Last Sunday NSW proved to be the champion overall State at the Australian Long Distance Championships, winning the OA Shield with 68 points from ACT 54 pts, Victoria 42, Tasmania 32, Queensland 16, South Australia 14 and Western Australia 11.

The ACT goes into this Sunday’s Australian Relays as favourites in both the senior men’s and women’s after winning the teams in the  Australian Long Distance Championships. The winning ACT men’s team comprised Matt Crane, Rob Walter and David Shepherd, with a combined time of 277min 10secs. Victoria was runner up with 302:08, NSW 3rd with 303:08 and QLD 4th with 382:49. 

The winning ACT women’s team consisted of Lizzie Ingham, Jo Allison and Allison Jones, with a time of 246:11. Tasmania was a very close 2nd with 247:21 and Victoria 3rd with 256:44, setting the scene for a torrid competition between the 3 States in Sunday’s Relay. Queensland was 4th with 291:06 and NSW 5th with 320:58.