In the Southern Cross University 10km Run event on the Gold Coast yesterday, Australia’s Leanne Pompeani emerged triumphant, becoming only the second woman to win the race more than once in the history of the run.

Kylie Risk is the only other multiple winner of the event, having won it five times.

Earlier, Pompeani represented Australia at the World Cross Country Championships in March and followed that up with a win at a 10km race in Canberra in April. 

The Southern Cross University 10km Run Female Category

Pompeani, who was also the 2016 champion at the event, continued her fine form this year, setting a new person best of 33 minutes 00 seconds – this is faster than her Sydney personal best timing in May.

Said Pompeani, “It’s usually pretty good conditions here and I was kind of expecting that, so the tailwind that we had during the race was unfortunate. But it’s just whatever you get on the day that you have to deal with.”

Completing the women’s podium was Casey Wood, coming second in 33 minutes 10 seconds and Charlotte Wilson, coming in third in 33 minutes 54 seconds.

Said Wood, “I was pretty happy with the run today. It was within five seconds off my personal best time.”

The Southern Cross University 10km Run Male Category

In the men’s 10km event, 800m and 1,500m specialist Lachlan Barber claimed his first-ever win, finishing in 29 minutes 58 seconds. 

Said Barber, “I am very happy with my performance. I have never raced anything over 1,500m so yes, I was really stoked to get under 30 minutes in my first-ever 10km.”

In his maiden attempt at the 10km distance and Barber had surged clear of Tim Vincent over the final 400m to win by a narrow five seconds. 

Said Barber, “We got to the turnaround point with about 3km to go and the rest of the field sort of started dropping back off. I certainly was not expecting to be out in front, even that early. I was hoping for it to be a little bit slower, but I still got the win, so I am happy.”

Vincent, who was also the first Queensland runner across the line, claimed the Queensland 10km Road Race Running Championships for men.

And coming in third to round off the podium for the men was Liam Boudin in 30 minutes 18 seconds.

Both the male and female champions each win $1,000 prize money for their efforts.

The 2km Garmin Junior Dash Male Category

In the 2km Garmin Junior Dash Male category, Aden Kelly, aged eight, stopped the clock at 7 minutes 07 seconds to edge out second placed Luke Gorski and third placed Sam Ellice.

Said Kelly, “I was really excited for today. I even broke my personal best so I am happy.”

An accomplished runner, Aden the world age record for the 10,000m distance earlier in April, having recorded a time of 38 minutes and 57 seconds in the Brisbane Great South Run.

The 2km Garmin Junior Dash Female Category

And in the female category, the winner was Grace Campbell, in 7 minutes 34 seconds, with Isabelle Mortensen and Distenee Pickvance-Yee rounding off the podium.

Said Campbell, “I am happy to win. But it was a bit windy and there was headwind on my way back so that was difficult.”

The 4km Garmin Junior Dash Male Category

And in the 4km Garmin Junior Dash, Flynn Pumpa, 14, finished in 12 minutes 35 seconds, just falling short of a course record result – which was a speedy 12 minutes 29 seconds set in 2010 by Riley Cocks.

Said Pumpa, “The last 2km were tough from the wind but the first 2km were easy and quite cruise to begin with.”

This is Pumpa’s second win in the event. He was also the winner last year, and this makes him the second male runner to record multiple wins in the 4km Junior Dash, with the other being Jaxon Paterson-Wright in 2016 and 2017.

Coming in second and third respectively, had been Matthew Hansen (12 minutes 40 seconds) and Thomas Prole (13 minutes 23 seconds).

Said Hansen, “Flynn had me in the end. He trains hard and he deserves the win.”

The 4km Garmin Junior Dash Female Category

And the first female to cross the line was Sayla Donnelley in 14 minutes 07 seconds. 

She said, “I was pretty happy with my performance. I love running and the freedom it gives me. It was a tough race and I faced new challenges. I was not expecting to win, but I knew it was possible.”

Second and third were Denielle Hills (14 minutes 14 seconds) and Ruby Hughes (14 minutes 27 seconds).

Photos: Gold Coast Marathon