The 2009 Cadbury Marathon titles will head interstate

The 2009 Cadbury Marathon titles will head interstate, along with excess baggage of
chocolate.
Sydney’s David Criniti and Canberra’s Liz Bennett were the title winners over the
42.195kms.
Criniti’s time of 2 hours 29 minutes 55 seconds was the fastest since 2000 and a great start
to the year for the ultra running dynamo. His form had been strong, with a second placing at
the Canberra Marathon and fifth at the Melbourne Marathon in 2008.
The Parramatta athlete was the one to beat heading into the race and was kept company by
Darren Moyle of Sydney early on, before opening up an ever increasing lead on his way to
victory.
“It was a fantastic way to kick off 2009 and it’s exciting to be in that good of form and
hopefully in 2010 I can beat the legendary Colin Oliver’s course record a shake,” he said.
That record of 2:23.59 set in 1995, plus the course record bonus are clearly in sight for
Criniti now.
Locals were struggling to remember a day that brought good weather in recent times, but the
sunny 22 degree day was just what the marathon gods asked for. “It was perfect out there,
especially with the 6am start, it was nice and cool which was ideal for the marathon. It was
great to have the half guys out there which made for some great atmosphere on the course
and running along the coastline was quite scenic.”
The last time Liz Bennett ran Cadbury was in 2007, when she was second to the incredible
Hanny Allston, prior to that, she was a winner in 2004. Her time of 3:16.14 this year was
faster than her winning effort of five years ago and will provide the confidence she needs as
her next challenge will be ultra marathon runs in 2009.
The race for the minor placing’s in the men’s marathon turned into the battle for the
Tasmanian Championship, between defending champion Jarrod Shaw and former Athletics
Tasmania staffer Daniel Smee.
The pair are regular training partners and only 4 seconds separated them at the finish, with
Smee gaining the upper hand at the top of the hill coming into the Cadbury Estate, to bolt to
the finish and claim second overall.
In 1984, Robyn Wallace won the Cadbury Marathon and she returned to Cadbury 25 years
later, to take second place, some 16 minutes faster than she did back in the 80’s. Wallace
had been living in Queensland recently, having only just moved back to her former state,
where she is now the state champion. Jess Baker of New South Wales was third only 7
seconds behind Wallace.
352 brave souls lined up in the Cadbury Half Marathon, which was a record field in the 26
year history of the event. The men’s race saw a large pack of runners together for the first
8kms of the race, as they made their way around Cadbury Estate and up 10 Mile Hill in
Austins Ferry.
At the halfway mark, Launceston’s David Thomas poured on the pressure to put a gap on
the rest of the field and was clearly in front as he reached the 14.5 kilometre turn at the
Derwent Entertainment Centre. It was all smooth sailing from there, as he powered home to
win in 1 hour 10min 59 seconds ahead of local athletes Jason Allie and Damon Court.
The women’s half marathon was dominated by defending champion Angela Grimmond of
Hobart. In 2008, the Tasmanian Distance Runner of the Year series leader made her debut
at the distance, to take out her first major fun run. Yesterday’s time of 1 hour 23 minutes 11
seconds was some 8min faster than her effort 12 months ago, and added to her impressive
string of victories in recent times. Christie Harris from Hobart was second, ahead of Julia
Davies who took third.
Both the Cadbury Marathon and Cadbury Half Marathon were point scoring events in the
Tasmanian Distance Runner of the Year series, which will conclude in March with the
Tasmanian 5,000m track championships. A full point score will be released later in the
week.
Keeping in the fun spirit of the event, organisers put on the Freddo 5km and Caramello
1.25km events for those not quite up to running as far.
Pat Smith and Kylie Risk won themselves some nice prizes from Brooks and Cadbury in
taking out the Freddo 5km. Four laps of the Cadbury Estate was a great way to see
Tasmania’s second most visited tourist attraction, with participants handed a Cadbury
chocolate at the finish, by Freddo Frog himself.
The Caramello 1.25km was a one lap race of the Cadbury Estate for little kids who were high
fived by Caramello Koala at the finish. All money raised for that event were donated to the
Clown Doctors charity.
For more information, visit www.cadburymarathon.com.au or contact Richard Welsh on 0409
820 248.
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