Almost 700 runners, walkers and spectators enjoyed near perfect conditions at the OneFortyOne Blue Lake Fun Run on Sunday, relishing the opportunity to pound the pavement after a two year COVID-19 induced hiatus.
The event was hosted by the Lakes Rotary Club and attracted entrants from around the region and interstate including from Warrnambool, Hamilton, Portland, Naracoorte, Adelaide and even Barmera.
There were 134 competitors in the 10.4km Blue Lake/Warwar Run, 267 runners in the 6.8km Mount Gambier/Berrin Run and 190 participants in the 3.2km Cave Gardens/Thugi Dash.
In a day full of highlights, the inaugural Lakes and Craters Half Marathon was won by Riley Cocks in scintillating form, completing the 21.7km course in 1:13:42.60 ahead of 60 other competitors.
Cocks is the current South Australian half marathon record holder with his time of 1:02.54.
The first female to complete the course, less than seven minutes behind, was Olympian Izzi Batt-Doyle.
Batt-Doyle made her Olympic debut in Tokyo, competing in the 5000 metres and was selected for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in the 10,000 metres – her fourth Australian team selection.
The 10.4km Blue Lake/Warwar Run event was won by Bouchaib Chefnaoui in 36:26 and it was returning champion Nikki Smart who completed the course in 42:09 to be crowned the first female finisher.
The 6.8km Mount Gambier/Berrin Run was won by Leslie Jagger and the female champion was Paige Rasheed.
In the less strenuous 3.2km Cave Gardens/Thugi Dash, Archie Lane claimed gold with a time of 11:28.08 while Shayden Russell claimed the female championship.
Fun Run Committee chairperson Mark Praolini said he was thrilled with the outcome of the day, which was marred only by a light shower.
“The runners coped with the rain quite well,” he said.
“It is so wonderful to see the region embracing the fun run again after its COVID hiatus.
“It was a fabulous team effort by Lakes Rotary, the running fraternity of Mount Gambier and our wonderful sponsors and volunteers without whom we would not have been able to present the event.
“Generally, we have had great support from the local business community and the way they give back is fantastic.
“The sponsors were absolutely terrific, we have a lot of great sponsors namely OneFortyOne and the Mount Gambier City Council.
“This year we actively got people involved from the running community which was well supported, and we will build on that.
“We got people quite willing to volunteer outside of Rotary which was a huge plus.”
Mr Praolini said despite the event’s success, numbers were considerably down from 2019 by around 300 people.
“We believe because there has been a two-year hiatus we have lost a bit of momentum, so the regular teams possibly did not register,” he said.
“People may still be concerned about the threat of COVID, we do not quite know so we are going to analyse the reasons for it and hopefully pick them up in a survey.
“There are a number of reasons, and we are going to address those.”
Mr Praolini said the first half marathon was quite successful.
“With the feedback I have had, people have found that quite a challenging course which I expected,” he said.
“Overall, they were happy to get involved with that challenge and feel really good about it and the majority that I have spoken to would do it again so that is positive.
“Personally, I was really touched we had all those people for the 21.7km, that has been my dream and it is great to get it up and going.
“I have wanted to see a half marathon here for probably two or three years.
“We will hold it again next year.”
As a fresh take on the event, Mr Praolini said there were medallions made from pine and shirts available to order.
“The medals were fantastic, it is environmentally friendly pine, in keeping with our area and or course our major sponsors OneFortyOne,” he said.
“Every finisher got one and the other thing we introduced this year were shirts which were very popular as well.
“Fifty shirts were sold, and people are still looking for them, so they are very successful.”
The event put $21,000 back into the community through donations to various organisations.
The Limestone Coast Domestic Violence Service received $6000, $4000 was donated to the Mount Gambier Breast Cancer Awareness Group, $5000 went to the Mount Gambier City Council Disadvantaged Youth and $2000 each was donated to the Park Run, Lifeboat SE and the Limestone Coast Prostate Cancer Support Group.
Mr Praolini said planning for next year’s event will soon be under way.
“We are certainly looking to improve next year,” he said.
“It is great because it is a fun run for those who want to walk and for the serious runners including those state champions, you can get quite competitive, so it caters for everyone.”
