Herb Elliott Inaugural Twilight Meet
The Inaugural Herb Elliott Twilight Meet was held on Saturday January 29th at the aptly named, Herb Elliott Fields in picturesque Byron Bay. Events being contested over the evening were the Community and Elite 3000m, Shot Put and Herb Elliott 1500m for Male and Female competitors.
Community 3000m
Racing got underway at 5:45pm with the Community 3000m event which included runners from NSW and Qld with many whom had never raced on a track before. Local Resident Tim Wallar hit the lead from the gun and never looked back. After a year off on the sidelines and dabbling in triathlon, Tim ran a commanding race, winning in 11:07:57. Second in the Community event was Matthew Wood with his maiden run on the track. More comfortable racing multi day ultra-marathons, the 3000m tested the lungs and lactic with a finishing time of 12:22:91. Rounding out the podium for the men was Bailey Beaumont who was also making his track debut, taking home 3rd place at only 10 years of age (12:55:33).
The Women’s community event was taken out by local runner, Laura Donohoe, who ran a smart race letting the fast starting field go and paced her run perfectly to take the win in 12:29:22. Club President Caroline Bailey was quick off the starting blocks and had a back and forth battle with Annie Milne, with Caroline taking 2nd place (12:56:33) and Annie 3rd (13:00:03)
Elite 3000m - Women
The Elite women’s race had 4 high calibre runners comprising of past Australian representatives, National champions and World Junior Qualifiers. Fresh off a Bronze at the Australian 3000m Championships only days earlier, Aspen Anderson (Qld) set the pace early leading the ladies around the 7.5 laps. Team mate and training partner Indie Seccombe trailed in Aspen’s footsteps as the girls got out to a clear lead. A sprint finish over the last 100m saw Indie prevail to take the win in 10:33:86 to Aspen 10:34:67. Byron Bay’s Ruby Hughes was the third place getter for the elite women running 11:22:29.
Indie Seccombe and Aspen Anderson
Elite 3000m - Men
Previous Byron Bay Runner and the NSW U20 3000m Steeplechase State record holder, Bailey Crabtree was the man to beat in the elite men’s 3000m. Bailey showed his dominance early clearing out from the field from the gun. Looking effortless over the grass Bailey cruised to victory in 9:12:81. The battle for the minor places saw the return of Anthony Boyle, who after a 20 year hiatus from the sport has returned showing why he was a previous National champion. Woolgoolga’s Kyle McIntosh pushed Anthony over the 7.5 lap race, however Anthony proved too strong in the closing stages of the race running away with the silver in 9:28:12 to Kyle’s 9:36:13.
Shot Put
A small number of athletes competed in the first shot put event which was taken out convincingly by Byron Bay Runners athlete Daniel Frey (15.38m). In second place was Jason Crether who had his first throw in over 30 years as he makes a comeback to the sport in readiness for the Australian Masters (8.90m) and third was the younger member of the Crether family, Finn who threw 7.38m
Mikayla Frey was the sole female competitor throwing 8.11m proving she could mix it with the men.
Community 1500m
The community 1500m was a battle between siblings. Phoebe and Emily link sat behind Sienna Rooney for the first 800m of the race, with Phoebe making a decisive move to bridge a clear gap and take the win in 5:32:89. Silver and Bronze was decided by a lunge on the line with Emily Link beating training partner Sienna Rooney by .10 of a second, 5:47:39 to 5:47:49.
Elite Women 1500m
The elite Women’s 1500m was small but the talent was deep. Aspen Anderson (Gold Coast Run Co) went in as the favourite but was backing up from the 3000m an hour earlier. Three girls went to the front from the gun, Aspen, Jasmin Long (Gold Coast Run Co) and Piper Simpson (Randwick Botany Harriers) with the girls running in tandem for the majority of the race. Eventually Aspen kicked away with 200m to go to take the win in 4:48:84 with Jasmin and Piper fighting it out for the minor placings. Jasmin finished 1 second ahead to take the silver (4:51:04) from 13 year old talent Piper Simpson (4:52:84)
Elite Men 1500m
The race of the evening was the Herb Elliott Elite Men’s 1500m. Brock Waugh (Gold Coast Run Co) was a late entrant into the event and started as the clear favourite on paper, however the field refused to allow him to have the race all his own way. Anthony Boyle (Byron Bay Runners) took the race head on, leading the field with Kyle McIntosh (Woolgoolga Athletics) and Byron Bay’s young gun Daniel Williams closely following.
Daniel and Brock moved away from the field to battle it out for the win. 15 year old Daniel Williams fought gallantly but Waugh showed his class by breaking away over the last 300m to take the win in 4:18:12, Daniel Williams (4:24:12) for second and Anthony Boyle held off a fast finishing Josh Thompson (Byron Bay Runners) to claim the bronze (4:29:03).
The Inaugural winners of the Herb Elliott 1500m trophies were won by ANSW members Daniel Williams (Byron Bay Runners) and Piper Simpson (Randwick Botany Harriers). To be eligible for the trophy runners had to be affiliated with Athletics NSW
Byron Bay Runners would like to thank our sponsors that made the event happen: First National Byron Bay , The Bay Seafood Market and the donation of the 1500m perpetual trophy by Mr Herb Elliott, AC, MBE. Thanks to our MC for the evening Dean Degan, Repercussion for their music and entertainment and all the volunteers who gave up their time to support the event.
Event Photos thanks to Greg Meek here
Event Results
