Aaron Minervini has crossed the line in first place in the W.R.Somerford Marathon on Sunday. Despite a bit of confusion and circle work, in the end most competitors managed to find the correct path to the finish.
With a strongish southerly blowing conditions weren't particularly ideal for the race, though the breeze did mean heat wasn't a factor. With last year's winner Ben Carrick not running due to injury, and race dominator over the past fifteen years Ken Tomczak also a no-show, the field was wide open during the initial swim and wade sections.
By the halfway point, coming back past the clubrooms, the leader was seven times winner from the 1980s Wal Walker, with Aaron Minervini right behind him. As a first-time racer, it was suggested that Aaron was just sitting back and letting Wal show him the course as they went along.
That turned out not to be such a great tactic as they both overshot the first turn-off into the sandhills of South City Beach by about a hundred metres and had to backtrack, completely eliminating the commanding lead they had opened up over Eoghan McKenna and Todd Bowler. Bizarrely, Eoghan and Todd initially followed the leaders up the correct path before changing their minds, doing a backtrack of their own, and going the wrong way.
For the rest of the field behind, some went the right way, some missed it. At the time of writing, we're still checking on exactly who did what.
Meanwhile Wal and Aaron made their way to the southern end of the course and headed for home. With only a straight line now to follow (keep the ocean on your left and you can't miss it) Aaron took the initiative and went to the lead. He eventually crossed the line 40 seconds ahead of Wal, who had his best finish since winning the race in 1991.
