Darcy Hill powered home to claim top honours at the 48th Gunnedah Gallop on Sunday.

Hill stopped the clock in a time of 38.13 minutes over the 8km course, well inside his target time.

The Aussie Rules footballer from Gunnedah also took full advantage of his local knowledge about the Gallop running route.

“I knew the last bit was downhill so I thought if I get that with a bit of energy, I will be right,” Darcy said post-race.

He also knew second-placed Craig Stainton and third-placed Anthony Martin were not far behind but maintained the momentum into the final stretch.

“I had the music playing, thought should I turn it down to see if they were behind me but I just kept running,” he said.

It was a solid showing for the Gunnedah Bulldogs AFC representative who played in the midfield for the club throughout much of this season.

“I’ve just come off AFL season so you’d think I should be in alright shape,” Darcy said.

He joked also helping his cause on Sunday was “not getting tackled every 100 or so metres”.

Third placegetter, Anthony Martin (39.13), also achieved his goal to finish under 40 minutes.

When he is not competing in the Gallop, the local farmer enjoys trail running and mountain bike riding, finding time to train whenever it fits into his work schedule.

First woman home in the 8km vent was Armidale school student, Brooke Stainton.

The 17-year-old travelled with family to Gunnedah to compete and enjoyed the local circuit.

“It was a tough run but a good course – a bit hillier than I expected,” Brooke said.

Brooke trains weekly under coach Jay Stone while balancing study and other commitments.

It was a Gunnedah mother-daughter double in the second and third women’s standings, with Scout and Sue Newbery competing the podium places.

In the junior rankings, Cooper Galton claimed first place in the 2km Gallop course.

The Gunnedah youngster finished in 9.42 minutes, more than 10 seconds ahead of the next best, despite being hampered by a painful “stitch” mid-race.

Cooper recently returned from state competition where he competed in the 3km distance and is now in training for the representation in the 1500m and 800m distances.

A breakfast barbecue and presentation followed the morning races on Sunday at Gunnedah Showground.

The Gunnedah Gallop was first run by Gunnedah Apex in 1977 and this year was hosted by the Rotary Club of Gunnedah.

RESULTS:

8km Male 1st Darcy Hill
8km Male 2nd Craig Stainton
8km Male 3rd Anthony Martin
8km Female 1st Brooke Stainton
8km Female 2nd Scout Newberry
8km Female 3rd Sue Newberry
2km Male 1st Cooper Galton
2km Male 2nd Paddy Dowe
2km Male 3rd Zeb Dillion
2km Female 1st Piper Cooke
2km Female 2nd Kelly Watson
2km Female 3rd Allie Neilson
8km Female – under 16yrs  nil
8km Female – under 21 yrs Brooke Stainton & Scout Newberry
8km Female – 21 to 29 yrs Nikki Morrison
8km Female – 30 to 39yrs Lisa Steel
8km Female – 40 to 49yrs Lucy Loveridge
8km Female – 50+ years Sue Newberry
8km Male – under 16yrs Matheus Roca
8km Male – under 21 yrs Isaac Coker
8km Male – 21 to 29 yrs Tim McDermott
8km Male – 30 to 39yrs Kalana Tennaken
8km Male – 40 to 49yrs Welington Sardina
8km Male – 50+ years Joe Newberry

 

FULL RESULTS 8KM:

Darcy Hill 1 38.13
Craig Stainton 2 38.57
Anthony Martin 3 39.13
Tim McDermott 4 39.42
Welington Sardina 5 40.24
Brooke Stainton 6 40.5
Angus Frend 8 40.55
Scout Newberry 9 41.38
Matheus Roca 10 46.26
Sue Newberry 11 46.49
Lisa Steel 12 48.11
Lucy Loveridge 13 49.59
Dee Launders 14 50.28
Dusty Hughes 15 50.28
Steph Brown 16 50.58
Joe Newberry 17 51.32
Isaac Coker 18 51.32
Andrew Coker 19 51.45
Nikki Wheathead 20 52.52
Dawn Stainton 21 53.58
Anthony Bishop 22 54.38
Jennifer Hutchinson 23 55.48
Kalana Tennaken 24 58.03
Jodie Scotford 25 65.58
Lachlan Scotford 26 65.58
Sue Hutchinson 27 68.27
Nikki Morrison 28 69.35
Dee Bruce 29 69.35

FULL RESULTS 2KM:

Name Place Time Name Place Time
Cooper Galton 1 9.42 Sam Bourke 32 16.39
Paddy Dowe 2 19.52 Will Hunter 34 17.4
Zeb Dillion 3 9.48 George O’Keefe 35 19.33
Quade Young 4 9.48 Lennox Sheridan 35 19.37
Piper Cooke 5 10.37 Karen Willcoks 37 19.47
Huxley Sheridan 6 10.48 Kevin Sheridan 38 20.3
Kelly watson 7 10.55 Hollie Crawford 39 21.15
Heather Muldoon 8 11.47 Ian Crawford 40 21.15
Hugo Homes 9 11.53 Rio Loughrey 41 21.19
Thomas Beer 10 10.22 Salome Maxwell 41 21.19
Dustin Bourke 11 10.29 Angela McCormak 42 21.37
Matt Cooke 12 12.34 Mia Mizzi 43 21.49
Allie Neilson 13 12.39 Eleazor Ellis 44 22.43
Jimmy Loveridge 14 13.28 Alex O’Keefe 45 22.48
Peter Loveridge 15 13.28 Ethan Leader 46 22.55
Reuben Crawford 16 13.33 Alana Hunter 47 22.57
Pippi Beer 18 13.48 Reanna Jones 48 24.17
Xavier Sherdian 20 14.12 Annabelle Mitchell 49 24.37
Pippa Galton 21 14.25 Popie Scotford 50 24.48
Eloise Launder 22 14.25 Scarlett Hall 51 24.66
Noah Mizzi 23 14.33 Joe Perkins 52 24.6
Cooper Randall 24 14.49 Tim Ellis 52 25.1
Amanda Randall 25 14.49 Ava Mizzi 53 27.12
Greg Hill 26 14.3 Vince Mizzi 54 27.13
Caleb Bourke 27 15.29 Ruth Pope 57 34.13
Jacob Bourke 28 15.37 Gerry Barlett 57 34.13
Dustin Crawford 29 15.4 Nathan Browne 57 34.13
Lisa Cameron 30 15.57 Kat Henga no time recorded
Shannon Cooke 31 16.12 Grace Sheridian no time recorded

 

 

2024 Gunnedah Gallop winner Darcy Hill.

Cooper Galton, Paddy Dowe and Quade Young.

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