Photos from left: Grace Crane, David Stocks and Toni Brown
Canberra Cockatoos women’s captain, Grace Crane, surprised pundits with a strong win in the seventh race in the 2021-22 Twilight Series held on Wednesday evening on the upper slopes of Red Hill. Her physically-challenging 4.9 km course was expected to favour the male competitors, but she was fourth across the line and after the age/gender handicap factor was applied, Crane’s kilometre rate of 6 min 28.08 sec was almost 23 seconds faster than next best by junior, David Stocks. Another woman, Toni Brown was third, with a km rate 19 seconds slower than Stocks. Matthew Crane currently leads the Series on 497 points, as it goes into recess until 26 January 2022. With six races to go in 2022, any one of the top five could win the Series.
The across the line results for the two Moderate courses were:
- Moderate 1: 4.9 km: 18 controls: Men: 1. David Stocks 36 min 52 sec, 2. Paul de Jongh 38 min 45 sec; 3. Matthew Crane 39 min 05 sec; Women: 1. Grace Crane 41 min 16 sec, 2. Toni Brown 58 min 26 sec, 3. Elise Palethorpe 59 min 20 sec.
- Moderate 2: 3.4 km: 14 controls: Men: 1. Jesse Piiroinen 37 min 43 sec, 2. Ari Piiroinen 39 min 13 sec, 3 Hayden Dent 41 min 39 sec; Women: 1. Cath Chalmers 42 min 45 sec, 2. Chris Stocks 56 min 39 sec, Alice Radajewski 58 min 44 sec,
The full results are here and at Winsplits, and maps and photos are on Facebook.
After the handicap factors were applied, Grace Crane was a clear winner by 23 seconds per kilometre. Note that the Dents and Cranes filled five of the six placings. The top 10 competitors in Race 7 were:
| Competitor | Handicap | Corrected km rate |
| Grace Crane | 0.7680 | 6 min 28.08 sec |
| David Stocks | 0.9100 | 6 min 50.80 sec |
| Toni Brown | 0.6000 | 7 min 09.31 sec |
| Matthew Crane | 0.9400 | 7 min 29.86sec |
| Tate Needham | 0.8700 | 7 min 34.35 sec |
| Matthew Stocks | 0.8400 | 7 min 44.06 sec |
| Rob Walter | 0.8900 | 7 min 54.06 sec |
| Paul de Jongh | 1.000 | 7 min 54.49 sec |
| David Poland | 0.7200 | 8 min 26.81 sec |
| Martin Dent | 0.9200 | 8 min 34.92 sec |
Matthew Crane currently leads the Series on 497 points, as it goes into recess until 26 January 2022. The top five with the best four scores from seven events are listed below. With six races to go in 2022, any one of the five could win the Series:
- Matthew Crane AO A 497
- Hayden Dent RR A 494
- Toni Brown BS A 491
- Grace Crane AO A 490
- David Stocks BS A 488
The current standings for all competitors are here.
The next event in the Runners Shop Twilight Series will be on Wednesday 26 January 2022 at a venue to be confirmed.