Runner’s decade-long dream made real

ANY broad attention on the annual Stawell Gift athletics carnival tends to land on the one-hundred-and-twenty-metre feature races.

But did you know the Davies Family sash for the 400-metre handicap in 2024 was won by a member of Ballarat’s own POD Squad?

Thirty-one-year-old Rory Nunn is that runner who has been dreaming of winning this sprinting event for about 10 years.

“It was very surreal, that’s for sure,” he said. “It was all a bit of a blur. The race nearly got washed out, so it all happened so quickly.

“It’s a rewarding feeling and still something that’s yet to sink in, but it means a lot to me.

“Even though it’s an individual sport, it’s not just reward for myself, but my wife Kate. I have to spend a lot of time training so it’s also her win. She does a lot of parenting while I’m training.

“Every year, my coach Peter O’Dwyer encourages me to go for it, and that means a lot too.”

Clearly Nunn is a perserverant person. In the Stawell 400-metre event in past years, he placed second twice, and finished fourth.

Kate Madden said her husband is the “most self-disciplined and dedicated man” she’s ever known.

“A week after Stawell last year, we welcomed our first child, Edgar to our family and I think he was waiting all this time for his son to witness his win.

“Despite the hours and hours of intense training and sacrifices he has made, he still managed to show up to be an incredible dad and role model to our son.”

A self-employed wall and floor tiler, Nunn said it’s been a balancing act to run his own business and run on the track six-to-eight times a week in his peak training period.

“It has been challenging, especially since having a child, which is also all-consuming for us,” he said.

“But running is a good part of the day and a bit of a release for me. The POD Squad is also a big part of my social life.”

Although he has been running since he joined Little Athletics at Wendouree as a child, Nunn did have a break from the sport briefly in his 20s.

“I realised I had unfinished business with the Stawell 400,” he said. “But I also missed the welcoming environment of the POD Squad.”

The team trains at Ballarat Grammar which has synthetic and grass tracks.

“The facilities are world class, so we are lucky,” Nunn said.

After his big win, Nunn’s mates have been asking, ‘what’s next?’

“I coach and play footy with Carngham Linton Football Club,” he said. “Then I’ll restart the running season next year, and see how it all unfolds.

“But I have no particular plan.”