Records could go as Mottram chases state title

Stadium and championship records could both come under threat on Thursday night when World Championship bronze medallist Craig Mottram takes his place on the start line at Lakeside Stadium for the Victorian 5,000m Championships.

The race will be Mottram’s final hit-out in the lead-up to the ZATOPEK:10 on December 10, which he will line up in for the first time in eight years.

The 31-year-old, who has been undertaking altitude training at Falls Creek, is a strong chance to eclipse Darren Lynch’s championship record of 13:30.96 from 2000.

If he does, he will create a nice piece of history for the new track by also surpassing Ron Clarke’s stadium record of 13:39.8, set back in 1966 at a meet run on the grass of the then South Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Mottram, the national 5,000m record holder, praised the strength of this year’s field, saying: “There are a lot of great guys coming down to run. Some of the New South Wales boys are going to make the journey down, so it’s a good opportunity to race on the new track with a good group of guys that I’ve spent some time with up at Falls Creek.”

The New South Wales contingent will include World Championships and Commonwealth Games representative Jeremy Roff, who won last year’s race in 13:56.77, the fastest time for the Championships in five years.

While that mark is almost certain to be bettered this year, Mottram downplayed the prospect of breaking records.

“I don’t think we’ll set the world on fire. But it’ll be a good hard hit-out for us all.”

The gun fires on the Victorian 5,000m Championships at 7pm, this Thursday 24 November, with the main race set for 8:30pm.

For all media enquiries, phone Mitch Brown at Athletics Victoria on (03) 9428 8195, or email mitch@athsvic.org.au