{"id":266988,"date":"2020-07-24T18:15:41","date_gmt":"2020-07-24T08:15:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=266988"},"modified":"2020-10-09T00:16:58","modified_gmt":"2020-10-08T14:16:58","slug":"wondai-runners-raring-to-go","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2020\/07\/24\/wondai-runners-raring-to-go\/","title":{"rendered":"Wondai Runners Raring To Go"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Organisers of the Wondai Country Running Festival are excited to bring back the first of the South Burnett’s regular festivals to be held since the March lockdowns (Photo: Wondai Country Festival)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

June 8, 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wondai’s Country Running Festival will be making its fourth outing this Saturday and organisers will be hoping for fine weather all weekend.<\/p>\n

The Festival is one of the few local events that didn’t decide to “pull the plug” early during the COVID-19 pandemic although it was put back a month to allow restrictions to ease sufficiently to allow it to operate.<\/p>\n

Committee spokesperson Ros Heit said current restrictions meant there would be staggered starts for all running events.<\/strong><\/p>\n

But this would not pose any problem because all runners would be wearing electronic timing bibs that will record their start and finish times automatically.<\/p>\n

Before the races, runners will also be kept in small groups in separate “pens” to ensure proper social distancing.<\/p>\n

Ros said registrations for this year’s events have broken all previous records, with more than 300 people signed up.<\/p>\n

“Things just keep getting a bit bigger every year,” she said.<\/p>\n

The schedule of events is similar to last year’s festival with a couple of minor changes.<\/p>\n

On the Saturday, the CROW-FM Dash For Cash – a one kilometre fast run – will be held at 8:15am, followed by the South Burnett CTC All Abilities run (1km) at 8:45am and then the 2km Family Fun Run at 9:00am.<\/strong><\/p>\n

At 2:30pm, the 11.1km PCA McEuen Forest Trail Run will be held.<\/p>\n

On Sunday morning, the Ken Mills Automotive Marathon (42.2km) will get underway at 6:30am, followed by the Bendigo Bank Half-Marathon (21.1km) at 7:00am and the 10km PCA Rail Trail Run at 7:30am.<\/p>\n

Saturday’s events will coincide with the monthly Wondai Markets, and on Sunday, food and coffee stalls will be open to cater for spectators.<\/p>\n

Footnote:<\/strong> Sunday’s events are expected to conclude in time for local residents to take part in the Wondai air crash commemoration service which will mark the 30th anniversary of a tragic plane crash that claimed the lives of five victims.<\/p>\n

[Photos: Nadine Gray Photography]<\/strong><\/p>\n