Attention all Masters’ quick sprint and sprint endurance athletes !
The first event of the Victorian Masters Athletics (VMA) summer season – ‘The Landy Trophy’ – is set down for Sunday November 15th 2026 from 10.30am to 1pm. This is some sort of event and one that is totally unique to VMA.
Nigel Shipley from Doncaster Masters couldn’t have put it any better when he said…”of all of the events that VMA puts on, ‘The Landy Trophy’ is the most fun!’
The Event
This iconic event, named in honour of Australian athletics legend John Landy, was founded by VMA stalwart Richard Trembath. It celebrates speed, endurance, and the enduring spirit of competition among masters’ athletes. It truly is an “event like no other”. The event is open to all registered Masters Athlete’s worldwide.
Competition Format
The Landy Trophy consists of three age-graded, handicapped races. So what is “age-grading”? Age-grading is where athletes are assigned distance handicaps based on their age. Refer to the information at the bottom of this email and the graphs that show the distances athletes run in each race (based on their age).
1. Qualifying 1 – 200m – Run in lanes, then @ 40 minute break;
2. Qualifying 2 – 1009m – ‘Pro-style’ (not in lanes), then @ 40 minute break;
3. Finals – 400m
· Main Final: Top 8 qualifiers based on combined placings in the 200m & 1009m Qualifying races. Run in lanes;
· Main Consolation Final: Run in lanes
· Other Consolation Finals: Pro-style (not in lanes).
…presentation of awards.
The Awards
Each year there is one major winner who then becomes VMA’s next “Landy Legend” and receives ‘The Landy Trophy’ (shown below). Their name also gets added to the honour board (currently in the ACT!).This is now an event that a person can only win once in their lifetime and that is one part of what makes this event unique. The 2025 winner was John Lamb ACTMA).
Otherwise, through the generosity of VMA & Rob Mayston’s company ‘Maychem Trading’, there are a number of other awards that athletes are competing for at this event, as follows:-
· the John Landy medal for the athlete with the best total time who beats John Landy’s mile PB time of 3m57.9s across the 200m/10009m/400m races (2025 winner Yvette Cordy – VMA);
· the Landy stalwart trophy for athletes who have a long history of competing in the Landy (2025 winner Helen Anderson VMA);
· the most improved athlete based on total time in 2026 vs their last competed total time (new in 2026);
· winners “take all” prize of 400m ‘main consolation final;
· “lucky loser” (random draw) of all other 400m finals.
Appendix: Age-graded distances run
