STAWELL and Ararat Cross Country Club stalwart Peter Gibson received one of the biggest shocks of his 422-run club career when he won his second crown as King of the Hill at Ararat on Sunday.
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“I am absolutely gobsmacked,” the 57-year-old said.
He first won the race in 2008 and stole the three-kilometre slog up Ararat’s lung-sapping One Tree Hill from pre-race favourite Paul Fenn.
Fenn posted the best time of 15.21 minutes but when handicaps were applied Gibson had a 23-second margin.
The club’s fastest with 517-run veteran Adrian van Raaphorst just nine seconds further astern.
“I never expected that,” Gibson said.
“I actually gave thought to not running because the weather looked pretty ordinary and I picked up a heel injury in last week’s race which I did not want to aggravate.”
Gibson, whose latest win was his nineteenth since 1986, acknowledged that the result might have been different if injured hill specialist Simon Gallagher, who has won five King of the Hills and Nathan Makovec, the 2014 winner, had taken their place in the field.
“Because of the heel problem I had a light training week and that might have helped freshen me up but I gave no thought to winning,” he said
Gibson, who has always shown a liking for the more challenging courses, has won the eight-kilometre Trounson Family Handicap, a gruelling slog through the Ararat Hills by 2.18 minutes – so far the biggest margin of the season.
Few in the club would argue that the Trounson, King of the Hill double, his first since 2000, is the toughest to win.
The club has a bye this Fathers Day but is at Dunneworthy Common for the five-kilometre David O Jones Mitre 10 Ararat Handicap on September 13.