Mild conditions greeted a good field of 25 walkers at Mentone for the VMA 5000m walk championships.

Pam Tindal (W55) led the women home in an excellent time of 26.42. In other highlights, Pam Mews (W80) was the oldest finisher and the closest contest was in the W50 division with Donna Elms 32.05 just holding out Carolyn Rosenbrook 32.11.

In the men’s, Stuart Kollmorgen (M45) continued his dominance with a good time of 24.16 closely followed by Mark Donahoo (M55) in 25.33.

Full results are available in the full version of this post. Unofficial individual splits and lap times are available on the VRWC Entries and Results web pages.

Auth: Simon Evans

[Extract from the VRWC Heel and Toe Newsletter – with thanks to Tim Erickson]

Conditions were excellent (cool and overcast), ideal for some quality racing.

The first events on the card were the Victorian Masters 5000m championships. As per common practice, the Age Graded percentages are included for each performance, to show their relative merit. The top performers were Ralph Bennett, Pam Tindal, Heather Carr, Bob Gardiner, Gwen Steed and Mark Donahoo, all with age graded percentages above 84.0%, while fastest overall went to Stuart Kollmorgen (24:16) and Pam Tindal (25:42). And a special mention to Clyde Riddoch who has come back so quickly from a full hip replacement earlier this summer – M60 30:41!

VMA 5000M CHAMPIONSHIPS – WOMEN AG%

1. Sandra Geisler W35 27:48 72.50%
1. Donna Elms W50 32:05 71.53%
2. Carolyn Rosenbrock W50 32:11 71.31%
3. Sandra Howorth W50 37:46 60.19%
1. Pam Tindal W55 26:42 87.68%
1. Alison Thompson W60 31:29 79.42%
1. Heather Carr W65 30:07 87.26%
1. Gwen Steed W70 34:20 84.63%
1. Margaret Beaumont W75 43:45 72.26%
1. Pam Mews W80 56:45 58.97%

VMA 5000M CHAMPIONSHIPS – MEN AG%

1. Rupert Van Dongen M40 34:22 55.03%
1. Stuart Kollmorgen M45 24:16 81.08%
Inv James Christmass M45 26:00 77.55%
2. David Smyth M45 28:28 69.12%
1. Simon Evans M50 26:48 79.18%
2. Bernie Keirl M50 27:59 73.90%
1. Mark Donahoo M55 25:33 84.54%
1. Clyde Riddoch M60 30:41 73.84%
2. John Graham M60 32:09 72.71%
1. Des Middleton M65 36:47 66.48%
1. Ralph Bennett M70 29:28 88.31%
–   Barrie Wicks M70 DQ
1. Bob Gardiner M75 32:17 86.44%
2. John Morrison M75 37:52 70.60%
–   Ian Beaumont M75 DQ