Squad pounds roads in Spring Gully

A ROAD circuit of almost three kilometres in Spring Gully has become a vital cog in the preparation of the Bendigo Bats athletics squad.

Most Tuesday evenings a group of more than 20 will run on the roads bordering the Spring Gully Cricket Oval and nearby soccer pitches.

Those running include Andy Buchanan who represented Australia in the marathon at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games and this year’s world cross-country titles in Bathurst.

There’s plenty more goals the gun athlete wants to pursue and among them was the Fukuoka Marathon in Japan on 3 December.

A leg injury which flared up during a recent training block in Falls Creek with Bats’ team-mates Matt Buckell, Louis Gillett and Archie Reid has put Buchanan out of the race.

As an athlete and coach, Buchanan plays a crucial role in the development of many in the training group.

“There’s a wide range of ages and skill in the Bats squad,” he said of a team which represents Athletics Bendigo in Athletics Victoria’s cross-country series.

“There’s the teenagers in the group such as Avery McDermid, Chelsea and Logan Tickell, and then we have Mike Bieleny and Jill Wilkie who are in their 60s and 50s and running incredibly well.”

Last month Wilkie was fastest in the 55-59 years category of the Chicago Marathon.

The squad also has talented youngsters such as Tullie Rowe who will be bound for New Mexico College next year, and SSV state finalists Abbey Reid and Genevieve Nihill.

Racing goals for the Bats squad will vary across spring and summer.

Some will be focused on the shorter track distances of 1500, 3000 or 5000 meters, or in Reid’s case, the Zatopek 10km at Lakeside Stadium in early December.

In the new year several of the Bats squad will head to Falls Creek for another training block of three or four weeks.

He has done so plenty of times, but Buchanan knows the Falls lay-out can help gain an edge, no matter how small, when he is racing on the roads, track, or bush.