Cook turns up heat in 5km Frenzy

VICTORIOUS in the open five-thousand meters at the Victoria Country field and track championships, Bendigo Harriers’ Jamie Cook will chase more glory in the 5km Frenzy at Flora Hill this Friday night.

A field of 14 will contest the City of Greater Bendigo-backed race at 9pm.

Deputy-Premier and Member for Bendigo East, Jacinta Allan, will be a special guest for the opening ceremony at 5.30pm at the Retreat Road complex.

It’s the third running of the classic in which Bendigo Harriers has teamed up with COGB, Mulqueen Finance, Steigen and Pain Away to run graded 5000-metre heats, and 1000-metre races for the under-11 and under-15 age groups.

Athletics Bendigo Region is well-represented in the main event. Harriers in the field are Jamie Cook, Brady Threlfall, and Nathan Stoate.

Latest hit-out for Stoate was the open A-grade 5000-metre at the Box Hill Burn where he clocked a time of 14:15 to be 11th.

A year ago, Stoate ran 12-and-half laps of the Retreat Road track in 14:27 to be third in the 5km Frenzy as Echuca’s Archie Reid, a member of South Bendigo Athletics Club, was fourth in 14:33.

Both will be back again.

Bendigo University will be represented by Glenn McMillan and young gun Jayden Padgham.

President of Bendigo Harriers and long-time athletics identity Neil Macdonald said he was rapt with an entry number of more than 90 across the night’s fields.

“The elite race has drawn runners from Ballarat, Eureka, Old Scotch, Williamstown, and some racing on invitational basis,” he said.

The meet has drawn support from all four Athletics Bendigo Region clubs – Bendigo Harriers, Eaglehawk, Bendigo University, and South Bendigo and Bendigo Athletic Club will also have some members compete.