This week
How it Happened - Winter Race 2, May 4
This Election Day special run in the electorate of Hillview (boundary unchanged since the first poll in 1975) was filled with all the excitement the media and pollies could muster. We had everything except the Drovers Dog. We had heroes and villians, drinks, democracy sausages and let's not forget the best watermelon that no money can buy.
It was an impressive and strong field of candidates, with many of the pollies recording personal best votes, perhaps in a hurry to get to the tally room. 45 in the Reps and 32 in the Senate, so lucky then that we only needed to number one to six.
Preferential voting was abandoned for the day in favour of first-past-the-post and in a shock to the returning officer, Val and Lyn took the early lead in the count. It seemed the opinion polls had got it horribly wrong, again, or were they benefiting from an exceptionally strong Donkey Vote. The truth was they and fellow candidate Nicole had questionable citizenship papers and were disendorsed in disgrace.
Later in the tally room it was clear that last week's sitting member Harrison managed to hold off the contenders. While his primary vote increased by over a minute, preferences dragged him back and the margin at the end of the night was just 10sec. That is now two from two but the opposition is closing and it is not certain that he has the party backing to survive three terms. He is playing with the big end of town now and there are no beg pardons here.
James has missed a few polls and would have been the underdog (aren't they all claiming that?) but not only was he 2nd in the count but with best perfomance on the day with his 23:46, that is under the 4min/km for you knowledgeable party hacks. MarkH has been polling consistently well for weeks and here he is again at a commendable 3rd, dipping under 6min/km.
Other notable developments were Anthony in a hurry to get back to take control of the tally room and finding his own tally was a respectable 7th, hopefully not for the last time. Once retired but still dodgey member Geoff who misses too many sittings surprised in 9th. Rita at 11th was heard making clear policy pronouncements to anyone listening during the run.
At 35th Connor appeared to slump in the polls but it was only due to preferences as his primary vote was up 3min. Craig at 36th has still not figured how to copy the how-to-vote card to his ballot paper and is giving the scrutineers headaches. Sharon at 37th must have voter fatigue. John at 38th crashed in the polls after looking promising last outing. And the story of the day was Mark who burnt his chances by running in both the Reps and the Senate ... a pretty tough call.
Speaking of the Senate, the count came in real fast, and after months of dismal efforts from the old has-beens, we are finally seeing some excellent running mates on the just-go-hard ticket, and strongly contested seats. No Trumpettes here, just a great bunch of promising Independants.
In a sign of the health of the parliament, the entire top ten were up-and-coming youngsters, destined for a great career with the Party. Reuben has rarely been seen in the House recently but he must have been doing the rounds of the voters because he blitzed the polls, almost 2min clear in his best outing ever, and the scrutineers will have their eye on him in future.
Isaac from the same Party was a long 2nd despite a terrific campaign, Spencer at 3rd and Myles at 4th keep increasing their primary votes week by week, and the exit polls were impressive for the rest of the top ten, before the first of the older campaigners in Kate arrived at 11th. Jessica at 12th was a first timer on the ballot. Donna at 15th was the top of the Walkers while Nick disputed his position on the ballot claiming he should be higher up, but hey, we know it's random don't we.
Lauren and Fiona appeared not to know how to fill in the ballot ... was that a tick or a cross? ... number every box? ... and were eliminated.
Harrison leads the House of Reps, Spencer leads the Senate, but there is plenty of time yet for spills and challenges and back stabbing.
Ron the Speaker explained the costings and policy and remained at headqiuarters with his helpers to direct operations. Long serving member Rodney with 4000km under his belt did a lap of the polling booths but arrived back in plenty of time to control the flow of refreshm how-to-vote cards.
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With the end of daylight saving the Feral’s meet at the water tower opposite pioneer park for a 4:30pm start. Please be there 10 minutes earlier to register. Whether it’s your own wellbeing or wanting the kids to get some outdoor exercise you are welcome as a sprinter, jogger or walker. Tracks are well marked; safety is of prime concern and there is lots of social fun after. The best part of being a Feral is enjoying the company of like-minded people.
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PLEASE BE ON TIME ENTER BEFORE 4:20 RACE STARTS 4:30
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Things to Remember each week
Runners must wear tags when participating in Feral events. Apart from the timing, it is a saftey measure. The tags serve to monitor those runners who have commenced their run and are still out on the track. It is not appropriate to turn up on the Hill on a regular basis without wearing a tag.
Zero start times
Zero handicaps are only for the slowest runners and for the walkers, so if you do not fit this description and you are given zero, please enquire with the race director. It is not usually our mistake, just that prior circumstances have dictated a zero which may need to be changed back (see below).
Also, if you have a Short course handicap (say 8min) and you want to walk, we prefer if you walk off that handicap (8min) ... you won't finish far behind, and it saves us a lot of time and possible mistakes in adjustments to and fro (see above).
We do allow Long course walkers to start off zero ... just let the race director know ... otherwise it is disq
Did Not Finish? We need to know. All non-finishers / short cutters / other issues - report to the race director
Instant Results ... we are putting the results online, at the finish line, so your loved one can know what mood you're in before you get home. (Will it be a hot bath or a cold shower? Champagne, or a beer in the dog house?) However ... be aware that these are preliminary results and will almost always change when joggers are added, deleted and edited. You may drop a few places, rise a few places, or even, heaven forbid, get disq'd. So if the fine details matter to you, drop back again later.