Prior to the start our Run Director for the day, Jane Harding, presented a 50th milestone award to Jodi Oakman. Jodi has been running with us since July 2016, has volunteered once this year, clocked up seven personal bests (PB), reduced her time by 3 minutes and has been the first female finisher 14 times. Congratulations Jodi!

Ten PBs were recorded on the day: Igor Petrusev (by 29s); Levi Chaffey (5s); James Chaffey (61s); Tony Radford (2s); Dave Petrusma (13s); Anita Volkert (50s); Simon Duffin (83s); Bill Wiglesworth (42s); Seamus Curtain-Magee (51s); and Angus McLoughlan (25s).

Lauren Cockerell was the first female finisher (19:55), breaking the course record for 30-34 females by 17s in the process. Then followed Lauren Barker (22:52) and Jodi Oakman (24:01). Robin King recorded the highest female age-graded result at 75.68%. Our first junior female was Bessie Faircloth (34:25).

Andy Bos was the first male finisher (18:36) and also the highest age-graded male at 74.46%. Coming in second male was James Thai (19:56), then David Wilson (19:59). Note the four seconds between Lauren, James and David! Our first junior male was Levi Chaffey (23:13).

Congratulations to everyone who participated and a huge thankyou to our volunteers on the day: Jane Harding, Nicki Renfrey, Jamie Constable, Mike Constable, Simon Gearing, Paul Gilders and John Willis.

2015
Angela Mitten - June
Shane Renfrey - July
Craig Marshall - August
Dianne Cox - September
Chris Timewell - October
Maree Matheson - November
Glen Taylor - December

2016
Christine Barker - January
Prue Robertson - February
Gary Chapman - March
Gary Schurr - April
Joanne Kepsner - May
Brianna Brown - June
Richard Mayes - July
Tony Greaves – August
Lauren Barker – September
Julie Hough – October
Karina Taylor - November
Patricia Barrett - December

2017
Yvonne Welch – January
Tyrone Rice – February
Geoff, Donna, Henry, Daniel and Bessie Faircloth - March
Dave Petrusma - April
Robin Murdoch - May
Caroline Bellair - June
Steve Harris - July
Helen Curran - August
Donna Petrusma - September
George Targett - October
Mai Hill - November
Ronder Clayton - December

2018
Raewyn Rice - January
Luke Kneebone - February
Judy Hill - March
Andrew Bos - April
Warrick Clarke - May
Colin Moore - June
Travis Barnes - July
Nicki Renfrey - August
Vicki Kerin - September
Michael Constable - October
Tony Radford - November
Simon Gearing - December

As at 28 Jan 2019

JUNIORS 10 RUN CLUB
Zedekiah Marshall              Jack Maddern              Annabel Weiss
Madeleine Springate          Angus Mayes               Alex Welch
Joe Flexmore                     Henry Faircloth            Daniel Faircloth
Rosie Jarvis                       Tobiah Marshall           George Targett
Harper Kneebone              William Haslam            Luke Matheson
Bessie Faircloth                 Raphael Nelms            Jye Matheson
Sebastian Streat                Charlotte Streat           Sophie Mayes
Hamish McLoughlan          Tai Kerin

VOLUNTEERS 25 CLUB
Chris Timewell                   Ruth Anley                   Libby Mayes
Gary Schurr                       Ellissia Campbell          Karina Taylor
Dave Petrusma                  Richard Mayes             Tony Greaves
Ronda Clayton                   Nicki Renfrey

50 RUN CLUB
Shane Renfrey                   Dianne Cox                    Prue Robertson
Jason Hull                          Maree Matheson            Nicki Renfrey
Michael Constable              Raewyn Rice                 Karina Taylor
Richard Mayes                   Tony Greaves                 Lisa Minster
Christine Barker                 Angela Mitten                 Donna Petrusma
Gavin Vanstone                  Stephen Walls                Lisa Minchin
Glen Taylor                         Tyrone Rice                    Gabrielle Bertoni-Marshall
Patricia Barrett                   Nathan Rice                   Joanne Kepsner
Yvonne Welch                    Craig Marshall                Gary Chapman
Robin Murdoch                   Ellissia Campbell           Adam Scoles
Sheree Scoles                    Chris Timewell               Adelynne Chapman
Julie Hough                        Luke Kneebone              Kaitlyn Hough
Brianna Brown                   Steve Parsons                Jenni Thomson
Steve Harris                       Michael Farr                    Zedekiah Marshall
Henry Faircloth                   Lisa Kitson                     Ronder Clayton
Gary Schurr                       Anthony Nicholas           Dave Petrusma
Libby Mayes                      Lauren Barker                Carolyn Tavener
Jane Harding                     Ben James                     Bec Waddington
Lindsay Callaway               Lachlan Hough               George Targett
Peter Hill                            Paul Gilders                    Kerryn Healy
Lucy Phillips                       Lachlan Hough               Christine Christie
Tessa McClure                   Kim Pointon                    Karen Smith
Geoff Faircloth                    Angus Mayes                 Jodi Oakman

100 RUN CLUB
Shane Renfrey                  Michael Constable          Jason Hull
Prue Robertson                Raewyn Rice                   Angela Mitten
Lisa Minster                      Maree Matheson             Nicki Renfrey
Donna Petrusma              Dianne Cox                     Tyrone Rice
Stephen Walls                  Nathan Rice                    Christine Barker
Karina Taylor                    Lisa Minchin                    Tony Greaves
Glen Taylor                       Robin Murdoch               Richard Mayes
Patricia Barrett                 Chris Timewell                 Craig Marshall
Gary Chapman                 Gavin Vanstone

Eleven parkrunners completed the 5km course faster than they ever have before to achieve a personal best (PB). Congratulations to Tony Radford (by 4 seconds), Peter Hill and Debbie Harvey (both by 7s), Charles Warren (by 9s), Clovis Mpundu and Nick Allen (by 17s), Chris Mulholland (by 29s), Christopher Harvey (by 279s), Meg Berryman (by 302s) and Lou and Liz Citreon (both by 436s).

Sunbury visitor Anna Jacometti (24 min 37 sec) was the first female finisher, followed by Lucy Phillips (26:53) and Jessica Currie (26:55). Caroline Bellair (72.91%) had the highest female age-graded result.

Liam Quinn was the first male finisher (17:58), with Clovis Mpundu not far behind (18:17). Third finisher Beau Cook dipped below the 20 minute mark (19:49). Daniel Faircloth (21:02) was the first of nine junior male finishers. Friendly rivalry between Tony Radford and Peter Hill in the 70-74 age-category resulted in PBs for both, but also the highest male age-graded results (72.47% and 72.12% respectively). Tony’s time also lowered his course record for this age category by 4 seconds.

Parkrun stat of the week – Castlemaine parkrun is a destination for many parkrun tourists attempting to get their ‘pirate badge’. Prospective pirates need to visit 7 different parkruns starting with the letter C (‘travel the seven seas’) and one starting with the letter R (‘Aaarrrrr’).

Run director Jane Harding welcomed everyone and managed the event seamlessly. She was ably assisted on the day by volunteers David Harper, Donna Faircloth, Fiona Harris, Maree Phypers and Liam Quinn.

An impressive 15 parkrunners ran inspirationally to achieve personal bests for the 5km course this week, with congratulations to Peter Hill (by 5 seconds), Clovis Mpundu (by 14s), Rosemary Cordy (by 22s), Bessie Faircloth (by 27s), Michael Cole (by 31s), Phillipa Gray (by 39s), Ross Zeibari (by 51s), Tracey West (by 53s), Daniel Oberbillig (by 60s), Claire Nightingale (by 70s), Kate Radford (by 105s), Akira Hill and Clementine Nelms (by 121 sec), Meg Berryman (by 129s) and Gina Pederic (by 302s)

Ultra-runner Karina Taylor (23 min 16 sec) was the first female finisher. She was followed by Bendigo-visitor Sarah Lumsden (24:44) and local Kate Radford (26:09). Caroline Bellair (73.89%) had the highest female age-graded result. Bessie Faircloth (26:34) was the first junior female finisher.

It was a close finish in the males, with Clovis Mpundu (18:34) just ahead of Lachlan Norris (18:35). Junior parkrunner Daniel Faircloth (20:42) was third finisher, just ahead of another cluster of four male finishers in the next 10 seconds. Peter Hill had the highest male age-graded result (71.78%).

Fun fact of the week –‘Statesmen’ and ‘Stateswomen’ have completed all 71 Victoria parkrun event locations. Many adventurous people visiting Castlemaine parkrun do so in their pursuit of this unofficial status symbol. It is tricky to maintain your statesmanship, as new locations are being added regularly.

Prior to the commencement, run director Richard Mayes presented Nicki Renfrey with a certificate to acknowledge her 25-event volunteering milestone. Nicki has been an enthusiastic participant in parkrun since the first year, and was recently a weekly fixture as a volunteer while recovering from a foot injury.

Richard also announced that Simon Gearing was the Castlemaine parkrunner of the month for December 2018. Simon has been running consistently well for the past two months, often nudging his personal best (PB) time, and also volunteered. Simon also received a certificate, and both he and Nicki were cheered down the Tunnel of Love.

Eight parkrunners achieved PBs for the 5km course this week, with congratulations to James Dobson (by 21 seconds), Donna Faircloth (by 28s), Clovis Mpundu (by 38s), Michael Cole (by 60s), Lucy Mayes (by 62s), Pam Joseph (by 86s), Clementine Nelms (by 439 sec) and Chris Mulholland (by 15 min 59 secs!).

Karina Taylor (22 min 36 sec) was the first female finisher and also had the highest female age-graded result (72.42%). Second female finisher was junior parkrunner Megan Wilson (23:14), who was followed by the ever consistent Jodi Oakman (24:14).

For the third week in succession, Liam Quinn was the first male finisher (18:22). He was closely followed by first time ever parkrunner Lachlan Norris (18:25), and then Clovis Mpundu. Angus Mayes (20:15) was the first junior male finisher, and Tony Radford had the highest male age-graded result (72.12%).

Super-stat of the week - In total, parkrunners have now completed 65,005km at the Castlemaine course, and have achieved 1998 PBs along the way.

Junior tyro Tullie Rowe was first female finisher on New Years Day (21:38) and Liam Quinn was the first male over the line (19:19). This is the 9th time that Tullie has been first female finisher at Castlemaine from only 11 participations. Alysha Reading (28:37) set a new course record for the female 18-19 age category by 37 seconds. Jan Maling (52:21) set a new course record for the female 75-79 age category by 270 seconds.

The standard Saturday parkrun on 29 December had 66 participants. Most of the early finishers were visitors. Claire Brien (24 minutes 15 seconds) was the first female finisher, and junior parkrunner Jack Meade (18:11) was the first male finisher. David Meade clearly had the highest age-graded result at 79.69%.

The parkrun on Saturday 5th January had 84 participants, all of whom were appreciative that a cool change had dissipated the previous day’s temperature of 42 degrees. For the 60th time, Karina Taylor (22:43) was the first female finisher. Liam Quinn was the first male in an impressive sub-18 minute finishing time (17:58) – a feat which has only been achieved two other times in the past six months.

The home-parkrun locations of the visitors to Castlemaine parkrun over this period are too numerous to list individually. In summary, they’ve been from almost all parts of Australia (except the Northern Territory) and also from the UK. More than 1700 different people have now completed the Castlemaine course since its commencement in mid-2015.

Also too numerous to list are the large numbers of volunteers contributing to the smooth implementation of each event, and also the many personal bests (PBs) that have been achieved.

There have also been some noteworthy individual achievements. Geoff Faircloth, Karen Smith, Kym Pointon and Angus Mayes were all recognised for reaching their 50-run milestone. Craig Marshall also reached his 100-run milestone. Craig commenced his parkrun journey at Castlemaine event #1, and has since achieved two personal bests, has volunteered twice and was one of the first to be recognised as Castlemaine parkrunner of the month. Congratulations to all.

Chris Timewell was recognised for achieving his 100-run milestone. Chris has been an adventurer, with 25 of his runs undertaken at 22 locations other than Castlemaine. He has volunteered 68 times and achieved 8 PBs.

Despite the costumes, bubbles, water-pistols and festivities, eight parkrunners went on to achieve PBs for our 5km course. Congratulations to Paula Ewing (by 2 seconds), James Dobson (by 4s), Clovis Mpundu (by 11s), Alex Welch and Paul Martin (both by 14s), Lucy Phillips (by 28s), Penny Gauci (by 42s) and Peter Gauci (by 44s).

Inspired after undertaking a gruelling muddy 24km trail run last weekend, Lauren Barker (23 minutes 22 seconds) and Karina Taylor (22:38) were the first two female finishers. Karina also had the highest female age-graded result (69.25%). Jodi Oakman was not far behind as the third female finisher (24:08).

The first male finisher, Kyle Lierich (18:22), was also undertaking his first ever parkrun anywhere. Second male finisher was Andrew Bos (18:57). The third male finisher, Rupert Clemenger (19:06), was also undertaking his first parkrun ever. Rupert was the first junior male finisher and had the highest male age-graded result (74.26%).

On the upside, there are abundant opportunities to get involved with parkrun over the next two weeks. From 8am on the 22 December, will be an extravaganza at Castlemaine with dress-up morning in the theme of Summer-time. No doubt there will be many elves, Santas and reindeers in attendance as well.

For those looking for a Christmas Day parkrun fix, local events are being held at Bendigo (8am), Ballarat (8am) and Echuca Moama (8am). Castlemaine doesn’t have a run on 25 December, but will have its standard Saturday run on the 29 December.

Then, to round out the festivities, there will be a 2019 New’s Years Day special, which is where the keenest of parkrunners are able to do two consecutive events. Many participants from parkruns held earlier in Ballarat (7.30am) and Bendigo (8am) will converge in Castlemaine for a 9.30am start – to be joined by the locals. For the past two NYD double-headers, this special event has broken the Castlemaine attendance record. Maybe this time we will exceed 200! There will be a coffee van in attendance.

Tessa McClure received a certificate for her 50-run milestone, 48 of which were undertaken in Castlemaine. Since commencing, she’s achieved 14 personal bests (PBs) to reduce her time for the 5km course by more than 7 minutes, and has also volunteered twice.

Tony Radford was acknowledged as the November 2018 Castlemaine parkrunner of the month. During this month, he achieved two PBs, which were also the highest age-category results on their days and set new course records in the male 70-74 age group. He also volunteered once.

After Tessa and Tony were cheered down the Tunnel of Love, four parkrunners went on to achieve PBs. Congratulations to Levi Chaffey (by 41 seconds), Matthew Burgess (by 43s), Janis Bull and Josh Kent (both by 135s).

Karina Taylor was the first female finisher (23 minutes 07 seconds), and also had the highest female age-graded result (70.80%). She was followed by visitors Emlyn Burgess (23:23) and Hilary Hughes (24:27). Emlyn was also the first junior female finisher.

The first male finisher unfortunately didn’t have their barcode this week, so didn’t get a recorded time. Visitor Matthew Burgess (19:34) was close behind as the second finisher, and also had the highest male age-graded result (75.38%). Local Glen Taylor was the third male finisher (21:12), and Daniel Faircloth (21:42) was the first junior male finisher.