The 2023-24 Runners Shop Twilight Series concluded yesterday with round 12 at John Knight Park.
Martin Dent, who had already secured his second consecutive victory in the Series, scored another 125 points to achieve the rare feat of a perfect score the final standings – 875 points from his best 7 races. However, it was closer than at other recent events, with Patrick Maundrell less than 5 seconds per kilometre behind Martin on handicap pace.
Hayden Dent was already guaranteed to finish in second place overall and ended up fourth on the day – his equal lowest score of the Series. He ends the Series on 868 points and with his best result yet in an OACT handicap competition.
Most interest in the final round was in the tight battle for third place in the Series, between Owen Radajewski and Matty Maundrell. Matty needed to finish at least four places ahead of Owen, and in fourth place or better, in order to tie Owen for third overall. Matty met the first of these conditions, finishing exactly four place ahead, and for a good while it looked like there would be a draw, as he also sat in fourth on the day’s handicap. But it was not to be, with later finishers Kathie Dent and Grace Crane slotting in front of the contenders, pushing Matty down to sixth place and allowing Owen to take third outright. Owen finishes the Series on 851 points, only three points ahead of Matty.
The full results from yesterday’s event are available here, Livelox GPS tracking is available here, and John Harding’s photos from the event can be viewed on Facebook.
Attention will now turn to the 2024 ACT League handicap competition, Martin Dent already has the early lead after scoring maximum points at the ACT Sprint Championships, but things are likely to shake up once the forest races get started next month.
The top 10 on corrected time at John Knight Park were:
| Name | Handicap | Corrected km rate |
|---|---|---|
| Martin Dent | 0.890 | 3 min 37.94 sec |
| Patrick Maundrell | 0.730 | 3 min 42.74 sec |
| Kathie Dent | 0.712 | 3 min 47.67 sec |
| Hayden Dent | 0.790 | 3 min 49.29 sec |
| Grace Crane | 0.744 | 3 min 52.82 sec |
| Matty Maundrell | 0.820 | 3 min 58.40 sec |
| Ken Mansell | 0.820 | 4 min 05.40 sec |
| Oliver Bishop | 0.850 | 4 min 08.37 sec |
| Naomi Penton | 0.608 | 4 min 09.72 sec |
| Owen Radajewski | 0.910 | 4 min 10.80 sec |
The final top ten Series placings are:
| Place | Name | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Martin Dent | 875 |
| 2 | Hayden Dent | 868 |
| 3 | Owen Radajewski | 851 |
| 4 | Matty Maundrell | 848 |
| 5 | Oscar Brown | 836 |
| 6 | Naomi Penton | 819 |
| 7 | Phil Walker | 810 |
| 8 | Patrick Maundrell | 809 |
| 9 | David Stocks | 807 |
| 10 | Matt Stocks | 797 |
The full final standings for the 2023-24 Runners Shop Twilight Series are here.