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X-WR-CALDESC:Events for APSOC Cross Country
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DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260502T143000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260502T160000
DTSTAMP:20260416T034622
CREATED:20240217T010009Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260313T054358Z
UID:6233-1777732200-1777737600@apsoc.net.au
SUMMARY:Orchard Handicap 10k/5k
DESCRIPTION:The Ken Orchard 10k Handicap\, or ‘The Orchard’ as it commonly known\, starts and finishes at the Wesley boatshed on Lakeside Drive\, Albert Park\, at the southern end of Albert Park Lake. It is a handicap race\, with runners going off at starting times calculated by the handicapper’s computer. Competitors run two clockwise laps of the lake plus a 600m loop\, starting and finishing at the same point. Afternoon tea\, provided by Old Wesley Collegians AC\, is served after the race at the boatshed.\nThis race originated in 1937 as the 5 Miles Handicap\, one of the earliest events on the APSOC calendar. It was run as such until 1941 when the Association disbanded during World War II. Upon resumption in 1946\, it was renamed the Ken Orchard Memorial Handicap in memory of Ken Orchard\, an Old Wesley athlete who lost his life in air operations off Darwin in 1942. Ken was an enthusiastic secretary of Old Wesley before enlisting in the RAAF and in 1940 finished third in this event at Albert Park.\nIn common with most events of the time\, in its early days the race was rotated between venues\, but from 1959\, being an Old Wesley-sponsored event\, it was held at Albert Park. Until 1973\, the event distance was maintained at 5 miles or 8 kilometres. From 1974\, the distance was increased to the current 10 kilometres\, comprising two laps of the lake plus a small loop at the end. This was presumably easier to handle than separate starting and finishing points and kept the course mainly on the lake bank. The five mile course had included a short cut across the golf course. For some time now the lake circuits have been run clockwise\, but in earlier years the event was sometimes run anti-clockwise.\nIn 1995\, with redevelopment work commencing in Albert Park for the Grand Prix\, the event had to be moved to Fawkner Park\, an attractive venue\, but the distance required four laps of the park. This venue posed difficulties with parking and post-run refreshments\, so in 2003 the Orchard returned to the lake.On a windy day\, twice around Albert Park Lake provides a testing run regardless of wind direction and therefore a good cross-country course. The extra 600 metre loop when in sight of the finish also adds an extra degree of difficulty.Most of the Association greats over the years have featured as winners of this event\, either on handicap or as fastest time. The record over the current circuit is held by Steve Austin (OS) in 30:27\, just edging out Ewen Wilson (OS) and Richard Hope (SK) in 30:30. Anna Thompson (OW) has the fastest women’s time at Albert Park of 36:51.\nPlease note that for the first time\, this year APSOC has added a 5 km option for runners\, but those who choose this option will be ineligible for awards or Athlete of the Year points.
URL:https://apsoc.net.au/events/orchard-handicap-10k/
LOCATION:Albert Park\, Lakeside Drive\, South Melbourne\, Victoria\, 3206\, Australia
CATEGORIES:APSOC
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DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260606T093000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260606T103000
DTSTAMP:20260416T034622
CREATED:20240217T010048Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260313T055316Z
UID:6351-1780738200-1780741800@apsoc.net.au
SUMMARY:McPhail 8k
DESCRIPTION:Originally staged at the Tan\, this popular event has been held at Yarra Bend Park since 2006. It is named in honour of the late Ken McPhail (OX)\, who was the first APSOC handicapper in the days long before computers played any role in the affairs of the Association. Ken was the APSOC handicapper for 25 years and he kept a close eye on all runners to ensure that no one scored an unworthy handicap win. He also had a fine athletic record\, including competing in around fifty Cooke-McClelland races in succession. \nIt is therefore appropriate that the McPhail event is a “sealed handicap”\, so that all runners start together without knowing their handicaps. At the conclusion of the race\, the handicaps are revealed and a winner announced. \nSo the McPhail is a scratch race over 8 kilometres. The Yarra Bend course is very scenic as it winds its way along the banks of the Yarra\, but contains some testing little hills to keep the runners’ minds on the task at hand. Two Olympians hold the course records – Adam Pyke (OW) set the men’s course record of 24:42 in 2022 and Victoria Mitchell (SK) ran the fastest women’s time of 28:00 in 2011. \nAll athletes are requested to make a contribution to afternoon tea at this event. There is no available electricity and so members are encouraged to bring their own hot water for tea and/or coffee.
URL:https://apsoc.net.au/events/mcphail-8k/
LOCATION:Yarra Bend Park\, Yarra Bend Road\, Fairfield\, Victoria\, 3078\, Australia
CATEGORIES:APSOC
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DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260704T140000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260704T160000
DTSTAMP:20260416T034622
CREATED:20240217T010043Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260313T060029Z
UID:6370-1783173600-1783180800@apsoc.net.au
SUMMARY:Lodge Handicaps 8/16k
DESCRIPTION:From 1961\, St Kevin’s AAC hosted a 10 mile (16 km) handicap race\, starting and finishing within the school grounds. Until 1986\, the handicap winner received the Peter Secombe trophy\, but St Kevin’s AAC wished to recognise the contribution of the Lodge family and the event became known thereafter as the Lodge Handicap. In 1988\, by popular demand\, an 8 km event was added\, giving runners the choice of two distances. \nThe 16 km course has changed markedly over the years. It used to comprise two 8 km laps from St Kevin’s College to the Yarra Boulevard then through Scotch College\, but traffic and safety issues forced the race to be moved to the mostly flat bike path along the Yarra River. 2021 saw another course change\, this time starting and finishing at the new St Kevin’s campus in Tooronga. \nThere have been some fast times on the Yarra bike path\, particularly in the 8 km\, where record holders Drew Cole (OX) 24:06 and Abi Bayley (OX) 27:30 have torn up the course. But John Cormack (OS) has hung on to his 16 km record of 50:09 since 1984\, set on the old course. This is the second oldest APSOC course record\, which clearly demonstrates the high quality of the performance. Anna Thompson holds the women’s 16 km record of 57:45. \nRecords on the new course are: \nMen 8k Adam Pyke (OW) 24:23\, 16k Ben Haseler (OX) 53:11 \nWomen 8k Anna Kasapis 30:03\, 16k Karen Thorp 60:20. \nThe Lodge Handicaps start at 2.00 pm\, half an hour earlier than the usual APSOC race starting time\, and all runners must check in at the St Kevin’s campus by 1.50 p.m (16k) or 2.30 p.m (8k).
URL:https://apsoc.net.au/events/lodge-handicaps-816k/
LOCATION:St Kevin’s College Tooronga Sports Fields\, 1002 Crescent Road\, Glen Iris
CATEGORIES:APSOC
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DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260801T143000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260801T160000
DTSTAMP:20260416T034622
CREATED:20240217T010043Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260313T055747Z
UID:6251-1785594600-1785600000@apsoc.net.au
SUMMARY:Hare & Hounds 8k
DESCRIPTION:2021 marked the dawn of a new era for the Hare & Hounds. After 51 years\, the Lucas family had done enough for the event and Association. Caulfield Grammarians stepped forward to host the event at Jells Park\, Wheelers Hill. \nSome history – during the 1960’s\, the APSOCAAA (known at the time as the APS Old Boys Amateur Athletic Association) was looking to develop more courses and events beyond the five or six main events then held each season. In the earlier part of the 20th century\, various Harriers clubs had enjoyed a cross country event in which a runner (the hare) would set off on an unknown course\, dropping flour or shredded paper\, followed some time later by the pack of runners (the hounds)\, who endeavoured to catch the hare before he got back home. \nIn 1969\, Neil Lucas\, the Old Scotch cross country captain and later to become Association President\, shared a flat in Berwick and suggested that the area could be a good venue. Neil invited the Association members for a run through the reserves\, paddocks and hills of Berwick\, using the format of the hare and hounds. A track was laid out using white lime\, although it could not be seen very well. Runners were graded and despatched in thirty second intervals rather than as a pack. Neil’s brother Peter recorded times. \nOn this first run\, Tony Lapsley (SK) (4:30 after go) somehow followed the designated course and got home before the rest of the field of about 35 runners.  Our host\, Neil Lucas (20:30 after go)\, with a distinct home ground advantage (he had marked the course in the morning)\, took fastest time honours. There were no particular prizes\, just the glory and a bottle of local wine. \nDuring the first decade of the event\, the course varied from time to time. A system of wider time intervals between slower runners and shorter intervals between faster runners was introduced. Early runs started near the showgrounds opposite the Haileybury campus and followed a muddy course of approximately 9 km along the Cardinia Creek reserve. Invariably runners got lost and\, if you think “the hill” at about the halfway point of the current course is tough\, next time you are there\, check out where the hill finishes. It is a further kilometre to the peak\, which explains Peter Bruce’s fastest time in 1977 of 38:33 compared with 21:39 three years earlier. The 1977 course is politely referred to in the handbook as the “long course”. There were also a number of unprotected barbed wire fences to negotiate\, which even tended to slow down the steeplechasers in the field. \nIn time\, and with Neil Lucas becoming the City of Berwick Chief Executive (and later the Member for Eumemmerring Province in State Parliament and Mayor of the City of Casey)\, the start moved to the Arch Brown Reserve. The start/finish was adjacent to the football club pavilion and the distance was nominally 9 km\, following much the same ground as the current course. Neil\, his wife Margaret and their family\, and brother Peter continued as our hosts. When Peter moved to Sydney with his employment\, he continued to set the day aside to be timekeeper for the event. \nAs Berwick developed and traffic on the roads increased\, it was decided to make the start/finish on the side of nearby Inglis Road\, thus creating an 8 km circuit along the roads and through paddocks without the need to cross any intersections. This course was used between 1992 and 2019. \nThe event has presented a number of highlights over the years.  When running through the property called “The Downs”\, runners had to follow the lane traversed by the cows when being brought into the milking sheds. Watching where to put your feet was one thing\, but having to hurdle a dead cow on the track was an unexpected extra one year. But probably the best bit of excitement was the year that a horse came out of the farm gate and ran alongside the leading runners\, then took the last turn and cantered through the finish line. Handicapper Field Rickards disqualified the horse for not carrying a tag. \nThe Berwick course was always considered a true cross country run\, although most of the roads are now sealed and there may be only one fence to negotiate. Over the years\, a number of athletes have managed to record the fastest time more than once – Ewen Wilson (OS)\, Peter Bruce (OX)\, Steve Brennan (OX)\, John Cormack (OS)\, Richard Hope (StK)\, David Lightfoot (OS)\, Paul Wilson (OS)\, Dean Gasson (OH) and Adam Pyke (OW). The hardest man to catch was Murray Wilcox (OC)\, who won from a mark of 1:10 after go in 1979. The best run from a backmarker was James Lightfoot (OS) in 2018\, who ran down everyone from a mark of 24:15. \nThe Association is indebted to Neil and the Lucas family for not only initiating this event but their continued interest and support for an incredible fifty-one years. \nCourse records: \nBerwick: Men – D Lightfoot (OS) 25:58 1993    Women – A Thompson (OW) 28:55 2002 \nJells Park: Men – A Pyke (OW) 25:28 2023   Women – A Kasapis (OW) 29:45 2023
URL:https://apsoc.net.au/events/hare-hounds/
LOCATION:Caulfield Grammar\, 74-82 Jells Road\, Wheelers Hill\, Victoria\, 3150\, Australia
CATEGORIES:APSOC
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DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260815T143000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260815T163000
DTSTAMP:20260416T034622
CREATED:20240217T010000Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260313T055612Z
UID:6385-1786804200-1786811400@apsoc.net.au
SUMMARY:Brighton-by-the-Sea 8k
DESCRIPTION:After much groundwork by Alan Hooley\, the Old Brighton Grammarians club was admitted to the APSOC competition in 1987. Just one year later\, the club was granted permission to host a handicap event at Green Point on the Brighton foreshore. In the race’s early days\, runners would gather at the old wooden shelter in the Brighton Beach Gardens. It is fair to say that\, particularly in inclement weather\, the shelter did not cope well with the horde of runners and their post-race aromas. It therefore came as something of a relief when Old Brighton secured the use of the nearby Scout Hall for the event. \nThe course has not changed much over the years and has always featured the now notorious last kilometre on the soft and gluggy sand of Brighton Beach\, but has been shortened from 9 km to 8 km in 2025. The scenic splendour of the coloured bathing boxes is lost on the runners as they slog their way along the beach and up to the finish in the car park. \nEarly in the race\, runners must negotiate the sandy paths through the tea trees on the cliff top to and from Sandringham\, before joining the concrete footpath at beach level to Green Point. After passing the Scout Hall\, the course then continues north on the bitumen bike path next to Beach Road to the Brighton Baths\, where the runners turn back south for the run along the beach to the finish. \nA unique feature of the race is the teams handicap format. Instead of the club’s fastest runners\, it is the first four runners across the line\, whether male or female\, who make up its team. This gives the smaller clubs a chance for victory and both Old Brighton (five wins) and Old Geelong (three wins) have taken advantage of this over the years. Course record holders are Darren Wilson (OS) 27.23 and Kate Smyth (OW) 33.02. Darren’s mark from 2001\, in particular\, is phenomenal\, given the difficulty of the course. \nThere is ample parking in the Green Point car park.
URL:https://apsoc.net.au/events/brighton-by-the-sea-9k/
LOCATION:Green Point\, 40 Esplanade\, Brighton\, Victoria\, 3186\, Australia
CATEGORIES:APSOC
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