Aaron made his historic win against the racehorse Bonboneire Lady this week at the XXXX Gold Grafton Racing Carnival’s WHK Ramornie Handicap Day, one of country racing’s biggest race meetings.

On a heavy track he said was “full of holes and covered in long grass”, Aaron ran the 115 metres in 12.4 seconds under handicap conditions. The horse ran the distance in 13.1 seconds.

Aaron, 18, from Lismore, won the $40,000 Stawell Gift sprint race earlier this year and hopes to represent Australia at the 2010 Olympic Games in London.

Aaron said he believes the late Kevin Irvine – the Australian rugby league great and one of the game’s fastest wingers who himself was a record-breaking professional sprinter – was the last person to race against a racehorse in Australia.

Irvine lost the race which was against a racehorse named Gili, at the Kembla Grange racecourse in Wollongong back in 1963.

“I was pretty happy with the time I ran and to win one back for the human race,” Aaron said.

“The crowd was right behind me cheering and I could hear my dad yelling throughout the race ‘Go boy go! Go! Go! Go!’. I always hear dad cheering me on through all of my races. He and mum are my greatest supporters.

“I was just focused on the finishing line and not the horse. As soon as you can hear the horse, the race is over.

“After the race I was called on to do a lap of honour, so I was pretty exhausted at the end of it all.”

This has been a great year for the Aaron. Prior to posting one of the most impressive victories in the history of the Stawell Gift, he was a star of the Australian Surf Life Saving Championships in West Australia where he represented Queensland’s Kurrawa club.

He scorched the sand to win both the Under-19 and Open Beach Sprints and anchored Kurrawa to victories in the Under 19 and Open Beach Relays.

He has kept up to the mark by competing in recent Queensland track and field meets and has recently clocked 10.73 seconds for the 100m, qualifying him for next year’s National Track and Field Championships and putting him well in sight of being chosen for Australia’s 2010 Olympic team.

“And in the meantime, it is back to hitting the books for my university studies,” he said.

PICTURE: Elite athlete Aaron Stubbs charges for the finish line, well in front of his racehorse rival, Bonboneire Lady, for the historic man versus thoroughbred match. Photo courtesy of Grafton Daily Examiner.

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Wearing shoes sent to him back in 2003 by five-time Australian 100m champion Matt Shirvington, Stubbs blitzed the field from the gun and quickly gathered in the front markers.

The pre-race favourite was never challenged, winning by nearly two metres in 11.87 with an assisting wind of 1.2m/s.

“This is massive. I am so happy,” said the elated osteopathy student from Lismore.

After the completion of the heats on Saturday, this was meant to be one of the closest Stawell Gifts in recent memory, but Stubbs changed all that in the semi-finals where he cracked the magical 12-second barrier with an air-punching 11.90 seconds, ensuring he would start the final as the $1.55 firm favourite with the bookmakers.

After winning the open and Under-19 Australian beach sprint double earlier this year in Perth, Stubbs was confident that he would hold up through the three rounds in Stawell.

“At the surf nationals I didn’t actually get the best start but I really finished well and ran past everyone, which gave me confidence for the 120m,” he said.

Running the fastest time seen at Central Park since 1995, Stubbs drew inspiration from a past winner and from one of Australia’s fastest ever sprinters.

“It means so much. When I was watching Mott (referring to 2006 winner Adrian Mott) a few years ago I thought that’s what I would love to happen to me one day and it has,” he said.

An autograph-seeking encounter as a 10-year-old with Australia’s second fastest sprinter ever Matt Shirvington earned him a signature and a pair of the Sydney Olympian’s spikes.

Shirvington, who sent Stubbs the spikes after he ran his fastest ever time on Australian soil, a 10.09 dash at Runaway Bay on the Gold Coast, was pleased to have inspired the winner.

“You don’t think about what might happen when you meet young kids at clinics or sign autographs but it’s fantastic to know that I could inspire someone to win,” said Shirvington.

“But I’m sure it’s not just the shoes. He has obviously done a lot of work and to run that time is sensational.”

Stubbs thanked his family and his coach Ryan Hoffman for their support.

“I’d like to thank my parents Paul and Linda, my coach Ryan and my brother. There’s so many people,” he said.

Hoffman, a perennial Stawell Gift semi-finalist, knew his charge would handle the pressure well.

“I’ve been working with Aaron for three years and he’s a smart boy,” said Hoffman.

“I didn’t have to talk to him between the semi and the final. He knew what he was doing.”

His father Paul, who is himself a handy sprinter and ran in the heats of the Gift where he finished second, was quietly confident that his son would win.

“I knew after the Australian beach titles how well he would go. He’s just so strong,” he said.

Stubbs has no grand plans for the $40,000 winner’s cheque.

“I’m living away from home at the moment for uni so this will go to buying some good food for once and not just the cheap stuff,” he said.

The minor placings were filled by Moreland’s Paul Tancredi (12.04 seconds) and fast-finishing Queenslander Matt Davies, who flew home from the backmark of 2.25m to record an impressive 12.08 seconds.

Picture courtesy of Shane Goss – The Licorice Gallery

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Ms Saffin said Grafton High School’s Rowing Club would receive $3000 towards its tilt at the  Australian National Titles being staged at Lake Barrington in Tasmania this week.

Managed by Kerrie Tarrant, team members include Briony Edgar, Oliver Couch, Fraser Hemphill, Sarah Jones, Cameron Kitcher, Nicholas Mills, Timothy Riddell, Nathan Sneesby, Adam Spies and Johanna Tarrant.

Ms Saffin congratulated individual recipients of  $500 grants – Wooloweyah swimmer Dylan Brown, Wollongbar water polo player Paul Carter, Ballina athlete with a disability Mikey Lloyd-Tighe, and South Grafton cricketer Kara Sutherland.

“Junior sportsmen and women often find it difficult to meet the costs of participating at major competitions in our capital cities, particularly when they live and train in a regional area like the Northern Rivers,” she said.

“The Local Sporting Champions program provides financial assistance for these emerging sports stars towards the cost of travel, accommodation, uniforms or equipment when competing at an official national sporting organisation (NSO) endorsed state or national competition.”

Ms Saffin also announced that an expert panel of  three high-profile sporting identities would assist her in assessing future quarterly rounds of the $1.6 million Australian Sports Commission-administered program.

The panel includes former Socceroo and SBS football commentator Craig Foster, who grew up in Lismore, Beijing Olympic Games silver medal-winning kayaker Jacqui Lawrence, formerly of  Old Bonalbo; and Southern Cross University lecturer and ABC Local Radio sports commentator Dave Arthur.

Ms Saffin urged young sportspeople in Page, including unsuccessful applicants from this first round, to make an individual or team application if they are eligible. More information is available www.ausport.gov.au/champions

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McHugh, aged 20, already has competed internationally.

He spent time training in Germany in 2007 and recorded an impressive 17th place in a Pro-Men race in London.

Last year he competed in China as part of the Asian Continental Cup series.

The City of Perth Triathlon Challenge incorporates the Australian Triathlon Championships (Olympic distance).

Hundreds of age group competitors will travel from all parts of Australia, with double selection points on offer for the Olympic Distance Triathlon, as they attempt to qualify for September’s World Championships on the Gold Coast.

In the elite field, last year’s winner, Beijing Olympian, Courtney Atkinson (Qld) is ready to defend his crown, while Beijing bronze medallist Emma Moffatt heads the women’s field at this stage.

The Olympic distance course sees athletes line up for a 1500m swim in the Swan River, followed by four laps of a 10km bike course (40km) along the foreshore, and finishing with three laps of an M-shaped run course (10km) along Riverside Drive.

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Included in the field was history’s second-fastest 100m runner, Asafa Powell, who once clocked 9.72 seconds.

Mulcahy, a member of last year’s Australian team for the World Junior Championships, finished third to Sean Wroe from Melbourne.

Wroe won in 45.28 sec, ahead of Xavier Carter, of the United States, who clocked 45.75.

Mulcahy’s 45.84 put him ahead of Powell in 45.94, with Australia’s Commonwealth champion John Steffensen fifth (45.98).

In the 2007-08 domestic season, Mulcahy competed in the 400m at the Sydney and Melbourne Grand Prix meets, then contested a strong field at the open Nationals to finish 7th (47.27).

He then competed in the Under-20 national titles two weeks later, finishing first in the 400m and 200m.

Following a strong season, he was selected to compete in his second World Junior Championships, in Poland.

Competing in the 400m and 4x400m, he finished an impressive fourth in the individual event, with the relay team missing a place in the final.

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The Lismore local and SCU purchasing/supply officer is preparing to take on a 21.1km run at the Gold Coast Marathon this weekend, the 18th time he has participated in the event.

The half marathon is one of a number of events at the Gold Coast Marathon this Sunday (July 6), including the Southern Cross University 10km run.

But Peter needed no encouragement from his employer, having been involved in with running groups for more than 20 years and completing numerous runs non-competitively all over Australia and New Zealand every year.

“I first started running in the Gold Coast Marathon in the 1980s and it’s been interesting to watch how it has grown now that it is in its 30th year,” said Peter.

“I was really pleased to see the university get on board and support this event.

“It’s a Queensland National Championship event but people still come from everywhere to run for fun – and that’s what it’s about.”

Despite his experience, the veteran runner takes training seriously.

He runs in rain, hail or flood with Ballina Athletics and Northern Rivers Hash House Harriers and often uses his lunch hour to increase his usual workout sessions from three to six times a week.

A typical recent weekend took in a 20km run on Saturday, followed by a 6km run over rough terrain on the beach on Sunday.

But Peter also admits there are some secrets to successfully sustaining fitness over time.

“In the case of running, I’d say technique plays a large part in preventing injury,” said Peter.

“An older runner that I know once said to me, ‘I run silently’, and I knew exactly what he meant.

“Running with a low-impact technique can go a long way to avoiding things like knee and ankle injuries.

“The other thing is that people who enjoy what they’re doing will generally keep going, and as a result they get fitter and change their lifestyle.

“I’ve seen people change their lives completely – but you have to enjoy it, and I always have.

“My wife decided that if she couldn’t beat me, she’d join me, and now she’s a convert too.”

The first event of the Gold Coast Marathon kicks off at 6.25am on Sunday 6 July at the Race Precinct, north of Southport Pool, Gold Coast Highway, Southport and will conclude at 2pm.

Professor Paul Clark, Southern Cross University Vice-Chancellor, will fire the starter’s gun for the 10km run at 9.30am, before heading off for the 7.5km walk.

And for anyone still unsure about getting active, Peter has a parting thought.

“There’s a quote from Lord Somerset that says ‘Those who don’t find the time for exercise must find time for illness” He knew what he was talking about,” he said.

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Josh, of Alstonville, scored his second successive win in the Ballina event, leading the field home in 34 minutes and 16 seconds.

The winner of the women’s 10km event was Jessica Purbrick, a 25-year-old from Ballina. She clocked 37:17.

Josh, aged 20, is an elite-level triathlete and will go into the Byron Bay event as one of the leading contenders.

The North Coast Academy of Sport Triathlon squad member is a member of the NSW Institute of Sport Triathlon Squad for 2007-08.

He moved to Germany last year to train and compete with a development team, and recorded an impressive 17th place in a Pro-Men race in London last year

Josh said the event he will compete in in China is part of the Asian Continental Cup series.

Next weekend’s Byron Bay Triathlon, which has a capacity field, is an Olympic-distance event: a 1.5km swim, a 40km cycle and a 10km run.

It will start at 1pm.

This morning’s Ballina fun run and walk was another success, with an estimated 700 men, women and children taking part.

Some, such as Josh and Jessica, were ‘serious’ competitors, while others took advantage of a beautiful morning to take a not-so-serious walk or run along the cycle paths of East Ballina.

PICTURED: Ballina Lions Fun Run winners Josh McHugh and Jessica Purbrick.

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