The handicap results saw Tess Thompson again making the podium taking third place, Jess Hunt came second and in first place by just under a minute was Sue Blizzard.

Showing that this course suited her well as this is the third time she has won on this course, Sue proudly stated in her speech that she ran straight through the middle of the puddle and that the water was indeed "invigorating".

Sue has been training consistently over the last couple of months to regain fitness after taking most of last season off due to injury, and the last few weekends have involved running the Paradise 14km fun run at the Great Ocean Road Running Festival and the 6km event at Run the Gap last Sunday.

This morning was the joint club race over an 8km course, this course left the driveway of the winery, took a left turn onto the asphalt of Best's Rd and then a right turn onto the dirt road of Mailes Rd.

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The fastest times were produced by the husband and wife team, Mark Thompson for the men in a blistering time of 32.10 and Tess Thompson for the women in a very speedy 36.13.

Runners ran along Mailes Rd for a couple of kilometres before taking a small side road where the turnaround point was, this area was a great opportunity for the participants to cheer each other on as they headed back towards the winery.

The lightly undulating course then turned left onto Hurley's Lane, from here was the opportunity to enjoy the elevated views looking over vineyards with plenty of autumn colours on display across the vines, and where the ups and downs were a bit more pronounced.

It was along here that the puddle gave runners the chance to tiptoe around the edge or run straight through the middle and refresh their feet with the ankle-deep water before a right turn onto Stephenson St and then back onto Best's Rd for the flat last kilometre of the race.

Stawell and Ararat Cross Country Club and the Stawell Amateur Athletic Club would like to thank Best's Wines for sponsoring the race, the track markers Peter and Jack, the timekeepers Gail and Natalie and to Peter for stepping in to take care of presentations.

The next race on the calendar is the Trounson Family 8 km in Ararat, see the club website or our Facebook page for details.

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