Monday 7 December 2009, UQ track St Lucia. Registrations open at 5:10pm.

The annual Ashgrove Rangers Club Championships are open to all comers. However, only registered Ashgrove Rangers can qualify for club awards[1].

Registration fee is $5 pp and allows you to compete in as many events as you like. A light dinner is served of ham, eggs, salads and bread rolls at the cost of $5pp

Registrations are taken and food is served in the Ashgrove Rangers tent on the oval inside the track. Please take a picnic blanket to view the different events from the grass oval.

Program of events
5-30 pm Shot Put (W&M)
6-00 pm 1500 metres (W&M)
6-15 pm Long Jump (W&M)
6-50 pm 100 metres (W&M)
7-15 pm 800 metres (W&M)
7-35 pm 200 metres (W&M)
7-55 pm 3000 metres (W&M)
8-15 pm 400 metres (W&M)
8-30 pm 4 x 100 metres (mixed all comers)

If you are not a member yet, you may become a member on the night ($45 out of stadia, $35 dual membership and $80 for full membership)

By Russell Adams

My first experience with the Endeavour Foundation 500km Summer Challenge was in 1999 when I was lucky enough to run with the “Bushrangers” team. This team consisted of runners who were far quicker than I was, so I was limited to the minimum number of runs allowed per runner. I was currently averaging 4:30min/km in my races but during the event this suddenly decreased to 4:15min/km. due to the “can’t let the team down” attitude.

Having experienced 3 days of the most incredible racing and experience of a lifetime I thought that I should share this experience with other members of Ashgrove Rangers Athletics Club who were quite young and not yet at the level expected of the top “Bushrangers” team. So in August 2000 I formed a second “Bushrangers” team consisting of the younger athletes and supplemented by friends and work mates with a mixture of recreational runners and ex-footballers. As there were now two “Bushrangers” teams, my team was given the name of “Russell’s Bushies” to differentiate between the two. We came seventh out of fourteen teams and you would have thought we came first as everyone cheered so loudly when we found out where we had come.

I have now been team manager of “Russell’s Bushies” for 8 years and have found it a most rewarding experience. Young athletes have matured and I have seen them grow and develop over the years. The composition of the team has changed and is mainly young athletes now with only a few older runners. Just watching them as the 500 approaches is a real experience. They get extremely excited and talk of nothing else. What I have done is set up the framework for them to have fun and compete within an excellent team environment. I emphasise participation and team members are encouraged to compete to the best of their ability. I don’t care what pace they run at as long as they are prepared to give their best. I don’t deliberately try to recruit faster runners and team composition only changes due to unavailability of current members (which does occur each year).

So what is the 500 all about? All teams are competing and doing their best. The top teams are obviously competing to win, but all teams are there to enjoy their running in one of the greatest events of the running calendar. Looking around over the 3 days you see runners of all ages and abilities but the common denominator is that we all like to compete and run. The event is also a learning experience. You learn a lot about yourself and your interaction within a team. You suddenly find your performance increases as the “team” spirit invades you. Over the years I have seen incredible performances from people who were not prepared to give in and fought hard and tough to the very end.

I would recommend the 500 to any runner who wants to experience one of the most incredible running events of their life.

By Alastair Wallace

In late October, Andrew and Graham Barralet, Hubertien Wichers and Alastair Wallace participated in the Lamington Classic, an annual run in the Lamington National Park in Queensland.

The two-day run is the oldest trail race in Australia and this year marked the 40th anniversary.

Andrew, Graham, Hubertien, and Alastair set out with 61 others, along the track which winds down from O’Reilly’s to the QLD/NSW border and back up to Binna Burra.

‘On day one you run up hill and down dale for 22km. You camp out at Binna Burra overnight then turn around and go back the next day,’

‘Binna Burra is 100m lower then the starting point, and there are a lot of hills and valleys between them. The scenery is fantastic as it’s the largest remaining stand of sub-tropical rainforest left in the world, although it is safe to say that none of us saw much of it. We were too busy looking for exposed tree roots and rocks as well as snakes and cobwebs.’

‘Saturday saw many icepacks produced to ease swelling of twisted ankles among competitors who stumbled on one of the hazards,’

Andrew came in second on day 1. Graham came in fifth overall, missing out on third spot by a mere 48 seconds!

Alastair’s summation was more pragmatic. ‘In many ways, the fact of finishing the two days was a worthy achievement in itself’.

Congratulations to members who competed in the 10 000m which was held at the University Qld on Saturday 17th October.

Darryl Crook u23years 31.42mins

Paul Tierney 35.02.18

Brooke Condon 39.21.44

Well done to all competitors!

Hi everyone
Is there anyone out there who has a lockable 4 drawer filing cabinet in which we can store club uniforms? If so, please contact Hubertien on 0404 922 577!