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In 1956 Ron Clarke broke two
world record at Landy Field in Geelong and 40 years after a race
meeting at the same field was held in his honor.
Ron is probably best know for
being the final torch bearer at the 1956 Olympic Games where he
lit the giant Olympic Flame.
Guests included Ron Clarke who
is now the Mayor of the Gold Coast, Victorian Governor John
Landy and a wealth of sporting stars including Olympians Steve
Moneghetti, Robert De Castella and Lee Troop.
The highlight of the evening
was the running of the Men's one hour track race, here veteran
Olympic athlete Steve Moneghetti smashed the Veterans one hour
world record to cover 19.71km in one hour, smashing the
old mark of 19.149km set by Belgian Jozef Eyckmans in 1996.
Another great highlight of the
evening was local Louis Rowan who nearly became the first person
in Geelong to run the 4 minute mile with a time of 4:00:42. It
is hoped Louis will be one of the many Geelong athletes who
compete in the Melbourne Commonwealth Games in March 2006.
The celebrities got into the
action too, with Billy Brownless, Gary Ablett Jr, and a few
mascots racing in the celebrity 100 metre. Fortunately none of
the mascots lost their heads.
With the 2006 Event being held
on the 2nd of December this event has become a integral part of
Geelong's sporting calendar.
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