Increasing temperatures are beginning to take their toll in the Christmas 5-Days as competitors begin to wilt. Despite the heat, the cream of the elite classes maintained their dominance and today provided some truly classy performances. In the Elite Women, Grace Elson kept her place at the top of the leaders board. The course was made for fast running, and Grace showed that she has the speed necessary to do well in Denmark next August. Tracy Bluett (pictured, right) did her best to keep Grace honest, finishing a short time behind but there was a larger gap back to Anna Sheldon in third. New Senior Squad inductee (still a junior) Jasmine Neve was fourth, with Sophie Barker rounding out the top five.

The men’s race saw a blistering run by Grant Bluett who won by a clear 2 minutes in under 5 min per km pace. The run is a reminder to the rest of the Australian men that there is some work to be done to truly replace Grant’s international status. Switzerland’s David Schneider took second place, only seconds ahead of Eric Morris in what is building as a great battle between the two. David Brickhill-Jones’ British skin is obviously struggling with the Aussie heat but he still managed fourth. Despite a massive training day the previous day, Robbie Preston rounded out the top five.

Results

Results with splits (lost)

Ben Rattray