Olympians head to Adelaide for Australian Road Running Championships

The streets of Adelaide (SA) will welcome a quartet of Rio 2016 Olympians this Sunday 18 September, as the Sunday Mail City-Bay Fun Run plays host to the Australian Road Running Championships.

With entry lists confirming the start of Eloise Wellings (NSW), Madeline Hills (NSW), Liam Adams (Vic) and Brett Robinson (SA), the race over 12-kilometres headlines a big weekend of racing across the country as distance runners prepare to also compete at the Blackmores’ Sydney Running Festival and the Mitchell Street Mile in Darwin (NT).

Wellings will take to the start line after a stunning Olympic Games campaign that saw her place 9th in the women’s 5000m and 10th in the women’s 10,000m. Continuing to come to terms with such an impressive performance, Wellings hopes to cap of yet another strong year with victory at the national championship.

“I’m kind of processing how well the year has gone now that I am back. I was so happy with Rio. I felt like I executed everything well, my race plans, my preparation, the lot, really. I kept a level head and focused on the process. By getting it done each day, the work was complete when I lined up at the Games and I benefited from that preparation,” Wellings said.

“I’ve run this race three or four times now, and have won it the last couple of years. It would be great to do a fast time and close out my year on a high. There’s no reason that I can’t, I’m fit, have had a great season to now and am ready to have a good crack on Sunday.”

The challenge for Wellings will likely come from Hills, who has also been one of Australia’s best female athletes in 2016. Among the top-eight in the women’s 3000m steeplechase, the 28-year-old went on to place 10th in the women’s 5000m.

Entry lists also confirm the start of Gemma Maini (Vic), Tarli Bird (Vic), Bronwyn Humphries (Vic), Sophie Eckel (SA) and Casey Wood (SA) in the elite women’s race.

“I’m really looking forward to getting out there to race Mads (Hills) again, and the other girls, too. I welcome the competition and we’ll all be looking to have a great hit out,” Wellings added.

Taking to the start line for the men’s race, Adams and Robinson competed in the men’s marathon and men’s 5000m respectively at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

The best placed Australian male in the 42.195km event, Adams’ start at Rio 2016 marked his debut Olympic appearance and he handled the challenging wet conditions admirably. Robinson made the final of the men’s 5000m, crossing in 13:32.30.

Set to challenge the Olympic duo are Stewart McSweyn (Vic), Duer Yoa (Vic), Jack Rayner (Vic), Toby Rayner (Vic), Dylan Evans (Tas), Jack Colreavy (NSW), Paul Morgan (SA) and Jacob Cocks (SA).

Thousands of recreational runners will also descend on the Blackmores Sydney Running Festival and Mitchell Street Mile this weekend.

An event co-owned by Athletics Australia, the Blackmores Sydney Running Festival features a family fun run, half marathon and marathon for able-bodied and wheelchair athletes, while the elite race in Darwin (NT) features Ryan Gregson (Vic) and Genevieve LaCaze (Vic).

The national champion across 1500m, Gregson made the final of the event at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, while LaCaze has run an unbelievable 17 personal bests this year across 800m, 1500m, 3000m, 5000m and 3000m steeplechase.

For more information on the Sunday Mail City-Bay Fun Run, please click here.

For more information on the Blackmores Sydney Running Festival, please click here.

For more information on the Mitchell Street Mile, please click here.

Photo: Tricia Watkinson/The Advertiser