The sold-out Busselton Runners Club’s SunSmart Half Marathon was held on Saturday.
It was the best turn out in the events history, with 1500 runners registered.
Nic Harmen won the 21km race and Maia Simmonds was the first female over the line.
Australian long-distance running champion Steve Moneghetti was a guest at the event.
At a special pre-race dinner, Moneghetti addressed members of the Busselton Runners Club.
He told the packed audience that he fell in love with running as a teenager, and had run every day since – excluding injury.
His success, however, was down to persistence and work ethic, describing himself as ‘not a natural talent’.
He offered advice to runners, including to simply do their best and quit the comparisons.
“I never worried about other people,” he said.
“As long as I ran as fast as I could, I was happy.”
Moneghetti gave tips to prepare for long distance runs and said their results shouldn’t shock them if they’ve put in the work.
“I was never surprised about the outcome of a race,” he said.
“In a race, 20 things can go wrong.
“All you can do is focus on what you can control and not what you can’t.”
Photos by Joe Jones.
