A very strong wind made for extremely hard going for the 85 athletes who lined up for the Happy Runner 10 km handicap at Torquay. The outward toil into the trying headwind meant many runners had little in reserve for the return trip with the tailwind. It mattered little to Andrew McGrillen who won his first open handicap by 40 metres from Rachael Thompson with Jeff Walker 50 metres astern in third place. Fourth year runner, McGrillen, had run many minor placings in handicaps this season and had also recently won a sealed series race. Katie Eisenhauer was the fastest female by two minutes whilst Oscar Hynes was comfortably the fastest male.
Top 10 Placings
A.McGrillen, 43:02; R. Thompson, 44:31; J. Walker, 51:00; P. Carroll, 44:08; P. Shay, 42:55; I. Graljuk, 42:16; S. Thompson, 46:41; J. Donovan, 38:57; J. Curran, 38:59; S. Howell, 46:03 .
Fastest Times
Under 20 Male: O. Hynes 38.11
Under 20 Female: H. Peart 54.39
Under 40 Male: M. Lyon 38.47, J. Donovan 38.57
Under 40 Female: K. Eisenhauer 42.31, R. Thompson 44.31
Veteran Male: D. Wright 39.33, D. Blount 40.18
Veteran Female: S. Pedersen 49.05, M. Paull 54.29
Masters Male: K. McNulty 42.48, P. Shay 42.55
Masters Female: S. Howell 46.03, N. Angus 53.12
Legends Male: M. Wright 45.42, S. Crossfield 47.27
Legends Female: C. Bridgland 61.45
Supervets Male: J. Walker 51.00, M. Orelli 65.02
Supervets Female: M. Blood 78.21
Magic Money: J. Donovan
