XCR Round 7 Lakeside 10 - 25 July 2026

It was great to see 14 of us running at Lakeside this morning. We were missing half the team with the Spiteris away on holidays, so had to dig deep to fill our teams. It was nice to also have Em, Sally and Smoothy along to cheer us on. Smoothy was a temporary out with a nasty sunspot having to be removed, but should be back again for our next race.

Conditions were very good with a cool, relatively still morning and a big field. We had 691 open men, more than double the field at Bundoora. First in for Waverley was the in- form Ryan Bentley running a big two minute pb with 37.08. Then Davin with 37:44, finishing second in 60 (behind the legendary 60 10K world record holder John Maagher).

The Smurf just keeps getting better and better. He excelled with a 38:45, progressing from our slowest in the Lakeside 5K to our 3rd fastest in the 10K. His improvement has been phenomenal to watch. I got near him briefly at the last turn around before he ran right away. My hamstring was good for 8 of the 10K and I was very happy to also break 40 minutes with 39:32.

Tim Stickley's goal was 4:15 pace just a week before the Noosa marathon and he was spot on with 42:40. It was great to see Julian back for his first run of the season with 45:08.

Ernie has been battling a heel injury, so it was good to see him finish ok in 46:45. And literally right behind him was Michael Jansen in 47:21 for one of his best runs of the season. Then Harvs was just behind them in 47:21. Unfortunately Matt's knee hasn't recovered yet from Burnley. It was with a fair degree of hope that he started, but after 5K the knee had had enough.

Our women were led in by the smoking Beck Kirkham who was very solid with 42:04. Niamh ran 45:01, then Wendy 50:35 and Janice toughed it out with a hamstring strain for 55:03.

Overall our team results were not quite as exciting at the last 2 rounds. Our highlight was a 3rd place by men 60, then 4th by Men 50 and Women Div 3, and 5th by Women 50. It was also impressive to see Davin on the podium - 2nd in M60

Our results:
Female Open
10km: Rebecca Kirkham 42:04; Niamh O'Reilly 45:01; Wendy Masters 50:35; Janice Marston 55:03;
Male Open
10km: Ryan Bentley 37:08; Davin Hopper 37:44; Ewen Vowels 38:45; James Atkinson 39:32; Tim Stickley 42:40; Julian Russell 45:08; Ernest Lim 46:45; Michael Jansen 46:52; Michael Harvey 47:21;
Male 20
10km: Matt Harvey DNF;

The overall race winners were Matt Buckell (Bendigo) 29:08, with 13 running under 30 minutes. Donje Viljoen (Box Hill) won the womens race easily in 33:28, with Georgia's ex schoolmate Maddie King winning F20+ and 3rd overall with 34:10.

Sandringham won Men Div 1 easily, and Box Hill beat Sandringham in Women's Div 1 in a rare win. Malvern were 7th in Div 1.

After the run, 9 of us made it out to the Sandbar to enjoy brunch by the beach in the sunshine - a good chance to catch up and relive the tales of the Lakeside runs.

We now have a 2 week break to the half marathon which will be at Ballarat this year around the lake. Sadly I'll be away for this one.