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President’s Tan Talk – November 2024
This Month’s Stride Out could be largely described as “A Tale of Two Runners”, Doug Stokes, whose story runs over forty years, many thousands of kilometres and 450 Tan Time Trials, and Monish Swamy, who recounts the ups and downs of his first five years of consistent running, learning all the things we’ve all had to learn, about the physical and mental challenges of distance running,
Doug Stokes: Record-breaking 450 Tan Time Trials
Syd Bone (Foundation Member) told us that Doug ran his first Tan Time Trial in October 1984, forty years ago, in a great time of 29:58, which placed him 8th, with Greig McEwan and Rowan Cole both ahead of him. Syd worked out that Doug had run 450 out of a possible 479, a truly extraordinary achievement.
Rowan Cole (Foundation Member), ran many, many runs with Doug over the years, Tans and other runs, where Rowan would be happy to be running at around Doug’s pace, and would strive to keep him in sight so that he’d run a good time. (Most long-time VRR members had a couple of runners they’d pace with.) Rowan reports that Doug always had a friendly smile, no matter their relative placings, with Doug always encouraging and acknowledging his efforts.
Greig McEwan (VRR Member Number One) described Doug’s 450 TTT’s as a truly magnificent and inspirational achievement. Greig said that when he proposed a monthly run around the Tan which became the VRR Tan Time Trial 41 years ago, he had no idea that it would grow from 24 runners in February 1983 and be still going in 2024. Greig encouraged Doug to push on towards 500!!
Peter Field (VRR Life Member) and very long-time ‘friendly’ rival first ran with Doug 40 years ago. Peter acknowledged that Doug ran his first TTT before Peter, but ever the ever-competitive Peter advised that he got to 100, 200, 300 and 400 Tans before Doug, and ran more consecutive Tans (321) than Doug. Notably one year the Field family were holiday in Echuca when the Tan was on, so they drove back to Melbourne, ran the TTT, and returned to Echuca!! Peter acknowledged that he had “passed the baton” to his mate Doug, congratulated him on his great achievement, and wished him well in heading towards 500 TTT’s.
Bill Noonan (VRR Life Member and Past President) extended his congratulations on 450 Tans, joining with all VRR members in recognising and honouring Doug’s record-making milestone, and describing Doug as a true stalwart of VRR, having made a significant contribution to its long-time success.
As promised, there was cake, thanks Sally, and some ‘old faces’ came along to wish Doug well, as well as a couple of first-timers.
Monish Swamy: Runner’s Learning Journey
The learning journey towards achieving your full potential as an distance runner is a complex and challenging one, usually with gradual progress punctuated by setbacks and learning more about training, resting, drinking, eating, getting your pace right, inspiration, discouragement etc. Most recently Monish ‘hit the wall’ at 38k in the Melbourne Marathon, and was fortunate to have a partner who gave him a stern talking to, and told him to get on with it, which he did. His story (to date!) is set out below, with the rest of his running story still ahead.
Have a great running month, see you in December,
Michael
VRR President |
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November 2024 Achievement Award
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This month a truly monstrous achievement was reach by Doug Stokes – 450 TTT’s
Doug is the first member to reach this milestone.
The achievement was acknowledged with a VERY exclusive 450 TTT t-shirt, plus a special trophy.
We also celebrated with CAKE!
It’s quite possible that this record may never be broken. |
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Naturally an achievement as significant as this deserved an extra special acknowledgement before the TTT started.
VRR President, Michael Kennedy relayed congratulations received from a number of long-standing members who have run with Doug over the years. |
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Over the lifetime of VRR, Doug and Peter Field have enjoyed a healthy competitive achievement environment.
This is a photo of Doug being congratulated by Peter after receiving his award for 350 TTT’s in 2015. |
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| Here’s a few of the photos posted on facebook by the club photographer, Helen Myall (thanks heaps, Helen) |
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| The second row of starters in the November TTT. |
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| Nick Main is one of our ‘regulars’ and always puts in a solid effort. |
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| James Yatomi-Clarke has run with VRR for years and still isn’t slowing up despite being of an age that starts with an 8. |
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It was great to welcome Lynn Kisler back to the November TTT.
Lynn was lucky enough to take a couple of month’s holiday and visited the UK & Europe.
Lynn is a member of the VRR Committee and arranges all the various permits required for our events.
This is very much a ‘behind the scenes’ role, but one that is absolutely vital to the successful running of our club.
She doesn’t receive enough acknowledgement for her efforts – one of our quiet achievers! |
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We’d like to think that a large part of the VRR ‘attraction’ is the after-party.
There’s always free tea, coffee,water, biscuits (and this month, cake) after the run.
And more importantly, the opportunity to analyse your effort with other participants.
Here are Tony Freegard (L) & Grant Padula (R) with those vital refreshments. |
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November 2024 TTT Results
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| Read about VRR member, Monish Swarmy’s marathon running journey. |
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| “I started running consistently around 2018 – 2019 with no fundamental training knowledge. Several things inspired me to start running, but the two main things were hearing about my friend finishing a marathon at the age of 49 and one of my favorite YouTubers, Casey Neistat, talking about how running has become an essential part of his life (he recently finished a sub-3 marathon at NYC!). Seeing my friend run marathons at his age made me see running as an activity I could do long-term. Life was getting busy, and finding time for fitness was getting hard. I saw running as something I could do anytime of the day. |
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I started running here and there. As my confidence and love for the sport grew over the months I decided to sign up for the Melbourne Marathon in 2019. I trained hard for it, using the 12-week training plan that they offered on their website. The training was challenging, but I managed to finish with a time of 5:17 (I stuck to 7km/min the whole way). After that win, I knew running was going to become my thing.
The following March, I did my first trail half marathon in Arthurs Seat, called ‘Sharpys Beer Run’. This was my first exposure to trail races, which had a whole different beauty to them. I did really great, and I also had the big support of my parents. Running became more part of my identity and less of a hobby.
There were many ups, but I also had many downs. I DNFed three marathons, including last year’s Melbourne Marathon and the year before which really hurt at my core. Balancing work, life, and running was a challenge, and I had to make sacrifices here and there in order to be good in all things.
This last year, I have really focused on what makes a great runner. I read the books by J. Daniels, H. Higdon, and Pzinger over and over again until the concepts and science made sense. I am still learning what works best for me, but I feel like I am becoming better.
I did well in this year’s Melbourne Marathon. I didn’t get the time I wanted (3:37). I ended up bonking at the 38km mark and having to run/walk to the finish line, which still surprisingly got me a sub-4.
Overall, running has really shaped and taught me a lot. It’s not just about the accountability and commitment that it has ingrained in me but the running and fitness community has really been a big light in my life. Being around people who are compassionate and encouraging has taught me to be the same. My mental health as well as my physical health has improved 10 fold and it has helped me focus on building that brick by brick mentality that has gotten me through a lot of challenges in my life.” |
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VRR LIFE MEMBERS
Stephen Barker, Kevin Browne (dec), Sally Browne, Tony Doran, Graham Edwards, Jenny Field, Peter Field, Vern Gerlach (dec), Peter Gunn (dec.), Don Hampshire (dec.), Eileen Helmers (dec), Frank Helmers (dec), Betty Horskins, Graeme Horskins, Mike Kennedy, Lynn Kisler, Greig McEwan, Ross Martin (dec), Vin Martin, John Morris, Helen Myall, Peter Nicoll, Bill Noonan, Brian O’Dea, Rod Opie, Graham Prossor, Melissa Groves, Doug Stokes, Brian Toomey (dec.), Stuart White, Robert Wilson, Judy Wines (dec.), Tom Worrell (dec) and Val Worrell. |
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Can you ask your running friends if they are receiving their email copy of Stride Out.
If they aren’t, can you get them to send me an email (gprossor@bigpond.net.au) asking to be put on the distribution list. |
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