THE future of running was on display at the Dubbo Stampede on Sunday, with a pair of youngsters showing their rivals a clean pair of heels in the Dingo Dash 5.5km event.
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Orange 15-year-old Connor Whiteley was first over the line in a time of 19 minutes, finishing seven seconds clear of Bathurst’s Paul Moran, while 12-year-old Taylor Porter from Caringbah South led home the field in the female event with a time of 21:36.
A field of 1950 lined up for the shortest event on the Stampede, ranging from the serious runners through to those that simply elected to take a leisurely stroll around Taronga Western Plains Zoo and enjoy the scenery provided along the course.
Whiteley’s time was two minutes outside his personal best but after just returning from a national carnival, he was happy enough with his performance.
“I didn’t know what to expect or who I was going to be up against, I just came here to see how I would go,” he said.
“I haven’t been running too many 5km recently, it’s been more cycling training and cross country events.
“I only got back from the nationals for cross country last week, that carnival was in Albany, so to come here today and win is pretty good.
“Triathlon season starts soon so I’ll probably switch to being more focused on them over the next few weeks.”
Porter has just returned from injury but said she had been training hard prior to the Stampede.
Her time, which placed her ninth overall, was one minute clear of her nearest female rival Eliza Harvey from West Pennant Hills, who was also in the 12-13 years category.
“I’ve been injured but for the past few weeks I’ve been training Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday for between an hour and an hour-and-a-half,” she said.
“I wasn’t overly confident before the race but I was happy with how I went and that I was able to win.”
DINGO DASH TOP 10
1. Connor Whiteley (Orange) 19:00; 2. Paul Moran (Bathurst) 19:07; 3. Sean Williams (Kingsford) 19:14; 4. Jake Grady (Dubbo) 20:48; 5. Brad Simmons (Orange) 21:02; 6. Thomas Kotzur (Dubbo) 21:27; 7. Craig May (Dubbo) 21:28; 8. Shane Whatman (Gooloogong) 21:30; 9. Taylor Porter (Caringbah South) 21:36; 10. Luka Mihailich (Canobolas) 22:20.
