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Issue Five Thursday 18 October 2012 - FREE

WEATHER FORECAST

Min Max

FRI 19 39

Sunny. Hot. Extreme UV Index

SAT 18 38

Sunny. Hot. Very High UV Index

SUN 20 38

Sunny. Hot. Very High UV Index

MON 20 38

Sunny. Hot. Extreme UV Index

WEATHER FORECAST

Who to beat in the Mile heatIs there a ‘smokey’ who will come in and ‘steal’ the prestigious Masters Mile title?

While runners have been clocking good times in the Athletics Road and Cross Country and Track and Field, the Mile is open to all participants.

There are two sections to the Mile – one for the competitive runners and the other for those who want to savour the experience and dress-up in a costume for the event.

Reigning Mile champion Peter Eason, who is not running due to injury, wished all the runners a good event and hoped they enjoyed it.

“The 1500m on Tuesday evening and 5km cross country in the morning are a reasonable guide to how the runners will perform,’’ he said.

“The Mile is really heavy on the lungs, especially for interstaters, which will favour the local runners.

“By the 800m to 1km mark, many of the runners will start to struggle, as I did in 2010, especially if they go out too hard.

“The Mile brings together runners from 800m to the 5km as it is too long for the shorter distance runners and too short for the distance runners.’’

Eli Melky, who set a sizzling time in the 5km cross country, has firmed as favourite to win the Mile outright for the first time.

“You can never say who is favourite as anything can happen,’’ Eli said.

“I will do my very best to win and the only thing that is certain is that I will have nothing left at the end.’’

Leigh Browell, the 2010 outright runner-up, is also firming as a contender, especially after his strong win on the 1500m track event on Tuesday evening.

There is a field of younger runners who will be out to win the title.

These include Leigh Browell, Michael Bodnar, Jared Ewin, Brett Smythe and Dennis Puckett.

Michael Bartholomew is also a quality runner in the 45-49 age group and Pete Brady has clocked good times in the 50-54 age group but the Mile is likely to be too short for them to challenge for outright honours.

Leigh said Eli would be hard to beat but he was focused on the winning the Mile.

“I came here to run the Mile in preparation for a record bid in the 3km steeplechase at the Pan Pacs in two weeks,’’ he said.

“My form is good and I have run a lot of PBs this year.

“Pete has also been running well. I have beaten him a couple times and he beat me in the Cross Country.’’

Andrea Foot has dominated all the events she has entered and looks likely to take the women’s title from Christine Suffolk.

Both are likely gold medallists in their age groups but who will win outright?

Andrea, who has only been running on and off for 18 months, has had a busy week juggling the Track and Field events, Cross Country and playing Touch.

Coached by Eli Melky, she is confident after a convincing win in the 1500m when she ran perfectly to instructions sitting behind Christine until the 1100m, when she dashed past and established a winning lead.

Christine has been in great form including breaking the 1988 Games record for the Women’s 40 - 44 3000m.

Other runners to keep an eye out for include Donna Burgess, Sharyn Hunter, Elizabeth Slattery, Kelly Masters, Debbie Page and Kathryn Loader.

One of the darlings of the run will be Monica Osborne, 90, in what could be her final event at the Alice Springs Masters Games.

Everyone, including spectators, are advised to hydrate well before the run.

The Mile is a straight run along Gap Road, from near the Lutheran Church, to outside the Council Chambers on Gap Road.

Women will run from 6pm with the men starting at 6.30pm. Runners are asked to check in at the start line 30 minutes before they start.

Spectators are welcome to take advantage of the various vantage points along the length of the run.

Presentations will be made immediately after the event before the Cycling street sprint begins.

Have you heard Patrick Johnson is in town and old enough to run.

Weather Alert!With the Temperatures

soaring and an Extreme UV Index don’t forget to hydrate regularly and cover up to to

avoid heat distress.

Men’s Masters Mile OddsEli Melky 7-4 The one to beatLeigh Browell 2-1 Main danger to the favouriteMichael Bodnar 3-1 Cannot be underestimated Michael Bartholomew 6-1 Never far awayPete Brady 8-1 Been training the house downBrett Smythe 10-1 Sure to make his presence feltJared Ewing 15-1 Dark horse who could make a few nervous Jason Reid 20-1 Might give others too big a startBen Inglis 1000-1 Appears to have his mind on other things

Women’s Masters Mile OddsAndrea Foot 5-2 Will take catching

Christine Suffolk 7-2 In good form, pay to watch

Sharyn Hunter 5-1 Give this a shake

Donna Burgess 8-1 Never gives up

Elizabeth Slattery 15-1 Can’t be written off

Kelly Masters 20-1 Right name to win this

Debbie Page 25-1 Walker looking to mix it with the runners

Kathryn Loader 25-1 Could surprise, value at these odds

BMX begins tonight...see page 3 for details

Leigh Browell leads the pack in the men’s 1500m event on Tuesday

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SportS HoroScope14th Games – will it be

lucky for you?

LibraFeeling tired Libra? Try some Berocca to give you back your bounce.

ScorpioThat sting in your tail is a weapon to be careful of. Be careful of its paralyzing powers.

SaGittariuSSomeone significant might be giving you grief, but it’s no need to call it quits on them. Keep the ‘Friendly’ in the Games and in your life.

capricornSomething spectacular is on the horizon… maybe it’s Christmas… or something even bigger…

aquariuSIt’s time to let your hair down Aquarius; there are only a few more days of the Friendly Games to have a great time!

piSceSWhat’s that smell? A fish in the heat can be a bit off-putting, keep up your liquids and don’t forget the deodorant!

arieSToday you will show just what true grit is. And then have a nice relaxing evening.

tauruS

Stressed? Take a deep breath and relax, it’s not all that serious.

GeminiYou’re a split personality today Gemini, nice one minute, thinking nasty thoughts the next. Keep your thoughts pure, remember, thoughts become words and words become actions.

cancerThere is work to be done at the end of the week, so make sure you’ve got all the tools ready. Have a good time, but keep yourself in a state to be useful for Saturday.

LeoFeeling a bit bloated Leo? Drink some water rather than beer or tequila. Try a relaxing walk to stretch it out.

VirGoVirgo; your innocent ways have been corrupted in this week of debaucherous fun. Next week will be different. If you have news or want to give a shout out please SMS or CALL

There is no stop to the fun during Games week. This will come to the fore this evening when the Touch teams have their regular skit night.All the teams have to perform on the night and it is a lot of fun.

There appears to be quite a few tired participants in the Games including Games Patron Dawn Fraser.On air to a Southeast SA station, with our regional radio host Brian Webb, Dawn was asked if there were any Olympians at these Games.After a bit of a delay as her thought processes clicked into gear Dawn said “Oh yeah, I am one of those’’.

In the early 90s, an Alice Springs Tenpin bowler visualised the running

Lynda JonesFran Whitty

Anthony HoldingJennifer SteerTricia Bruce

Inge CamilleriSharon AndersonMarlene Niland

Terry NisbetVern RobertsJillian Brent

William Willis

of a Bowling tournament by way of a computer program.John set about developing such a program that could handle all entries, scores and results.His aim was to have the Masters Games Tenpin event fully computerised thus cutting out many man hours of score totalling and checking etc.Over the years John has tweaked the “Tournamatic” software to the point where it can easily handle the 2500 games bowled in the 40 different events and grades of the ASMG Tenpin Bowling.

Some of the Butterflies Basketball team fluttered with Karaoke at Lasseters Hotel Casino during the week.Jenny Connolly proved she was as deft a hand in the singing spotlight as on the court.

For the record, Jenny was awarded a 35-year-service medal from Basketball Victoria in 2010, mainly for Dandenong, but she still coaches junior girls at Melbourne Tigers.Australian triple world champion representative Karin McRobert was also at her usual best following on from her TV days with Brian Naylor on Swallow Juniors.Basketball got more than they bargained for when Wobbly’s no.19 thought she’d scored a 3 pointer. The ball was in the ring, the shirt had come off for a victory lap...then the ball kept rolling right out! Onya Karen, they are not called Wobblys for nothing.

Heard residents near Rhonda Diano Oval, at the Athletics Track and Field, were confused with constant shouts of “out the back’’.

It was not a call for them to check their backyard – just spectators of the throwing events reminding participants to walk out the back of the circle to avoid disqualification.

If you have lost an item, don’t forget to come and see what has been handed in to the Information Booth at the Games Centre.Believe one participant could be paying a few fines having lost a team token – possibly a Tassie Devil or a fierce cat.Also, if you find anything that does not have an owner, bring it in and don’t forget to check out the Expo stands that are still in place.

cyclists say no town like alice

nightclub to crown the day

Two flat tyres didn’t stop Cycling newcomer Robert Benson from placing second in Tuesday’s 60km road race.

Robert, who competed in the 60-64 division, has only been cycling for two months, but decided he would enjoy the glorious weather at 6.30am on Tuesday and take to the tarmac.

The road race was a close one for cyclists, with Andrew Koops and Paul Stansall having a showdown, with Paul Stansall taking the lead.

The victory was sweet for Paul, who had been ‘robbed’ of first place in the criterion by Andrew on Sunday.

Cyclists must be a fit and tough bunch, with some of them using the Mountain Bike events as warm ups for the Criterion.

Cyclists Paul Darvodelsky, and Julie Permezel, both from Alice Springs, came straight off their mountain bikes and on to the race bikes for the Criterion, and took out gold for their divisions. Paul averaged an

impressive 41km/h.

Paul, who obviously doesn’t spend too much time watching movies in the Alice Springs Cinema (despite being entitled to free tickets) is known by locals to train for up to 5 hours in a day.

The Smith brothers, Kenton and Geoff, are likely to cause a stir in their events, with the well known duo from Surrey Hills in Victoria competing in the 70-74 division.

Competitors have said that Alice Springs has provided the best course they’ve ever raced on.

The Masters competition is just a small taste of racing in the Centre, with some other great events including the three day 471km Kings Canyon Cruise, or the five-day Enduro, both held in May.

The competition is expected to heat up in the street sprint this evening and the track cycling at the Velodrome on Friday.

on the look out for tri hardsIt is all systems go for the Triathlon on Saturday after a successful Duathlon this morning.

Triathlete Allison Foster said the hardest thing for duathletes to do was concentrate as they ran and cycled their way through the event.

“It has to be the most beautiful Duathlon course in Australia,’’ she said.

“The runs are along the paths in the Alice Springs Desert Park and they then cycle beside the majestic

MacDonnell Ranges along Larapinta Drive.

“It has really set the scene for the Triathlon on Saturday.

“We have 50 plus individual entries and people can still enter a team so we do not know final numbers yet.’’

This is an opportunity for anyone who still has some energy and is running out of things to do in the Games.

The distances for the team Triathlon, and individuals younger than 60yrs,

are a 600m swim, 200m cycle and a 5km run.

Why not try doing a little bit more by putting your name down for a leg of the triathlon?

Runners are particularly wanted.

The sheets are at the Games Centre so put your name down to swim, cycle or run and organise your team by 4pm today.

For more details contact Kathy Moylan on 8955 1116.

The Masters Nightclub is back for one night only, tonight, at the Crowne Plaza Alice Springs.

Back by popular demand, it will be rocking to the beat of DJ Retro Roly from 9pm to 3am.

It will held in the Spinifex Room.

Entry is by gold coin donation with proceeds going to the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

Crowne Plaza Alice Springs is a Silver Sponsor of the Alice Springs Masters Games.

A long awaited rivalry between Max Yffer and Peter Illmayer in the 45-49 division.

Leading up to the 2012 there was a fair bit of chat regarding the match up again of these two highly competitive men. Cyclists love to talk!

We’d love your FEEDBACK!

Please complete our participant survey

on the Games website.alicespringsmastersgames.com.au

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“Thanks for last night”

Gopher Graham to the rescueHelping look after injured athletes has been a big part of Graham Henker’s life since his son Ian began playing junior Aussie Rules for the South Clare Sports Club in SA.

He has been coming to the Alice Springs Masters Games since 2000 and has helped out with the Sports Medicine team.

Graham has been involved in Sports Medicine at Masters Games around the country, the mountain bike event in Alice Springs in May and the recent UniGames in Adelaide.

“I was coming up for a holiday to visit my daughter Elizabeth and she was playing tennis with some girls who asked if I could be the sports trainer for their Softball team,’’ Graham said.

“I rang Sports Medicine in Darwin and they put me on to the team for Games.

“Luckily for the girls, I was given Softball as my sport.

“Sports Medicine developed from tagging along and wanting to do something for my son’s football team, eventually doing the national course and now I have been to events around the country doing Sports Medicine.

“The Sports Medicine set-up at these Games is as good as, if not better, than anywhere in Australia.

“It is good to have doctors, physios and sports trainers from all around Australia you can learn from.

“Everyone and everything is in the one place. It is a vital area.’’

Graham arrived in Alice Springs a week before the Games and helped set up the Sports Medicine clinic at Traeger Park.

He has been around in the field doing a lot of the early morning sports again this year as he is happy being a gopher and helping out wherever needed.

A team of six Basketballers have come from Darwin for their 14th Alice Springs Masters Games.

They are Maisie Austin, Lorraine Adams, Shirley Lew Fatt, Ev Ottley, Chris Sargent and Helen Lyle.

They take justifiable pride in the fact they won the first gold medal in Masters Games Basketball in Australia.

Maisie said the team was inspired by Games Patron Dawn Fraser who stood behind the bench during the closing stages and cheered the team on with Maisie shooting a three-pointer in the final seconds to win gold by a point.

They have won “swags” of medals – gold, silver and bronze since – including two World Masters golds.

“We look forward to the Alice Springs Masters Games – we go to other Masters but Alice Springs is special and we love supporting them,’’ Maisie said.

“We were asked if we wanted to go to the Gold Coast but said no because this is our Games.

“Everything being so close so you can walk and watch other people you know is wonderful.

“We have made and kept a lot of friendships over the years and this is what makes the Masters Games what they are.’’

The team originally played as Darwin but has changed to Territory as players from Alice Springs and Gove joined.

This year Games stalwarts Sue Jones, Liz Dashwood and Barb Hamill, from Alice

Springs, and Laurie Henley from Cairns, who has family in the Territory, have joined the team.

“We have played against the Alice Springs trio for years, even before the Masters, and they have never beaten us,’’ Maisie said.

“This is a rivalry from the days Basketball was played on an outside bitumen court that became a friendship.

“It seems their motto is ‘if you can’t beat them, join them’.’’

Time is running out for Basketballers to nominate someone for the Steve Johansen Memorial Trophy. This award is perpetuated by the Adelaide 37s, led by former Australian player Mark Lampshire, to commemorate the spirit of their departed teammate.

Brooke Klarenbeek, 28 of Alice Springs, is one of only two women registered in this year’s BMX competition in the Masters Games.

Some say it is because women are more sensible than men, but Sue-Anne, wife of rider Rob Polglase, said that someone has to be available to drive to hospital if there’s an accident.

It’s no surprise as injuries are common in this sport. Last week a rider broke his wrist and Rob missed out on the 2010 Games due to broken ribs.

Rob, 33, competed in the NT titles earlier this month, and is looking forward to competing in his first Masters Games.

He came to the sport four years ago, when his children, 10-year-old Dean and eight-year-old Jade were looking to get into a sport and they all started together.

The popularity of BMX riding has picked up again since being showcased at the London Olympics.

BMX is a pretty serious sport in Alice Springs, with training twice per week on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and competitions on Fridays.

The Alice Springs club has enjoyed an influx of under-eights, a division called ‘Sprockets’ in addition to the Masters who ride around regularly.

Tony Prow, the BMX Convenor, is sure to be a serious contender for gold this year, having competed at the 2008 Worlds for BMX. Tony won the double gold medal at the 2010 Masters Games in the 45+ division.

The BMX comp kicks off on Thursday evening at 6.30pm at Blatherskite Park, and will conclude on Friday evening.

Hoops hoping for more gold

BMX riding risky business

Shuttling cocks is a good sport About 30 people have ventured from WA to bash at shuttlecocks in the name of sport. Competitors from Narrogin, Bunbury and Perth flew, drove and came in caravans to be at this year’s Alice Springs Master Games, all in the name of Badminton.

You may have seen the ladies from Bunbury at the Opening Ceremony with silver hair and T-shirts that proclaimed “We put the Bad in Badminton”.

There is some strong competition from Melbourne teams who were keeping players on their toes.

Euc, a Japanese national, is enjoying his last tournament in Australia before being repatriated to his family.

His spirit on the court was evident in his lively leaps and dives.

Many people in the Badminton teams have participated in more than 10 Masters Games, and hope that more people will join the sport to keep the competition lively.

Euc Asada in action during the Badminton competiton

BMX riders will be flying when the competition kicks off tonight

Sports Medicine mates Cliff Smith and Graham Heneker enjoy the Games

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Archery 7.30am - 3D 1 & 3 Arrow Archery Range

Athletics - Road & Cross Country

6am - 10km Run Simpsons Gap

Badminton 2pm - IndividualsMarian Centre

Baseball 9am - CompetitionLyle Kempster Park

Basketball 10am - CompetitionTraegar Park Stadium

BMX 6.30pm - CompetitionBlatherskite Park

Cricket 1.00pm - FinalsJim McConville

Cycling 5.30pm - Track RacingVelodrome

Darts 10am - SinglesAlice Springs Golf Club

Equestrian 8.00am & 4.30pm - Show Jumping Blatherskite Park

Football (Soccer)

5.30pm - CompetitionRoss Park

Golf 7am - Alice Springs Golf Club Cromwell Drive

Hockey 8am - Hockey CentreTraegar Park

Indoor Beach Volleyball

3pm - FinalsDesert Sands

Lawn Bowls 8am - FinalsMemorial Club

Netball 6pm - FinalsPat Gallagher

Shooting - Sporting Shooters

8.30am - CompetitionShooting Complex

Softball 10am - FinalsJim McConville

Squash 2.00pm - TeamsAS Squash Centre

Swimming 1pm - 1500m EventsAS Town Pool

Table Tennis 4pm - CompetitionMarian Centre

Tennis 5.15pm - Medal Rounds Traeger Park Courts

Tenpin Bowling 10am - CompetitionDust Bowl, Gap Road

Touch Football 9.30am - FinalsFlynn Park

Volleyball 1.30pm - FinalsCDU

Volleyball Alert

Semi - Finals will commence at 2.30pm today