July 1, 2022
The Wondai Country Running Festival is continuing to grow with more than 500 registered runners hitting the South Burnett Rail Trail on Saturday and Sunday.
Race director Ros Heit said the organising committee was “super happy” with the event, the weather was perfect and more than 45kg of bananas (and 14 boxes of mandarines) were handed out!
Saturday morning started with the regular Wondai parkrun, but numbers were boosted by the runners in town for the Festival, with about 175 people taking part.
The Festival itself started a bit later on Saturday morning with a frantic “Dash For Cash” which saw runners doing a super-quick one kilometre dash along the trail for the chance to win a cash prize.
Ros said the Family Fun Run, also held on Saturday, was much bigger than last year, with about 100 runners taking part along the 2km course.
Also well-supported was the All-Abilities Race which includes wheelchairs, carers and competitors of all ages and sizes.
This race is always popular with spectators who gather at the finishing line to cheer the runners home.
One of the competitors, Wendy and her pet bantam “Chicken”, proved a hit throughout the weekend, with “Chicken” posing for photos with runners, in McEuen Forest, and at the markets.
On Saturday afternoon, the running became more serious with the two Forest Runs which started on the Rail Trail and then wound their way through McEuen Forestry.
Ros said the city visitors really enjoy this challenge as they rarely get the challenge to run competitively on bush tracks.
In between the morning and afternoon events on Saturday, visitors had the opportunity to browse through the adjacent Wondai Country Festival Markets, organised by the Wondai Regional Art Gallery in Coronation Park.
There was live music as well as food and market stalls.
A bonus attraction this year were helicopter rides which could be booked from a site beside the Rail Trail and proved very popular with visitors and local residents alike.
(“Chicken” even hitched a lift … check out the photos on the Life Of Chicken Facebook page.)
Most of the visiting runners stayed overnight to take part in the longer events on Sunday morning with 106 campervans and caravans booked into the Wondai Showgrounds.
The festival committee organised a special dinner in Wondai Memorial Hall on Saturday night to feed the visitors and their friends.
Ros said more than 200 people packed into the hall to enjoy a hot dinner, mulled wine and live music.
On Sunday morning, the South Burnett Mountain Bike Club prepared breakfast for the runners, offering bacon and egg burgers and pumpkin soup.
“There were more than 300 people on the trail on Sunday morning,” Ros said.
Six drinks stations were manned along the marathon course by local groups who received donations from the committee for their efforts.
Ros said the festival was getting bigger every year and was providing a boost for Wondai.
“A number of local businesses stayed open longer on Saturday and some opened again on Sunday morning,” she said.
Ros said the aim of the event was to provide the city visitors with a whole weekend of country hospitality.
She said the feedback so far had been extremely positive, with 98 per cent rating the festival as “excellent” or “very good”; and 99 per cent saying they would return again next year.
Profits from the Wondai Country Running Festival are ploughed back into the local community.
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Hansen Kitchens Family Fun Run
There were a record number of entries in Saturday’s 2km Family Fun Run along the Rail Trail.
Everyone who entered received a prize of some description.
This was a fun social event, so there was no timing but organisers said the number of entries was much larger than last year, with about 100 runners taking part.
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CROW-FM Dash For Cash
The 1km Dash For Cash had prizes ranging from $1 through to $10 for participants.
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CROW-FM Dash For Cash Results:
- Adult Male – Liam Wilson (1), Cameron Dew (2)
- Adult Female – Melissa Ballin (1), Lucy English (2)
- Masters Male – Craig Kapernick (1), Darrin Kefford (2), John Purcell (3)
- Masters Female – Ros Heit (1), Liz Nicholson (2), Michelle Hansen (3)
- Junior Male – Lincoln Fields (1), Lenny Dew (2), Alex Farmilo (3)
- Junior Female – Hannah O’Connor (1), Amelia Jorgensen (2), Daisy-May Robertson (3)
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All-Abilities Race
The 1km South Burnett CTC All-Abilities Race is not timed but there was a large number of entries!
First home across the line was Abbie Laherty, 14, from Kingaroy.
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PCA Forest Trail Runs
The 11.1 km and 21.1km Saturday afternoon Forest Trail runs were cross-country, starting on the Rail Trail and looping through the adjacent McEuen Forest.
[Photos: Nadine Gray]
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PCA Forest Trail 21.1km results:
- Adult Male – James Laird (1), Jethro Stone (2), Robert Harrison (3)
- Adult Female – Lee Cleary (1), Margret Goodman (2), Amanda Hodgkinson (3)
- Masters Male – Sean Harper (1), Robert Piers (2), Lewin Cleary (3)
- Masters Female – Deb Nicholl (1), Heidi Storer (2), Jo Doyle (3)
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PCA Forest Trail 11.1km results:
- Adult Male – Jed Price (1), David Wallace (2), Thomas Court (3)
- Adult Female – Charlotte Weinrauch (1), Alison Mollenhauer (2), Christina Bam (3)
- Masters Male – Stephen O’Connor (1), Stephen Jendra (2), Grant Harland (3)
- Masters Female – Elsie Norbury (1), Tracey Thornhill (2), Deb Thorley (3)
- Junior Male – Eddie Pearson (1), Billy Harland (2), Evan Wallace (3)
- Junior Female – Paige O’Connor (1), Kealey Harland (2), Asta James (3)
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Sunday Results
The footraces took on a more serious turn on Sunday, with competitors vying for spots in three much longer races along the Rail Trail.
[Photos: Nadine Gray]
Ken Mills Marathon results
- Adult Male – Simon Phillips (1), Cameron Dew (2), David Griffin (3)
- Adult Female – Melissa Ballin (1), Amanda Astill (2), Tam Hales (3)
- Masters Male – Aaron Patterson (1), Kelvin Marshall (2), Paul Feasey (3)
- Masters Female – Nicky Davison (1), Jayne Phillips (2), Kristine Byrne (3)
21.1km Bendigo Bank Half-Marathon results:
- Adult Male – Emmanuel Vergara (1), Carl Gadsby (2), Liam Wilson (3)
- Adult Female – Janet Smith (1), Petra Galea (2), Margret Goodman (3)
- Masters Male – Richard Koech (1), Adrian Polidano (2), Darren Farmilo (3)
- Masters Female – Deb Nicholl (1), Wendy Dighton (2), Kelly Gurski (3)
- Junior Male – Zac Farmilo (1), Alex Farmilo (2)
- Junior Female – Kate Gadischke (1), Charli Whitbread (2)
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10km Plenty Foods Rail Trail Run results:
- Adult Male – Jed Price (1), Paul Carter (2), Zac Frampton (3)
- Adult Female – Charlotte Weinrauch (1), Lee Cleary (2), Carla Whitehead (3)
- Masters Male – John Pearson (1), Laimon Eglentals (2), Craig Robinson (3)
- Masters Female – Tracey Thornhill (1), Tracy Hills (2), Deb Thorley (3)
- Junior Male – Billy Harland (1), Jamie Searle (2), Lenny Dew (3)
- Junior Female – Ashby Pearson (1), Kealey Harland (2), Amelia Jorgenson (3)
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Saturday Markets
The Wondai Country Festival markets, organised by the Wondai Regional Art Gallery, provided an opportunity for visitors to take a break between running events.
The stalls in Coronation offered food, drinks and everything for handcrafted goods to secondhand tools.
There was even live entertainment on stage in the Percy Iszlaub soundshell.
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Saturday Night Dinner
Saturday night’s dinner was quickly booked out the Wondai Memorial Hall with about 200 diners filling the space.
The hot meal was prepared by JC Catering, and the live music provided by Stepping Stones, ie. popular local duo Sue Bradley and Geoff Grevell.
But the highlight of the night was definitely the mulled wine … warm red wine mixed with honey and Wondai’s own secret mix of spices!
Eight slow cookers prepared the wine on Saturday afternoon so it would be just right for the night.
Served in special etched souvenir glasses, the mulled wine was the perfect drink for a cold winter’s night after a busy day of running.
Many of the diners were staying at Wondai Showgrounds so organisers put on a free bus to bring them down to the hall and take them back safely home afterwards.
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The Wondai Running Festival was sponsored by the Wondai Regional Art Gallery, Ken Mills Toyota, Bendigo Bank, Plenty Foods, Bega (PCA), Astills Electrical, Hobbs and Associates, Parkside, CROW-FM, South Burnett CTC, Hansen Kitchens and Glenrock Hay. Plus local wineries: Kingsley Grove, Moffatdale Ridge, Clovely Estate and Nuova Scuola.
External links:
Related articles:
- Warm Wondai Welcome For Runners (2021)
- Runners Rush To Wondai (2020)
- Wondai Festival A Runaway Success (2019)
- Wondai Sets A Cracking Pace (2018)
- Country Festival Off To A Great Start (2017)
[UPDATED with correction]
