When Canberra’s Joshua Torley crossed the finish line at the Dubbo Stampede on Sunday, he took everyone by surprise.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Commentators ‘Mossy’ and ‘Robbo’ were busy naming finishers in the 5.3 kilometre Dingo Dash and the 10km Cheetah Chase when Torley sped over the line. It was a few moments before everyone realised the flying 18-year-old was a competitor in the half marathon – and the winner in a new course record time of one hour, eight minutes and 19 seconds.
He averaged a blistering pace of 3:14 minutes per kilometre – faster than the winner of the Dingo Dash (3:20 min/km) and the Cheetah Chase (3:28 min/km).
The win secures Torley’s place at the top of the NSW Regional Distance Running Championships points tally, three points ahead of Mudgee half marathon winner Wes Gibson with one event, the Carcoar Cup, remaining.
“Really happy with that,” Torley said.
“I wasn’t really sure how I’d go. I had a bit of trouble during the week with my hamstring but I came back from it … this was a bit of a test for it.
“I knew if it was going to stuff up then it would stuff up today, but it was all good … I’m really happy with the time.”
Torley’s hamstring troubles ruled him out of the Mudgee Running Festival, and he’s in doubt for Carcoar in November.
“I’ll see how I go because I’m going over to Chicago to run in the marathon and [Carcoar] is about a week after I come back,” he said. “Hopefully I’ll pull up alright and be able to pull it off.”
