HOT STUFF: Van Raaphorst wins Surf 'T' Surf

10 Jan, 2011 04:00 AM

His car might have overheated on the way to Warrnambool yesterday morning but Ballarat’s Nic Van Raaphorst stayed cool in the 10-kilometre Surf ‘T’ Surf fun run. The 26-year-old proved he was better without four wheels when he powered through the course to collect line honours. Showing no sign of fatigue, the nimble baker looked ready to do another lap. Van Raaphorst joined a record number of competitors at the 30th annual event, which supported local campaign Peter’s Project. A total of 1315 competitors — up from last year’s 843 — paced the streets to help make the journey to medical treatment Rshorter for cancer patients. But Van Raaphorst’s attempt at the feature distance was almost dashed when his transport started to falter less than half way into the trip from Ballarat. “We left at 5am in the morning but we had a bit of car trouble,” he told The Standard after the race. “It kept overheating.”

The driver of the car was the eventual winner of the 6-kilometre walk, Andrew Blood.

With two other passengers on board, the vehicle limped to Mortlake before the Ballarat Young Christian Workers (YCW) members called for help.

“Our friends who were already staying in Warrnambool picked us up in Mortlake and we got to Lake Pertobe at 7.30am,” Van Raaphorst said.

The eventual winner was greeted by a swarm of runners and walkers ready to tackle the course.

As Van Raaphorst was one of the last to register, he ran without a time chip.

Organisers had only catered for 1000 of the new devices.

But Van Raaphorst’s reliable wristwatch recorded his time of 32 minutes and 40 seconds when he crossed the finish line.

“It’s the quickest I’ve ran on this course but a minute off my best,” he said.

Yesterday was Van Raaphorst’s seventh appearance at the Surf ‘T’ Surf.

“Every time I just kept coming second or third so I’ve been doing a fun run at Lorne for the past three years,” said.

“But I didn’t win there either so I thought I’d come back to Warrnambool this year — and it paid off.”

After battling “40 degree” heat on many of his attempts, Van Raaphorst welcomed the cooler conditions and early start time.

But he still said the race was “pretty tough”.

“I had no real plan, I just did my own thing,” Van Raaphorst said.

“Coming up the hill (Pertobe Road) I was leading and I just stayed there. I didn’t look behind me.”

Van Raaphorst, who averages 130km a week, completed his first marathon at Melbourne in October with a time of 2.29:46.

His next assignment is at the Victorian Country Track and Field Championships in Ballarat later this month.

Then he will turn his attention to the Gold Coast Marathon in July.

Fellow YCW runners Ben Fahy (34.37) and Jason Dalton (34.39) were second and third respectively.

After battling “40 degree” heat on many of his attempts, Van Raaphorst welcomed the cooler conditions and early start time.

But he still said the race was “pretty tough”.

“I had no real plan, I just did my own thing,” Van Raaphorst said.

“Coming up the hill (Pertobe Road) I was leading and I just stayed there. I didn’t look behind me.”

Van Raaphorst, who averages 130km a week, completed his first marathon at Melbourne in October with a time of 2.29:46.

His next assignment is at the Victorian Country Track and Field Championships in Ballarat later this month.

Then he will turn his attention to the Gold Coast Marathon in July.

Fellow YCW runners Ben Fahy (34.37) and Jason Dalton (34.39) were second and third respectively.

Hard work pays off for Ella

10 Jan, 2011 04:00 AM

Warrnambool runner Ella Gill smashed her personal best and collected the Judy McDowall Memorial award on the way in yesterday’s Surf ‘T’ Surf 10-kilometre run. The 22-year-old was the first female across the line in the feature field, with a time of 38 minutes and 23 seconds. “I’m rapt with that time,” the elated Gill told The Standard after the race. “I wanted to break 40 minutes and I did.” Gill had only contested two Surf ‘T’ Surfs “in (high school) years seven and eight” prior to yesterday’s event. But after months of training with triathlete boyfriend Kris McCartney, Gill was more than prepared for the distance. “I was leading until about the 7km mark when I could see another girl was catching me,” she said. Gill stayed with the leading bunch of men in the opening stages of the course, which followed Pertobe Road to Liebig Street before sweeping east along Lava Street. She said a demoralising wind blasted competitors for almost half of the race.

“All of the hills were really hard and we had the headwind for the whole way until Hickford Parade,” Gill said.

“But we had a tailwind on the way back, which was handy.”

Gill said she monitored her pace by using a male competitor as a guide.

“I tried to stay the same distance behind a guy in front of me,” she said.

With little more than a kilometre to go, Gill moved up a gear.

But it was not enough to shrug off Warrnambool’s Kristy McLaren.

“I stuck with her until Pins ‘N’ Play (before) I took off down the hill,” Gill said.

“Having the other girl there really helped me, so thanks to her.”

Gill said she found a second burst of energy when she considered how close she was to victory.

“I just sprinted,” she said.

“I thought ‘I’ve come all this way, I can’t lose it in the last kilometre’.”

After crossing the line, Gill went straight to her phone.

But it wasn’t just to pass her exciting news on to her boyfriend.

At the same time Gill was striding around Warrnambool, McCartney was competing in the third round of the 2010- 11 Gatorade Triathlon Series at Sandringham.

It turned out they both posted wins in their individual disciplines yesterday.

Gill said she wasn’t sure whether she would return to defend her title.

“I’ll try,” she said.

“But I want to watch Kris in his races as well.”

Warrnambool’s McLaren (38.31) and Alison Wilson (40.40) were second and third respectively.

Stories supplied by the Warnambool Standard.

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