Running Links
T u r r a m u r r a
The first Trotters to travel overseas went to the New Your Marathon in 1984.
Ten years later in 1994, the Turramurra Trotters group went to San Francisco to compete in the "Bay to Breakers" dates, names to come
In 1999, the Turramurra Trotters group went to Budapest to compete in Budapest Marathon and half marathon, dates, names to come
In 2004, the Turramurra Trotters group went to Tromso, Norway to compete in the "Midnight Sun, Marathon and half Marathon. Actually no marathons were run by TT ers, dates, names to come
Alan Cole and the late Bruce Magnusson ran the New York Marathon in 1984.
To celebrate 20 years of trotting in 1994, 18 creatures dressed in spearmint green and white flew off to San Francisco to take part in the famous Bay to Breakers run. “Managed” by Alan Cole, the highly colourful group (not only because of the bright tracksuits) caught the Qantas staff by surprise, but was allowed to board the plane. From LA, they bussed it up the coast to San Simeon, the Big Sur and San Francisco .
The Turramurra Trotters were celebrities even before the race. Australia fielded the biggest overseas contingent, and the TT was the largest group from Oz.
Everybody participated in the race on Sunday, except a couple who went on ahead to make a TT camp at the Polo Field. Ismael Kirui from Kenya won the race. He beat, by a nose, his colleague Josephat Machuka in 34:03. Kirui had won the 1993 race in a race-record time of 33:42. The fastest woman was Tecla Lorupe, also from Kenya , who finished 42nd in 39:10. Australia ’s own Carolyn Schuwalow was the fifth fastest woman finishing 77th in 41:22.
The TT finishers in the first 10,000 were:
After the race, Ian Holmes was picked out to be interviewed by the radio station covering the event and this got more coverage for the Trotters. Still no autographs! As the group met the locals, the major conversation was “Where’s Tooroomoora!” The group decided to print Australia on their next set of international gear. That night they held a celebratory dinner and reminisced about the race and the previous 20 years, prompted by video footage and photos supplied by Peter Welch. There was unanimous support for doing something like this again for the 25-year anniversary, and would you believe it, they did.
To celebrate 25 years of Trotting, 15 TTs set out to “compete” in the 14th Nike Budapest Half Marathon in Hungary in September 1999. This time the group had more colourful tracksuits than for the San Francisco journey, the large red waratah emblem inviting questions as to which horticultural club they belonged. To ensure fitness, the group undertook pre-run training in Vienna and Prague, dashing between churches, museums, bars and restaurants.
They couldn’t have asked for a better day for the run. Starting and finishing in a park behind Heroes’ Square, it was a scenic course along both banks of the Danube River and across Margaret Island.
Morikawa Takaki from Japan won the race in 1:03:28. Turramurra’s star runner was Rhodes Scholar, Evan Fountain, who came in from Oxford to catch up with his parents, Dennis and Deirdre and rejoin the Trotters for the weekend. Evan finished 107th in a time of 1:20:30. Our other male finishers were Ian Holmes (566th) 1:33:56; Bob Heiler (980th) 1:40:00; Ian Huthnance (1550th) 1:48:15; Brian Hewson (2212th) 1:59:02; and Richard Bamann (2701st) 2:23:08.
Our female finishers were Pam Gaudry who took a short cut and recorded a brilliant 1:39:06 crossing the line. Lena Bamann, who did complete the course, clocked 2:23:07.
Alan Cole, Ellen Huthnance and Sas Douglas ran and walked the “race” finishing in just under 3:15:00. (They couldn’t get their final times as the timers had packed up before they sprinted across the line!).
A farewell dinner that night eased the aches and pains before the group split up for different destinations homeward bound
In 2004, the Turramurra Trotters group went to Tromso, Norway to compete in the "Midnight Sun, Marathon and half Marathon.
As part of the 30th year celebration for the Turramurra Trotters, a group of 18 TT traveled to Scandinavia to participate in the events associated with the Midnight Sun Marathon in Tromso, Norway on the 19th June 2004. The group visited Copenhagen and Stockholm before flying north to Tromso. Tromso, 500k above the Arctic Circle, hosts the most northern running competition in the world. During June there are 24-hours of daylight, and the temperature averages about 10C. To capitalise on the “midnight-sun”, the events are held in the evening, with many of the competitors finishing after midnight in bright daylight. The course is most scenic snow-capped mountains surrounding the sea. Fortunately, there was little wind and the conditions were pleasant once competitors had warmed up. The events comprised a marathon (232 finishers); half-marathon (206 finishers); 10k run (379 finishers), a mini-marathon (of 4.2k with about 500 competitors in fancy dress) and up to 500 kids, who took part in a special short race. While the fields comprised mainly Norwegian competitors, the organisers claimed 30 nations were represented. All but one in the TT group participated in either the half-marathon or the 10k run. Knut Aalien of Norway won the men's marathon in 2:27:48. Sharon Broadwell, also from Norway, won the women's marathon, in 2:59:55. Morten Skarsland of Norway won the half-marathon in 1:09:00. The fastest woman was Manuela Kramer of Germany with a time of 1:30:57. Five of the Turramurra Trotters ran the half-marathon. Participants and times were: Bob Heiler 1:43:01 First in age group Mike Kaars 1:53:16 Brian Hewson 2:02:43 Richard Bamaan 2:07:13 Ivy Tang 2.16.33 Frode Estil of Norway won the men's 10k in 32:18. The fastest woman was Maria Nyseth-Gronvoll, also of Norway, with a time of 40:15. Twelve of the Turramurra Trotters ran or walked this race. Participants were: Ian Holmes 0:50:06 Margaret Marshall 0:51:04 First in age group John Marshall 0:51:10 Alan Cole 0:58:22 Leena Bamaan 1:07:13 Second in age group Tim Macoun 1:15:01 Denise Macoun 1:24:40 Deirdre Fountain 1:29:59 Denis Fountain 1:30:00 Sas Douglas 1:54:21 Julia Kaars 1:54:23 Bruce Magnusson 1:54:25 Congratulations to Bob, Margaret and Leena for their success. They did us proud! Following the run, the group boarded MV Polarlyset for a 2-day cruise through the Norwegian fjords to Trondheim, then by train to Oslo. The group then dispersed - some to go home, others to continue travelling. Social highlights from the trip were provided by unaccompanied travelers, Bruce Magnusson and Ian Holmes, for their disco-dancing aerobics before the race; Sas Douglas for his beer tasting expertise; and Bob Heiler for the record number of return visits to the food buffet.
