Just wanted you guys to know how much we appreciate you collecting shoes for us.

The shoes that we have received from you are all going towards the appeal from the Midnight Basketball Program in Alice Springs www.midnightbasketball.org.au
This is what their co-ordinator Paul Murray has to say:
Midnight Basketball a national program providing positive activities for at risk youth launched in Alice Springs last weekend. Every Saturday night for the next seven weeks we will engage sixty youths from Alice Springs and surrounding town camps. Our main dilemma is that the majority of youths that wish to participate in this great program cannot due to not having shoes. We urgently need fifty pairs of shoes so that we can consistently engage these young men and women. The Midnight Basketball program runs from 7pm to midnight every Saturday, we provide a hot nutritious meal then they attend compulsory life skills workshops that create work ready positive community contributors. The participants play three games of basketball before we drop them home at the end of the night.
It doesn’t get much better than this so a big thank you to all your supporters.

Viv Kartsounis
www.shoesforplanetearth.com

A cool, clear morning at Sydney Olympic Park was the scene of this year’s Sydney: 10, the NSW Road Championships held on a Sunday for the first time but over the same course as previous years, which claims to be Sydney’s fastest certified 10k course.
Males and females compete the Sydney: 10 together and this year 13 AE members took to the start line. First to finish was Chamkaur Dhaliwal, 4th in his age group, in under 34 minutes (33:57). A smattering of Personal Bests (PBs) then ensued, firstly from Vincent Donnadieu increasing to the 10k distance in an impressive 35:29. In the 37 minute range were Campbell Dawson (2nd in his age group in a time of 37:13 PB and newcomer Josh Thompson (37:33 PB) followed by Martin Cosby in 38:30 (hey Martin did you know that would have put you 3rd in your age group if you were running as a registered ANSW athlete?) then Darren Free rounding off the males in a 44:05 PB.
The AE women were led by Lisa Biffin, running her first race for the club and achieving the only female time under 40 minutes (39:16). The next three females gained new PBs in the low 40s: Jane Boyd (2nd in her age group in a time of 41:02); Naomi Tancred (41:28); Jude Gregory (42:15) with Jude also third in her age group, gaining her a bronze medal! With Gillian Sohun following in 42:38 and 4th in her age group. The over 35 years ladies picked up a silver medal in the team competition. Julia Tyne and Rona Macniven also ran useful training efforts with Julia backing up from a good time at the Nike She Runs the Night event only three days before and Rona deciding to finish at 5k (19:42) with a troubling hamstring. Another achievement was Lisa Howard’s PB of 24:49 in the 5km fun run.
All in all a very good day’s work for team AE – The female over 35 team finished 2nd by 1 point! And we had 9 PB’s from 14 performances – outstanding results

The next event of the Athletics NSW winter series is the State Cross Country Relays on Saturday 4th June. Until then, we should see lots of AE athletes stepping up a gear in their winter training and perhaps completing in races such as the Mother’s Day Run and the Sydney Morning Herald Half Marathon. Over the winter, we can also aim for success at other 10k events, particularly the similarly flat Gold Coast race at the start of July which a number of athletes have on their race agenda.

Scarborough Park is a convenient location to many AE members and a pleasant environment for cross country with flat, grassy terrain. Change was in the air this year with the women’s race increased from 4k to 7k. The men’s remained 10k and the annual invitational 10k, 4k and 2k added a suite of races for many competitors.

The novice cross country is defined as a race for those who have not placed in an Athletics NSW event 800m and upwards meaning some big names missing in comparison to other ANSW cross countries but calibre is always there at the front of the pack with emerging and upcoming athletes making their mark.

Athletics Easts’ ladies were plentiful in numbers this year and made a strong impression on the women’s race, as was summed up well by Athletics NSW:
“One of the most impressive performances was the club effort by Athletics East who had eight in the top-21. Not surprising they won the team event with 20 points, but their B team was also on the dias winning the silver medal with 43 points, ahead of Sutherland on 47 points.” Athletics NSW website report, 30/04/12

The ‘A” team consisted of Nancy Newsome (6th in 27:05), Emily McKenzie (7th in 27:25), Rona Macniven (14th in 28:33) and Naomi Tancred (15th in 28:36). Just a couple of seconds later the ‘B’ team came through led by Jane Boyd (16th in 28:38), Jude Gregory (18th in 29:38), Gillian Sohun (19th; 29:56) and Sian Jones (21; 30:47).

Julian (Canada) Cooper ran 14:37 and Ken Wilson 16:42 in the 4k event earlier in the day. In the men’s championship race, Chamkaur Dhaliwal and Pete Sweeny returned to the grass placing 16th and 28th respectively in 34:40 and 36:22. No doubt they both enjoyed the softer surface but will also be chasing faster times at the next event on the calendar, the popular Sydney: 10 where we can expect a large contingent of Athletics Easts members testing their fitness in this flat road race. Look out for the results and report next week!

Check out Photos of the Novice Champs here
And full results and current point score info here

Rona

Quick reminder….. it’s the Sydney:10 this Sunday (May 6th). It claims to be “Sydney’s fastest certified 10km road course”, so lets get out there and put it to the test!

Full details including entry info here http://www.sydney10.com.au/

Novice 2012Winter Pointscore 2012