A LAST minute decision to defend his four consecutive Surf ‘T’ Surf titles paid off for Scott Rantall as the athlete made it five straight after a see-sawing battle.
The battle was with Ethiopian Yared Temesgen, who made his debut in the 29th fun run after Warrnambool’s Jade Frankel invited Temesgen and fellow Ethiopian Tesfaye Jiru to enter the event.
Rantall, a former Warrnambool resident who is now based in Geelong, explained that the 10-kilometre Surf ‘T’ Surf wasn’t on his agenda.
“I had a race last weekend and I’ve got a race next weekend so I wasn’t going to do it but I decided (Saturday) afternoon I would,” he said.
“I like running by myself but I also like competition.
“I always like to support local events and it’s just a good time of year to be running.”
He discovered on Saturday that he would have some fierce competition — Temesgen and Jiru. “I thought it would be great to have a challenge,” he said.
“Five years ago, when I first started I would come up against (Vin) McCarthy and Kris McCartney, who were tough.”
He conceded in the last couple of years he had felt reasonably comfortable in the race.
He was far from comfortable yesterday, however, with Temesgen hard to shake off.
“He was leading until the two-kilometre mark, then I caught him and at the four-kilometre mark, he took the lead,” Rantall said.
The Australian regained the lead at the 5km mark.
“At about eight kilometres I started to pick it up and got out to a 50-metre lead, then 150 metres,” he said.
Rantall clocked in at a slick 32 minutes and 15 seconds, with Temesgen about 15 seconds behind him.
It wasn’t swift enough to eclipse what is believed to be the race record which was set by Brian Lewry, in an exceptional 30:29 in the 1980s.
Spectators could have been in for a thrilling finish but unfortunately Temesgen lost about 30 seconds after two misdirections.
The Ethiopian — who said the warmer conditions were challenging — went the wrong way at two roundabouts, losing not only time but also momentum.
He was still pleased with his second place.
Yesterday’s annual event welcomed 830 competitors — 450 of whom ran while the remainder took to the Warrnambool streets for a six-kilometre walk.
Rantall is getting ready for the prestigious Senshu marathon in Japan on February 23.
The 28-year-old — who took out the Koroit to Warrnambool Half Marathon in August — admitted his preparations for his overseas race had not been going too smoothly.
“I’ve been doing more of these 10km runs,” he said.
“I’ll start doing some longer ones from now on.”
This year’s Surf ‘T’ Surf honoured six-time winner Judy McDowall, who died of leukaemia in August. The event’s committee presented the inaugural Judy McDowall Memorial Medal to the first female runner across the line, Hepburn Springs’ Bridget Milesi.
A cancer fund-raiser was also held, with more than $650 raised while the organising committee also pledged a donation.
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