The Sydney Metropolitan Turkey Trot has traditionally be held in Sydney's west. This year it crept further East than ever before, to Putney, Rhodes, Concord and Cabarita. The 2024 edition was flat and fast, hugging the Parramatta River. Although, for a mostly flat course there were a surprising amount of stairs to negotiate. But the big surprise of the day was the finish ‐ on the other side of the river! This necessitated a ferry to get back across.
Ryan Armstrong and Seth Sweeney were only seconds apart for the first half of the Long Course. Ryan pulled ahead by 1min only to make a 2min mistake soon after. He pushed hard to reel in Seth with the fastest splits for the last 8 legs, punching the penultimate control in equal first but couldn't hang on to Seth's finishing burst. Seth won by 12s. Not far behind them was Glenn Horrocks, who once again grabbed a podium position. For the women, positions were determined by the second control where Belinda Kinneally took the lead and extended it to win by 21 minutes. Rachel Merton was second and Nadene Moore rounded out the small female contingent.
In the Medium Course Andrew Brown took the lead before crossing the river and kept it, claiming a majority of the fastest splits along the way. The fight for second was tight. There was only seconds between Richard Mountstephens and Curtis Pepper until the final flurry on Cabarita Point, which was enough for Mounty to hold off Curtis by almost 30s. She just keeps getting better! Current Club Champion, Savanna Sweeney dominated the Women, winning by over 10 mins. That's 3 TT victories on the trot for Savanna. Second and third was closer. Melissa Joseph was in second place but with a handful of controls to go Sharon Lambert pulled in front only for Melissa to take her position back in the final few legs.
Once again the Men's Short Course provided a real highlight. Only 5s separated the first three runners. Shay Sweeney and Harrison Grubits were neck and neck the whole way, with Shay doing just enough to finish 3s clear. The splits show that Brendan Hatton was a bit quicker than the other two but he was playing catch up after a mistake on leg 2. He got his nose in front at the last control but couldn't quite hang on, slipping slightly to third. For the women, Kelly Armstrong challenged Fiona Willington and even took the lead at one point but Fiona's pace was too consistent and she won by over 2 mins. The battle was on for third though. Tania and Justine had almost identical splits across the course but Justine de Remy Courcelles won the finish split to grab the last podium spot.
The MTBO category has gained some traction, with more than 10% of participants on a bike this year. Once again Michael Ridley-Smith showed a clean pair of wheels to whiz around the long course. Melvyn Cox was fastest on the Medium Course. Both were too quick for the ferry, choosing to ride back around rather than wait for the first boat.
Congratulations to all competitors and volunteers. The route choices, ups and downs and the unique ferry ending all combined to create a top morning's Turkey Trot. See you next year. Same time. Different place.
Browse the 2024 course maps
Click on a map to enlarge it and open a slide presentation
