James Murphy
THE 2023 Tower Trail Run was met by wet and windy conditions on Sunday in the Blue Lake City.
Mount Gambier’s scenic Centenary Tower and the surrounding Crater Lakes trails were on show for the 215-strong field of runners, who competed across four distances throughout the morning.
The feature event was the 56km, which was also part of the five-event SA State Series.
The gruelling distance had 49 entrants and was bested by Adelaide’s Shaun O’Callaghan, who completed the run in 4:46:01.60 to win the event by just over 13 minutes.
Brighton’s Leif Christensen finished second, while another Adelaide runner in Nigel Maycock rounded out the podium.
Sarah Melville from Panorama was the quickest female, completing the course in 5:49:15.54 ahead of Bek Gratton and Sahra Daniels.
From a Limestone Coast perspective, Mount Gambier’s Brett Kennedy was the fastest on the day, with an overal 12th place finish putting him in the top 10 of the men’s category.
The 21km was another popular event, with 45 runners entered.
Local runner Owen Williams from Koorine topped the field with a quick time of 1:28:40.43, followed by Royston Park’s Nick Muxlow and Mount Barker’s Brett Merchant.
Mount Gambier’s Stuart Pratt and Kirk Smith managed top-10 finishes, while Mount Gambier’s Tarsh McCallum crossed the line 11th overall to be the second-fastest female.
Another local runner won the 10km as Mount Gambier youngster Josh Cameron claimed the line honours over the large field of 79 in a time of 48:52.26.
Next to finish was Kybybolite’s Justin Hurrell two minutes behind, while Adelaide’s Damien Fidge rounded out the podium.
Glencoe’s Kathryn Auld finished fourth overall to be the quickest female.
Another Mount Gambier runner finished second for the women, with Gemma Ralph securing the runner-up medal from Victorian Lisa Johnson in third.
Mount Gambier’s Warren Munro finished sixth overall and Penola runner Jake Rowe finished 12th to sneak into the men’s top 10.
The final distance was the 5km, which was dominated by South East competitors.
Youngster Peter Izzard won the event with a time of 30:01.85 from fellow Mount Gambier runners Andrew Crouch and Luke Scott.
Flynn and Ryan Turner were next across the line, followed by Dale Robertson, all from Mount Gambier.
Naracoorte’s Carolyn Rossgregor finished seventh overall to claim the women’s win over Coleraine’s Tara Baker and Mount Gambier’s Bronwyn McCallum, while Penola’s Madeleine McGregor finished a close fourth for the women.
