisa Mathison showed her form is about where it needs to be as she sets her sights on the World Championships in Rotorua in August.

If her form prevails, Mathison will race in the under 23 division at the World's.

"It was really tough out there but I really enjoyed it," Mathison said.

"It was a fun track for a marathon track. The shorter course I think was plenty for today, I don't really feel that I was up for any more."

Mathison, whose past year has been punctuated by illness, is taking it slow and steady with her 2006 campaign, choosing to stay in Australia, rather than race internationally on the taxing World Cup circuit.

"At least my health feels 100 per cent at the moment and has for a while," Queensland's most decorated international mountain biker said at race end.

"It's hard to tell but I think it is. These next couple of months are pretty crucial, so I hope I can get it together there and build and get the speed that I need."

Photography

For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here

Images by John Flynn/Cyclingnews.com

Results

Full marathon

18-29 Men
 
1 Daniel Hallam                 3.52.36
2 Simon Frederiksen                3.55
3 Dennis Van Mill                  5.49
4 Andrew Fellows                   7.42
5 Peter Donnelly                  13.04
6 Morgan Pilley                   14.08
7 Shaun O'Brien                   21.33
8 David Whitney                   26.29
9 Daniel Radford                  37.29
10 Patrick Hans Ryham             44.03
11 Richard Brownhill              48.23
12 Dan O'Rourke                   52.42
13 Daniel Newnham                 57.07
14 Darrell Edwick                 57.26
15 Christopher Maycock          1.20.47
16 Andrew Jovaisa               1.20.57
17 Greg Lander                  1.21.44
18 Ben Bopf                     1.22.23
19 David Dolan                  1.22.55
20 Duane Blake                  1.29.33
21 Justin Kerr                  1.32.33
22 Michael Heydon               1.33.33
23 Hayden Lester                1.35.52
24 Greig Smart                  1.39.13
25 Adam Lynch                   2.04.26
26 Paul Philipp                 2.10.10
27 Michael Kingston             2.36.11
28 Andrew Fraser                2.43.41
 
18-29 Women
 
1 Lee Schultz                   4.36.33
2 Heather Evans                   13.27
3 Rebecca Myerscough            1.13.51
 
30-39 Men
 
1 Blair Martin                  3.39.34
2 Andrew Wilcher                   9.41
3 Christopher White               10.01
4 Andrew Wegener                  14.53
5 Ian Goodwin                     16.47
6 Andrew Mannings                 31.28
7 Paul Adams                      36.54
8 Lloyd Newell                    38.20
9 Russell Davies                  39.25
10 Adrian Booth                   40.30
11 Matthew Christmas                   
12 Andrew Charles                 45.20
13 Chris Cooke                    46.37
14 Andy Stewart                   47.19
15 Peter Winfield                 51.08
16 Vaughan Caseley                51.09
17 Shaun Leggate                  51.38
18 Jody Zerbst                    53.32
19 Jeff Toohey                    55.28
20 Trevour Pitt                 1.01.52
21 Andrew Wood                  1.02.50
22 Kelvin Moncrieff             1.03.22
23 Brad Poidevin                1.06.28
24 Aaron Donaldson              1.06.56
25 John Allen                   1.09.05
26 Nicholas Marentis            1.09.55
27 Lee Stariha                  1.12.20
28 Christian Woodcock           1.13.45
29 Jeremy McLaren               1.14.45
30 Justin Whelan                1.20.49
31 Benjamin Madden              1.20.50
32 Anthony Johnson              1.22.28
33 David Hunter                 1.27.00
34 Scott Clarke                 1.27.06
35 Greg Long                    1.27.53
36 Michael (Mikey) Seelhofer    1.27.54
37 Stephen Cody                 1.29.33
38 Shannon Duggan               1.31.13
39 Craig Blanch                 1.32.10
40 Graeme Hall                  1.32.32
41 Dean Dyer                    1.34.04
42 Paul Hill                    1.34.06
43 Brett Sweeney                1.34.56
44 Gary Grieve                  1.35.48
45 James Robbie                 1.36.37
46 Darren Smith                 1.38.11
47 Todd Heness                  1.38.15
48 Gordon Kleynhans             1.38.16
49 Chris Field                  1.39.49
50 Geoff Richardson             1.40.06
51 Gavin Irving                 1.47.22
52 Rick Gifford                 1.47.54
53 Carlos Steenland             1.50.34
54 Ivan Wilkin                  1.50.35
55 John Pinnell                 1.55.39
56 Martin Comer                 1.56.23
57 Alan Kelk                    2.01.55
58 Richard Bartleet             2.03.03
59 Paul Kays                    2.03.25
60 Jason Cheshire               2.04.31
61 Darren Tickle                2.05.31
62 Peter Humberdross            2.05.54
63 Paul Burrows                 2.06.53
64 Luke Goodfellow              2.06.57
65 Mark Prickett                2.09.05
66 Mark Leng                    2.09.38
67 Craig Shepperson             2.11.21
68 Greg ODea"                   2.13.15
69 Stephen Mitchell             2.21.02
70 Simon Vanderduys             2.22.16
71 Richard Francis              2.23.09
72 Derek Hallam                 2.25.51
73 John Bowers                  2.26.16
74 Peter Christie               2.34.54
75 James Bell                   2.35.24
76 John Wilson                  2.37.22
77 Michael Buchanan             2.40.06
78 Jason Buchanan               2.40.07
79 Paul Olds                    2.41.13
80 Mark Sanzaro                 2.45.54
81 Ian McDonell                 2.46.57
82 Andrew Garnsworthy           2.47.42
83 Michael Obst                 2.47.43
84 Steven Linnell               2.54.00
85 Steven Collins               2.59.38
86 David Schaefer               2.59.54
87 Chris Locke                  3.09.20
88 Andrew Harding               3.15.32
89 Darren Wright                3.15.33
90 Steven John Munn             3.16.14
91 Justin Dowey                 3.24.52
92 Nathan Charlish              4.06.58
93 Jeffrey Munt                 4.06.59
DNF Anthony Oloman                     
DNF Travis Hall                        
 
30-39 Women
 
1 Connie Silvestri              4.25.58
2 Naomi Hansen                     8.49
3 Narelle Ash                     17.48
4 Susan Sim                       42.56
5 Adrienne Dougal                 56.15
6 Tamsin Barnes                 1.00.15
7 Jodie Lothian                 2.00.34
8 Nicci Ansley                  2.03.42
9 Arranny Khuong                2.59.39
10 Debbie Hard                  3.05.09
DNF Rebecca Hall                       
 
40-49 Men
 
1 Darren Timms                  4.27.26
2 Kevin Jones                      0.36
3 Tim Hay                          2.16
4 Phil Hystek                      3.47
5 Steve Purcell                    5.24
6 Roger Allwright                 13.27
7 Grant Ford                      15.30
8 Chris McDonald                  20.46
9 Ian Holm                        21.56
10 Eric Lange                     23.33
11 Paul Witzerman                 23.51
12 Trevor Bell                    31.16
13 John Travers                   33.51
14 Richard Eggins                 35.00
15 Tony Poutsma                   36.41
16 Gary Rolton                    43.12
17 Ian Collins                    44.21
18 Robert Hain                    52.14
19 John Minton                    57.58
20 Frank Kenny                  1.00.39
21 Rick Whitehead               1.02.13
22 David Crow                   1.03.06
23 Martin Krumm                 1.03.09
24 John Forbes                  1.03.27
25 Col Cuthbert                 1.03.59
26 Ken Altoft                   1.09.48
27 Paul Grubner                 1.10.16
28 Trevor Kidd                  1.16.52
29 Phil Scudamore               1.34.14
30 Simon Carter                 1.38.25
31 Blake Topping                1.39.09
32 Nick Samios                  1.40.53
33 Paul Quatermass              1.41.07
34 Andrew Ryan                  1.42.05
35 Scott May                    1.47.09
36 Michael Vincent              1.54.10
37 Mark Cockayne                1.54.19
38 Jeff Shillington             2.03.31
39 Paul Smith                   2.11.11
DNF Ronald Walker                      
 
40-49 Women
 
1 Meg Carrigan                  4.43.22
2 Thoriene Egerton              1.02.48
3 Gillian Duncan                1.10.34
4 Leanne Burrows                1.26.07
 
50+ Men
 
1 Hans Dielacher                3.53.31
2 Andy McNaught                   24.04
3 Bruce Wood                      46.11
4 Roy Whitney                     55.48
5 Dave Byrnes                   1.07.44
6 Alfred Cerwen                 1.08.51
7 Leigh Christensen             1.24.48
8 William Bartleet              1.45.05
9 Tony Moxon                    1.48.02
10 Mark Myers                   1.49.31
11 Malcolm Stayte               2.28.05
12 Terry Morgan                 2.31.48
13 Peter Cooper                 2.32.11
DNF Trevor Edwick                      
 
50+ Women
 
1 Lindy McNaught                6.05.36
 
Tandem
 
1 Kylie Van Haren/Mark Skroblin 6.26.45                    

Lite marathon 

18-29 Men
 
1 Josh Keep                     3.01.59
2 Matt Pauli                    1.03.36
3 Andrew Pridannikoff           1.16.55
4 Joel Wooliey                  1.22.48
5 George Tamblyn                1.22.49
6 Stuart Bushell                1.47.16
7 Craig Tschirpig               2.12.26
8 Robert Robbins                2.23.31
9 Mark Nichols                  2.46.54
10 Andrew Oudyn                 3.06.44
11 Michael Rodriguez            3.06.45
12 Ross Woods                   3.15.04
13 Shaun Preece                 3.21.18
14 Paul Woods                   3.39.44
FIN Mike Zande                         
FIN Marcos Caceres                     
 
18-29 Women
 
1 Lisa Mathison                 3.36.08
2 Ady Ngawati                     42.45
3 Tina McCotter                   48.11
4 Kylie Maduna                  1.14.33
5 Rebecca Josey                 1.25.24
6 Rebecca Grant                 1.34.50
7 Sarah Josey                   1.49.00
8 Michelle Jones                2.28.11
9 Sarah Steenland               3.05.37
 
30-39 Men
 
1 Dan San Martin                2.56.44
2 David Willems                   16.55
3 Justin Claridge                 23.06
4 Andrew Davison                  31.21
5 Peter York                      41.00
6 Glen Murphy                     43.19
7 Jason Hitchcock                 45.14
8 Jason Gibson                    47.16
9 Mick Corcoran                   48.29
10 Peter Nimmo                    51.36
11 Norman Doyle                   52.00
12 Ryan Myler                     59.00
13 Peter Barron                 1.04.21
14 Brad Sheppard                1.04.54
15 Peter O'Gorman               1.06.32
16 Paul Jacobsen                1.09.12
17 Clive Wall                   1.09.39
18 Jason Rowe                   1.10.58
19 Robert Walker                1.11.04
20 Ian Wilson                   1.11.28
21 Shameem Khan                 1.13.44
22 Peter Harvey                 1.18.02
23 Matthew Cleverly             1.18.05
24 Hank Wheeler                 1.20.58
25 Timothy Binns                1.25.29
26 Rodney Gibson                1.27.07
27 Scott Humphris               1.34.16
28 Worthington                  1.34.31
29 Kev Parker                   1.35.32
30 Barry Peacock                1.36.17
31 Matt Forster                 1.48.54
32 Andrew Patton                1.49.35
33 Adrian MacGregor             1.58.25
34 Check Kennedy                2.00.57
35 Craig Clintoft               2.00.58
36 David Grantley               2.01.16
37 Shane Isbester               2.03.50
38 Michael Thomas               2.04.02
39 Rod Watts                    2.07.36
40 Darren Cahalane              2.09.44
41 Steven Turner                2.10.17
42 Jason Marsden                2.15.43
43 Andrew Barron                2.17.51
44 Garry Hicks                  2.18.05
45 Darren Boman                 2.20.12
46 Damien Doran                 2.21.06
47 Anthony Courtney             2.22.09
48 Sean Collins                 2.24.34
49 Ben Williams                 2.26.51
50 Dean Burgess                 2.47.09
51 Troy Barnett                 2.47.25
52 David Buchanan               2.53.25
53 Tony Balliff                 2.54.36
54 Ian Whatman                  3.02.31
55 Darby Knudson                3.06.39
56 Sean Dennis                  3.10.00
57 Dan Lewis                    3.15.52
58 Alan Jamieson                3.33.04
59 Derek Chien                  3.38.08
60 Steven Owen                  3.38.23
FIN Scott Hartwell                     
FIN Brent Tangey                       
FIN Drew Edbrooke                      
FIN Geoffrey Parton                    
FIN Andrew Coles                       
FIN Peter Orr                          
DNF Steven Adams                       
 
30-39 Women
 
1 Wendy Cramp                   5.16.57
2 Karen Ward                       6.18
3 Katerina Brown                  18.01
4 Maree Sykes                   1.05.19
FIN Kylie Barrettt                     
FIN Elizabeth Orr                      
 
40-49 Men
 
1 John Rafter                   3.31.06
2 Craig Yeoman                    19.07
3 Richard Bassett                 20.09
4 Keith Jarrott                   22.56
5 Andrew Watt                     37.19
6 Michael Hamilton                49.05
7 Brian Debman                    57.48
8 Stewart Cooke                 1.03.23
9 Don Warnock                   1.05.07
10 Steve Eggleton               1.05.21
11 John Warnock                 1.08.35
12 Peter Creagh                 1.18.23
13 Howard Van Der Klauw         1.20.12
14 Brad Saw                     1.21.20
15 David Paynter                1.23.48
16 Noel Swain                   1.32.15
17 Mark Brunkskill              1.37.12
18 Wayne Cabbie Russell         1.42.44
19 Jeff Isles                   2.13.26
20 Wayne Holmquest              2.21.05
21 Gerard Corbett               2.21.59
22 Gary Craker                  3.00.56
23 Trevor Furness               3.01.35
FIN Grant James                        
FIN John Bath                          
FIN John Russell                       
FIN Andrew Patterson                   
FIN Bradley McGregor                   
FIN Reg Byrne                          
 
40-49 Women
 
1 Amanda Richards               3.53.36
2 Alison Forbes                 1.11.51
3 Jane Trotter                  1.29.32
4 Helen Walker                  2.47.46
FIN Leanne Ardern                      
 
50+ Men
 
1 Alan Mumford                  3.15.21
2 Greg Hickey                   1.30.00
3 Warren Prior                  1.39.45
4 Sinclair Currie               2.09.22
5 Peter Woods                   3.24.27
 
50+ Women
 
1 Lesley Robinson               5.25.01
FIN = Finisher - rider started in full marathon.