Thursday, November 13, 2008

Manns Point - what a view!

A beautiful evening at Greenwich saw over 200 punters once again on the burst from this most sublime assembly location. Michael 'Horseradish' Halmy was in charge and produced another widely spread course on this map. Despite the full 600 being well out of reach, there was plenty of action and choices to be made as runners flew up the 'pinch' questioning their earlier decisions to go west to #26/27 or east to the dastardly temptations of #25/30/29 etc.

16, 26 and 27 on the western option posed their own small conundrum - especially the reverse pull back up the slope after 16 to grab 26 or an in-out from the north route following 16 to 27/7 (Andrew Hill option). The east to #25 option then held runners in the dread clutches of the slow Gore Cove track to try and recover via 30 and 29, before re-gathering their skirts across the top of the course. The east definitely was slower and hurt many of the fancied nags.

As always, the well trained stallions and mares held up, with Mounty pipping the field by a head for 530 points, a shade in front of Andrew and Richard Green on 520. Mounty and Andy began together but separated mid course when they took different routes to the west top, Mounty forgetting #26 in the process! Glenn 'In Yellow' ran his traditional full bottle for a 9 minute penalty to 510, the same as Michael 'Life's not a' Burton score in Vets (Michael records this as his 100th consecutive win in the SSS Vets category - an amazing record).

Other excellent outings that took the fancy of correspondent 'Pork Pie', were Ian 'The Gladstone Bag' Cameron shading Steve Flick to take the SVM with 410, Juniors Jess Campbell and Huon slapping an excellent 370 on the table, Sue 'Log Cabin' Login flying for 410, and Ron 'Pinus Radiata' Junghans holding off Ted by 10 points in the Legends.

Also of note was Andy Simpson's excellent score of minus 80 points! Andy of course is on daddy duties here and inventing a new sport - slow O! Beautiful stuff, and good to see the Big Foot kids early O training tradition is alive and well.

Also of great note was the unbelievable performance of junior Ben Tumminello and mate Arthur who SWAM (!!) back from #10 (I'd say certainly the 'lonely pot' award) on Berry Island to #11 to conclude their run! Many will remember the reverse of this some years ago when a competitor swam in the other direction, mobile phone in his map bag! Although I'm not sure what you would be running with a phone for (clock??). The dripping, and grinning, Ben and Art were a sight to behold handing in their cards - just as well they were the plastic variety. Ben scored 350 by the way.

All in all, another fun evening on the volleys with lots of good competition and scoring. Sue Thomson running her 'book' for 280, Michael Free cursing a dropped twenty for 470 and Robin Cameron 'Song' claiming in the VW's with 'The Heff' out to paddock. Also great to see Alice 'The Enforcer' Prudhoe charging along - one of our previous stars returning for a bit more elbow work in the back straight.

Next week we return after some years to Little Sirius Cove. Ken and Carol are sure to have dreamed up an excursion to remember in another of Sydney's great harbourside locations. This is where Tom Roberts and the other Heidelberg School artists set up camp many years ago, and the idyl will no doubt inspire serious 'out-performance' (if not 'artistic-performance') from all SSS runners. Start getting excited, 'cause it's going to be a ripper. Be there!

1 comment:

x said...

The Masters Division is shaping up with a different and much more predictable look this year.

Glenn Horrocks having moved up from opens looks like a short priced favorite, with some margin to spare over the field.

Tim Rogers, last years winner, has come back stronger than last year, after training for and completing a marathon in the off season. All but matching Glenn on his first four outings of the year. Even so, it looks like a big ask, even this early in the season.

Peter Annetts, In contention all last year and eventually having to settle for third, despite having an ankle injury that derailed about a third of the season. Speaking of thirds, even though he is showing strong, consistent, form this year, it might be the most he can hope for.

Michael Free, who punched above his weight for a second placing last year, came back for this year looking like he had a little extra time in the feed paddock. Although always an honest competitor, its hard to imagine him placing any higher than 4th and he might need to shed a bit of padding to achieve that. Probably missed his best chance for an event win this year at Manns point. No wonder he was ruing the 20 lost points.

Shane Henry has turned up full of running this year, and looks keen to move up the board, hot tip to challenge for 4th, but unlikely to trouble the big guns.

Malcolm Bradley who got better and better as the season progressed last year, and then got some good results during the off season was expected to be a contender this year. However, he has gone missing since the second event and didn't show the same form as the end of last season. The insiders pick for sixth.

Graeme Mcleod has been similarly dilettante in his attendance. However should be able to repeat last seasons 7th position.

For those looking for a race in a race, the Pettersons are back. Nothing beats sibling rivalry, as a spectator sport. No matter how vicious they are to each other, they will still be brothers the next day. Tim started the season labouring a little around the course, but he seems to be running in to form now. Anthony has now turned up to set thing to rights. Hard to pick this contest, Tim was overheard mumbling something about just enjoying participating and not get too worked up about the contest, well with an attitude like that the insider is going to have to back Anthony.

Who is the insider backing for 10th? Richard Lauder? Chris Schulz? Gordon Millward? Ian Jessop? Andrew Wisniewski? Pete Fallows? Hard to pick, but the insider is going to dare to pick an outsider, Jessop from Garingal looks like a determined improver. He has mastered the ability to look like he is going to expire at the finish line, a much respected behaviour in this commentators eyes.

So with 6 events to survey the form, the Insider is going to dare to pick the top 10 in order this year...

1. Glenn Horrocks
2. Tim Rogers
3. Peter Annetts
4. Michael Free
5. Shane Henry
6. Malcolm Bradley
7. Graeme Mcleod
8. Anthony Peterson
9. Tim Peterson
10. Ian Jessop

Let time be the judge of the quality of the punditry.

Previous News