Australian Cross-Country Championships, Ballarat, 2026
Epic conditions prevailed at the national cross-country championships over the weekend of August 22-23, and three members of the Midday Milers were there to make the most of them. The 2km loop included needlessly added mud pits, since the week’s rain had turned almost every square metre of Victoria Park to mud. For additional XC authenticity there were three steep mounds and a collection of logs to be negotiated in each lap.
On the Saturday, Annie Martin, Bruce Davie and Michael Phillips lined up for the 4km individual race as skies were clearing after morning showers. The ground was absolutely soaked and the runners would be ankle deep in water or mud for much of the race. At the 1km mark, runners hit the first of three steep mounds that appeared to be about 45° up and down. Then it was into the log-strewn obstacle course, where the choice was open to weave among the logs or hurdle them. Back to the start and then around the same loop for second time.
With all age groups and genders running together, it can be hard to know where one is in the race, but when the mud settled, we had a trio of Miler medalists: Annie Martin, Gold in F55; Bruce Davie, Gold in M60, and Michael Phillips, Silver in M70.
A little more than 24 hours later, it was time for Bruce and Annie to hit the course for a second time, combining with a couple of Old Xaverians in a Vic Masters team in the 50+ division of the 4 x 2km relay. With no rain for 24 hours, the mud had become thicker and stickier, leading to a course that was actually slower than the one from Saturday. Add a bit of fatigue from the prior day and it was a good thing that we only had to run 2km each.
OXAC runner Pablo Campillos led off for our team, and kept us in contention despite being mid-marathon build. He handed off to Annie with our team in 5th in the 50+ division. Annie’s 10:00 loop was the 2nd fastest 50+ woman of the day and moved us up to 3rd. She handed off to Bruce whose 8:40 moved us to second place with a sniff of the lead. OXAC’s Di Guiney ran the anchor leg to record the fastest 50+ female time for the day (9:30) and was closing fast on first when she ran out of track. In the end we were happy silver medalists by a margin of just 14 seconds.
The national XC championships are a fantastic event, and when they return to Ballarat next year we should try to get a bigger contingent of Milers out in the medal hunt. There are videos of the events available on YouTube.
