Naomi had taken 12 months to recover from a ruptured Achilles tendon while David had his own problems with an arthritic big toe which required an operation to fuse it, followed by weeks of “non-weight bearing” rest, more than a month in a “moon boot” with no certainty about when he could return to training.

“I felt absolutely disgusting at the start of the season. I couldn’t walk and didn’t think I would ever win a race again,” Hunter gasped, exhausted after winning the eight-kilometre Lindsay Kent Memorial Handicap at Stawell from the veteran, Terry Jenkins.

“I’ve had to take it slowly and only started training again, very slowly, last month.” Daughter Olivia completed a success-filled fortnight for the Hunters by winning the one-kilometre sub-junior race

The Lindsay Kent was hosted by the Stawell Amateur Athletic Club which shared the event with the Stawell and Ararat Cross Country Club who conducted their own race within a race.

Rhonda Rice, often referred to as “Silent Death” for her habit of coming from nowhere to score stunning wins, broke a three-year drought when she did exactly what was unexpected of her at Stawell.

Not only did she win the Stawell and Ararat Cross Country Club’s version of the eight kilometre Lindsay Kent Memorial she absolutely gobsmacked her clubmates by beating pre-race favourite Ian McCready by 2.03 minutes, by far the biggest winning margin since 2015. Peter Gibson was a further 0.28 minutes away in third place.

Rice, who quite likes the moniker bestowed upon her by former club president Neil Wilde, had previously won the Kent as far back as 1998 and again in 2012.

She was typically matter-of-fact about the 20-year span of her hat-trick. 

“I didn’t plan anything,” she said. “It just happened.”

While she races infrequently, she trains in private in the Stawell Ironbarks, long, slow discipline over 16 and 18 kilometres at weekends, and now adding a speed session at Central Park. The three-kilometre King of the Hill will be held this weekend.