Frankston to Portsea Road Race 55km/34 miles
June 6th 1987
Report by Geoff Hook
| 1. | Paul Patton | 3:50:09 |
| 2. | Peter Armistead | 4:17:40 |
| 3. | Les Bradd | 4:28:30 |
| 4. | Phillip Dodin | 4:31:23 |
| 5. | Geoff Hook | 4:40:51 |
| 6. | Cynthia Cameron | 4:46:41 |
| 7. | Geoff Womersley | 4:57:04 |
| 8. | Martin Dixon | 5:19:22 |
Doug Le Bas D.N.F.
Chris Le Dieu D.N.F.
The mist hung heavily in the cool morning air as the runners nervously stamped their feet or stretched to keep warm.
Who is silly enough to start in a race at 7am in mid winter at Frankston? Well ten of us were silly enough, along with support crews and the odd seagull in search of the early morsel of food.
This is a do-it-yourself race. There is no entry form, no entry fee, no marshalls, no prizes at the end, no certificates or medallions. However, the race is ably organized and conducted by Peninsula Road Runners [They say “GO” at the start and are sometimes on hand to record finishers].
At least there was no wind to contend with so the running conditions were really ideal. We were slightly wet from mist condensation before we worked up a sweat but no runner felt cold or hot for the duration of the race. Visibility was 100 metres at the start. Paul Patton and Peter Armistead [who pushes people into black snakes when he gets the chance!] quickly disappeared from view. Then came the main bunch of five runners. It was difficult to tell were the other runners were and when the mist lifted a couple of hours later, we were so strung out as to be hidden anyway.
Les Bradd and I agreed to run a time of about five hours so that we would get the benefit of a long run without upsetting our build up to the VMC 50 miler in two weeks. Les, a 2:39 marathon runner, had to be reined back a couple of times as he has no idea of slow running. Consequently, we dropped off the main bunch fairly early.
What a pleasant, uneventful run it was. Overcast skies, beautiful views, good company and jokes, well looked after every 5km by Gary, Les’ friend.
After 35km, either Les sped up or I slowed down and he drifted ahead. I wanted to stay running comfortably and achieved this by finishing well and feeling as though I had only run 10 miles. So much for our five hour run. Cynthia ran well to finish only a few minutes behind. Paul ran an excellent race to be just a couple of minutes off the course record. Peter tried to stay with him but couldn’t hang on.
If only the Peninsula boys would provide certificates for finishers….? We would have greater incentive for our torture.