Gary Saunders, who can rightly lay claim to being the oldest "professional" cross-country runner in Victoria, stunned the chasers by winning the eight-kilometre Lindsay Kent Memorial Handicap at Stawell last Sunday, one of the few races on the Stawell and Ararat Cross Country Club calendar to have eluded him.
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The 77-year-old put a lie to pre-race chatter that Jack Trounson had the race "in the bag" by chugging to the timekeepers with 0.50 minutes to spare from the 651-run veteran with Sandra Barwick a battling third.
"I had a real tussle with Sandra for the first couple of kilometres," Saunders said, "and that helped me to make good time.
"I really like a hilly course because I see that as a challenge. I run hills well because I train on (Stawell's) Big Hill and can actually make up ground on hills."
The Ararat Club was joined by the Stawell Amateur Athletic Club for the race within a race with both clubs presenting sashes to their winners.
At the other end of the age scale, rookie Kate Field broke through at only her third official run with the Stawell Club, edging out fellow rookie Michelle Dunn who was unlucky not to win the week before after mistaking the course. Saunders, who runs with both clubs, was third.
In the Amateurs one-kilometre Sub-Juniors race Sienna Santuccione held on grimly for a narrow win over consistent trier Olivia Hunter with Nate Lyons a close third.
Both clubs revert to five-kilometres for their respective races this weekend.
Fun runners are always welcome.
