Jo Allison turned back the clock with a dominating win in the Australian Long Distance Championships at Chapel Flat on Saturday. Her elite career has stretched over two decades but rarely has she been so much on top of a field as she was today. The result was set up on the long leg, where various wide routes failed to pay off and her straight route saw her pull three and a half minutes out on the field on a single leg. From there the result was never in doubt, and she extended her lead to nine minutes by the end. Krystal Neumann and Anna Sheldon completed the minor placings for Queensland, with Neumann’s result also securing the National League title.

Ralph Street has been gradually building up since his arrival in Australia and today’s effort was his best yet. Whilst he did not have the enormous margin of Allison, he was never seriously threatened after hitting the front early in the course. Perhaps more of a surprise was that fellow Briton Peter Bray was his closest challenger, after spending the week mostly on the edges of the top ten. Leon Keely was the best of the locals in third place.

Winnie Oakhill was very impressive in achieving a winning margin even greater than that of Allison in W17-20E. For much of the course Anna Dowling was within striking distance, but the Tasmanian’s chances were ended when she picked up the wrong map at the map change, having to return and losing 15 minutes (she eventually finished ninth). Lanita Steer, who had lost time on a long leg early, was the next best with Zoe Dowling in third. In M17-20E, the business end of the field was towards the end. Tommy Hayes started three minutes behind Patrick Jaffe and eventually caught him late in the course, with Hayes taking the win and Jaffe in second. Ed Cory-Wright was third.

Matt Crane’s fifth was enough to join Neumann as an individual national league winner. In the team competitions, with tomorrow’s Australian Relays to come, it will once again be a fight between the Queensland Cyclones and the Victorian Nuggets in the senior women; first across the line will win with the Cyclones probably slightly favoured for their first senior title. The Canberra Cockatoos stretched their senior men’s lead to 10 points and should take the title, barring disaster, whilst the relays will decide both junior titles with the Victorian Nuggets and Tassie Foresters the protagonists in both.

Results and splits are available.