WEEKEND REVIEW | Rayner, Gregson, Robertson and Seccafien win Launceston Running Festival titles  

The Launceston Running Festival was met with near perfect conditions on Sunday morning, with Australia’s elite distance athletes swarming the event after a year light on domestic opportunities.

The C5 Pro-Solutions 10k featured genuine depth in both the men’s and women’s fields, with a long list of Olympic hopefuls beginning their 2021 preparations.

Jack Rayner (Nic Bideau) charged to the early lead in a move that was full of confidence, passing through the first kilometre in 2:37.

The 24-year-old showed no signs of the injury that kept him out of this year’s London Marathon - opening up a gap on the field which he would only extend as the race went on.

Behind Rayner was an enticing contest for the minor placings, with Jordan Williamsz (Nic Bideau),  and Liam Adams (Ken Hall) all still present at the business end of proceedings.

Rayner crossed the line in a time of 28:48 to take out the event, with Williamsz delivering a gutsy final kilometre to run 28:57 and finish in second place ahead of Liam Adams in 29:01.

Rayner’s coach at the Melbourne Track Club and Athletics Australia Event Group Lead - Middle Distance Nic Bideau said the performance was strong yet far from perfect.

“Jack got a bit carried away, he probably could have run 15 to 20 seconds faster if he hadn’t have run so fast at the start,” he said.

“It’s not really easy to find your rhythm when you haven’t raced properly for a year.”

“He dominated the race and never looked like being beaten.”

Bideau also sang the praises of Jordan Williamsz, with the traditional miler racing strongly over the 10km.

“At this stage of the year it shows his endurance base is good and gives him some hope of running 3:34 (in the 1500m) and forcing his way onto this Olympic team,” he said.

The women’s race was hotly contested, with the lead pack of five runners including Genevieve Gregson (Bideau), Rose Davies (Scott Westcott), Isobel Batt-Doyle (Riley Cocks), Tara Palm (PJ Bosch) and Sinead Diver (Bideau) proving to be the main contenders.

Into the closing stages of the race and the 20-year-old Davies threw down the challenge to Gregson when taking the lead and pushing the pace, but Gregson had all the answers.

The two-time Olympian crossed the finish line in 32:00 to record her fourth consecutive win in the 10km, with Davies rewarded with second placing for her bold move in a time of 32:02.

Batt-Doyle finished in third placing in a time of 32:10 to round out the podium, with Tara Palm (32:14) and Sinead Diver (32:16) also registering solid performances.

Bideau said Diver was valiant in defeat and that Gregson’s win places her nicely for 2021.

“Sinead Diver drove the pace most of the way and she was a bit unlucky,” he said.

“It was a big win for Gen, she’s never run that fast in life and to be able to hang on and keep up with Sinead and Izzi who are running really well and then finish strong is a good sign.”

The first instalment of the Think Big Half Marathon witnessed the fastest half marathons ever run on Tasmanian soil by both men and women.

As the men’s half marathon unfolded it became a race in three - with Brett Robinson (Nic Bideau),  Edward Goddard (Joe Pienta and Runcrew) and Thomas Do Canto (Gary Howard and Runcrew) clearing out with a commanding lead.

Three quickly became one through the 16-kilometre mark, as Robinson poured on the pressure and proved too slick for the field.

Robinson put over 30-seconds into Goddard and Do Canto over the final 5-kilometres, crossing the line in an impressive 61:38.

Bideau said the performance illustrated just how well the Australian record holder is tracking.

“When you know you’ve run under an hour before (in the half marathon) and you’ve won the race, it can be hard to find that reason to push really hard,” he said.

Do Canto and Goddard were locked in a battle of their own for the minors, with Do Canto eventually getting the better of the 23-year-old Goddard in times of 62:13 and 62:16 respectively.

The battle in the women’s half marathon was a match race between Jess Stenson (Adam Didyk) and Canadian Andrea Seccafien (Nic Bideau).

Seccafien prevailed with a strong run of 71:39 ahead of Stenson who stopped the clock in 72:27.

Whilst Seccafien is a Canadian native, she spends most of the year with the Melbourne Track Club – which Bideau says is great for Australian athletics.

“She’s an Olympic athlete, World Championship finalist and Canadian record holder in the half marathon so she’s a pretty good athlete,” he said.

“It’s good that we can get competition like that here in Australia because it’s very hard to find international competition at the moment.”

Katinka Von Elsner-Wellstee (Jackson Elliott) finished in third place, clocking 77:43.

AA Event Group Lead - Distance Adam Didyk says that whilst Stenson was beaten on the day, the event is merely a stepping stone to the marathon at next year’s Olympics.

“A return to racing at a national level is a positive and her result was promising but leaves a bit of work to do,” he said.

“Given the timing of when she needs to be ready for a marathon, we’re pretty comfortable with where she’s at right now.” 

By: Lachlan Moorhouse
Posted: 14/12/2020

Photo with thanks to Rob Shaw at the Launceston Examiner.