Wollongong Duo to Battle Out Road Race

Sydney Olympic Park is set to see a close distance running tussle between Wollongong duo Russell Dessaix-Chin and Ryan Gregson this Saturday.

The pair will contest the 10km race at the event jointly hosted by Athletics NSW and Sydney Striders, which doubles as the NSW Road Championships. The event, which already has over 500 athletes entered, is set to see its most successful staging in the past 15 years.

Saturday’s race will be one of youth against experience; Gregson will represent Australia over 1500m and 5000m at the World Junior Championships in July, whilst Dessaix-Chin, who soon turns 30, has previously represented Australia at the World Cross Country Championships.

Gregson rewrote the Australian junior record books last track season, smashing the under 18 records over 1500m, 3000m and 5000m. It was over the middle of those distances which he gained international attention – his time of 8:01.26 also broke the under 20 record held by none other than world championship bronze medalist Craig Mottram.

For Gregson how he holds up over the longer distance this weekend is somewhat of an unknown factor. Although only treating the race as part of his base preparation for the World Junior Championships, the 18 year old is hoping to go close to breaking the 30 minute barrier over the flat, two lap course around the Sydney Olympic Park precinct. The course will run by the stadium which hosted the 2000 Olympic Games as its halfway point each lap.

He will have his work cut out for him against the sage Dessaix-Chin, who has twice previously won the Road Championships (2003 and 2004) and represented Australia at the World Cross Country Championships in 2006. The Sydney University athlete has reportedly been training well recently and is hungry to set a fast time on the initial race over the course.

The women’s race will see Australian 100000m champion Melinda Vernon go up against recent fourth placegetter at the World University Cross Country Championship, Eliza Stewart. Vernon, who is deaf and hears via a cochlea implant (which she is unable to wear whilst racing), was a member of the bronze medal winning Australian team at the World Cross Country Championships in Scotland, where she finished 41^st.

Stewart, who narrowly missed selection for the World Cross Country, convincingly defeated Vernon in their last race against each other, the 6.28km race of the World University Cross Country, by a margin of over 30 seconds. The race between the pair should be intriguing, with the added dynamic of male athletes running in the same race likely to assist the athletes to race at the maximum pace their fitness will allow.

Aside from the elite component of the race, athletes young and old will relish the opportunity to race within the Sydney metropolitan area over a safe, traffic free course in a race full of depth. Entries are available on the day until half an hour before the scheduled start of the races, which are as follows:

7:45am                        10km
9:00am                        5km (open to Athletics NSW registered athletes only)
9:30am                        2.5km (open to Athletics NSW registered athletes      only)

A media release and full results will be distributed by midday on Saturday.

With thanks to Tim McGrath, Administration and Communications Manager, Athletics NSW.