Dale Woodhams seems to be the forgotten man when it comes to Stawell this year.

Former runner up who ran 12.1 off 7.25m in 2010. Now has 7.75m and ran a close second to another favourite Despard recently at St. Albans.

If he take one between now and Easter he could be running of 8.25m or even 8.5m.  Definitely not past his prime so if he is only in the same shape as 2010 that puts him under 12 seconds.

youngy wrote:Interesting post there Meatpie. Thanks for your concern.    I'm not sure a 2nd place at St Albans is running under the radar. It's pretty much exposed form and he was well beaten by a gun in Despard who Dale is destined to meet worse off at Easter (among others including Rizzo, Woodgate & Sam Baird).

I'm also not sure Dale will ever get back to his best.

About 4 years ago Dale underwent major surgery to his stomach that kept him out of action for two years. Doctors were of the view it would take up to five years to get anything back to full strength and fitness. There were complications in the surgery that had a few people worried. Having your stomach removed, untangled then put back in is not recommended for anyone let alone an athlete at the age he should be at his best. They didn't exactly have a priest on stand by but the idea of running again was just a pipedream.

A lot of mental scars went along with those physical ones.

Anyway he's slowly recovered with a lot of patience and perseverence. He has been inspired a bit by Luke Versace coming back from adversity, although it won't finish with the fairy tale ending of Luke's journey.

I agree, fully fit he'd be dangerous but the toll on his body recovering from the issues he had has been massive and he's hoping he can just pick up a nice win somewhere. He can't attend Ballarat this weekend due to prior commitments but he should be able to run at Keilor & Bendigo.

What an amazing effort to come back this far.

Great to hear a good news back story. I wondered why Woodhams wasn't as fast as he was Stawell back in 2010.
Hope he wins a decent gift soon.

Woodhams still not a chance for Stawell? Guess we will know after this weekend at Bendigo but a 7.48 at Loxton in the 70m is a huge sign.

Meatpie wrote:Woodhams still not a chance for Stawell? Guess we will know after this weekend at Bendigo but a 7.48 at Loxton in the 70m is a huge sign.

Event 136 - LOXTON 70m Open - Final:
Position Name Colour Mark Time
1 Nickolas Berry Green 10.00m 7.906
2 Hayden Rothe Yellow 7.00m 7.918
3 Dale Woodhams White 5.50m 7.934
4 Mitchell Tucker Red 5.00m 8.044
4 Nathan Hoare Black 13.50m 8.054
6 Lachlan Grubb Blue 6.50m 8.196

Flagstaff, apologies!

Tough weekend when his main worry is not breaking the ceiling time for the stawell lift. Can he thread the needle and not break 12.30 to claim a half on a (likely) flying track?

BAY SHEFFIELD 70m Open - Final:
Position Name Colour Mark Time
1 Sasha Zhoya Red 3.50m 7.495
2 Tomas Semmler Blue 4.50m 7.599
3 Tim Rooke Yellow 5.25m 7.611
4 Rupert Lugo Green 7.00m 7.695 (Lugo ran 7.46s in the heat)
5 Nicholas Repalust White 4.00m 7.697
6 Aaron Harrison Black 11.00m 7.740

Aaron Harrison ran 7.58 at Flagstaff Hll. Roughly 1.5m faster than at the Bay. Harrison was also the slowest qualifier for the Bay Sheffield 70m final. The tail wind at Flagstaff Hill on a track that is slightly downhill was in the vicinity of 3m plus. Puts Woodhams in the low 7.6's on adjusted times. Woodhams was flat chat trying to win the (arguably) more prestigious Loxton 70m but just missed on the line in 7.93.

Not sure why Meatpie has an obsession with Woodhams, but given there will be a number of 'bonus winners' sitting this one out including one who smashed Dale at St Albans I wouldn't be getting too carried away with the Bendigo result.

Last week it was Finegan, this week it's Woodhams. Next week ?

PS: Since St Albans, most of the field has gone forward between 0.25 to 0.75, so Woodhams meets the field worse off including 1 athlete who ran 12.58sec to Dale's 12.56sec in the semi. He's gone forward 0.50m. That certainly tightens it up.

Hey Meatpie

If you call having a REDHOT go at Dalysford and St Albans looking for the few extra metres and coming up short as Flying under the radar , then I will go HE for chasey.
Clearly shows hes just off the top bracket of runners.

Admin wrote:BAY SHEFFIELD 70m Open - Final:
Position Name Colour Mark Time
1 Sasha Zhoya Red 3.50m 7.495
2 Tomas Semmler Blue 4.50m 7.599
3 Tim Rooke Yellow 5.25m 7.611
4 Rupert Lugo Green 7.00m 7.695 (Lugo ran 7.46s in the heat)
5 Nicholas Repalust White 4.00m 7.697
6 Aaron Harrison Black 11.00m 7.740

Aaron Harrison ran 7.58 at Flagstaff Hll. Roughly 1.5m faster than at the Bay. Harrison was also the slowest qualifier for the Bay Sheffield 70m final. The tail wind at Flagstaff Hill on a track that is slightly downhill was in the vicinity of 3m plus. Puts Woodhams in the low 7.6's on adjusted times. Woodhams was flat chat trying to win the (arguably) more prestigious Loxton 70m but just missed on the line in 7.93.

Not sure why Meatpie has an obsession with Woodhams, but given there will be a number of 'bonus winners' sitting this one out including one who smashed Dale at St Albans I wouldn't be getting too carried away with the Bendigo result.

Last week it was Finegan, this week it's Woodhams. Next week ?

PS: Since St Albans, most of the field has gone forward between 0.25 to 0.75, so Woodhams meets the field worse off including 1 athlete who ran 12.58sec to Dale's 12.56sec in the semi. He's gone forward 0.50m. That certainly tightens it up.

This is a pro running discussion board is it not? ....and i think you will find this post is ongoing from January, so its nothing recent, possibly an obsession. I can explain why Woodhams is the highlight this week (or Finegan last) but it seems pretty straight forward.

The Bendigo poll has these top 6 chances.

carter
rooke
woodhams
dunbar
phelan
lugo

I can tell you what 5 of them will run at Bendigo. Why not discuss the 6th?

What do you think that field runs in the final auspro?

woodhams
lugo
Rooke
Carter

No Dunbar or phelan