Rawlinson track hosts the mile

Volume 7 Number 3 March 14 - April 10 2011

The classic mile race returned to Melbourne’s Rawlinson Track – the scene of Merv Lincoln’s 1957 track record of 3:58.9, the third sub-four-minute mile by an Australian and the second run in Australia. By David Scott with Hamish Beaumont.

Eliza Curnow (4:48.8) and Tyson Popplestone (4:11.1) won Victorian Championships over one mile at Melbourne University’s Rawlinson Track on Thursday, 17 February as part of Victorian Milers Club’s Meet 4.

While Merv Lincoln’s 1957 track record of 3:58.9 (the third sub-four-minute mile by an Australian and the second run in Australia) wasn’t threatened, the racing was fast and hard fought on the tight bends of Melbourne University’s atmospheric track, with the dreaming spires of Ormond, Queens and Trinity Colleges as the backdrop. Merv’s son Tim Lincoln and wife Dawn Lincoln were on hand to present the medals to the Champions.

Curnow countered a mid-race surge from Melbourne University Athletics Club’s Sophie Barker and kicked home to take her first open Victorian Championship ahead of Melissa Duncan and Sarah Klein. Popplestone ran a strong second half and came to the front with less than 200m to go to win convincingly from Mark Blicavs and Tim Norton.

190 athletes took to the Rawlinson Track, with 17 800m races and six mile races staged over two hours of high quality middle distance racing. Spectators and competitors packed the rails of the track to cheer on the runners. A warm, still night, enthusiastic crowd, the dulcet tones of commentator Paul Jenes and music playing in the background combined to provide the atmosphere for an enjoyable evening of athletics. Eighteen Melbourne University Athletics Club members delighted in racing on their home track, with Jordan Mayston running 1:56.8 to claim an 800m personal best.

Hamish Beaumont, Secretary of the Melbourne University Athletics Club (MUAC), says there were a number of significant spectators present on Thursday night.

“Frank Henegan will be a name familiar to many,” he says. “A MUAC life member, he was one of Lincoln’s pace-makers, along with multiple world record holder Ron Clarke, in the 1957 race.

“The four-minute barrier is still a formidable one for athletes more than fifty years after it was first broken, and we were all looking forward to a competitive race run at a strong pace.”

Founded in 1873, the Melbourne University Athletics Club is one of the oldest athletics clubs in Victoria. Both Men’s and Women’s Division 1 teams finished in the top five of the Athletics Victoria Shield Final.
 www.muac.org.au/