XCR Round 9 Burnley 15k - 6 September 2026
It was the inagural Burnley 15K today on Fathers Day. Every other year it's been the half marathon, so it was nice to do one lap less than usual.
First away was the 4K race with Matt Harvey running a solid 16:23, just over 4 minute k pace, his best race for the season.
Next t was the 15K, and despite the initial plan to run sub 60 minute runners separately, it was good to see that sense prevailed, and we it was all just the one race. Waverley had 13 starters and it was great for us spectators watching them go by every 2.5K.
First in for Waverley was Davin Hopper who ran a solid 56:45 to finish 2nd in M60, only beaten by the World Champion John Meagher. Davin scored his best winter % points of the season, and could actually have picked up a few podiums in last week's World Masters Championships at Deagu, where John just destroyed the M60 fields.
Next was Martin Spiteri, fresh after flying in at 3am on Saturday morning, helped by little sleep. Martin also scored his best winter points of the season and finished 3rd in M50+. After running with Davin for a little while in the first lap, he sensibly let him go, but finished within a minute, and ahead of the in form Ant Rickards.
Third in was Ryan Bentley who led his nephew around the course to a pb and out kicked the House in the last km (who was running invitation). It is normally almost impossible to out kick House in the last km.
Then it was Smurf, who had already run a 13km warm up and looks unstoppable on his return to form for the Melbourne Marathon. 3 hours look out. Daniel ran with the Smurf for a while, but then a hip niggle forced him to retire at 8k. Hoping for a miracle recovery so you can run the Tan relays Daniel.
Julian Russell showed an encouraging return from injury, and recovery from many tears after Freo's loss on Thursday night. Then Tim Stickley who has been sick and hasn't been able to run in the last month. Well fought out to finish.
Michael Jansen, bravely led his wife Niamh in the first lap, but even though it was fathers day, let Niamh run through in the second lap and finish second in her age group. Harvs was next after a brutal 5 event program at the World Masters last week including a half marathon and a 20k walk. I don't know how he does it.
Janice toughed it out to finish the 15K, after barely being able to run in the last couple of points. Her fighting finish helped our womens team to 4th place in 50+ and 6th place in Div 3. Well done Janice and Niamh.
Clyde, known more for his throwing and walking, made a Lazarus like reappearance to Waverley and toughed out the first 10k, before declaring it a day. Impressive to see Clyde back.
Our results:
Female Open
15km: Niamh O'Reilly 1:11:59; Janice Marston 1:24:51;
Male Open
15km: Davin Hopper 56:45; Martin Spiteri 57:27; Ryan Bentley 58:25; Ewen Vowels 1:03:07; Julian Russell 1:06:49; Tim Stickley 1:07:12; Michael Jansen 1:12:49; Michael Harvey 1:17:13; Clyde Riddoch DNF;
Male 20
4km: Matt Harvey 16:23;
In the teams results we finished 2nd in M50 and M Div 4 4th u W50, 5th in M60+ and 6th in Women Div 3. Impressive results. We are now almost certain to finish 2nd for the season in M Div 4 and get promoted to Div 3.
Full results are at: https://athsvic.resultshub.com.au/#
and our Winter points are in the "Past Results" tab
Lots of good photos thanks to Petra and Em, and a few from me are under photos.
Fastest times were by Seth O'Donnell, winning the Men's race in 44:23 and Donve Viljoen, winning the Women's race in 51:47. Melbourne Uni won Men Div 1 and Sandringham won Women Div 1. But Sandy are now unbeatable for both Men and Women season Div 1 victories.
Our final event is next Saturday - the tan relays. A big finish to the season.
Then we'll have our end of winter season run and bbq at our place on Sunday 27th September - the day after the Grand Final. Always a lot of fun.
Well done by all who ran so well today, and Happy Fathers Day.
