The Athletics Victoria XCR Half Marathon is a road half run around Lake Wendouree in Ballarat, part of Athletics Victoria's XCR winter club competition. The 2026 edition is on Sunday 9 August. The flat loop of the lake, long the training ground of marathon great Steve Moneghetti, makes for a genuinely fast course, with a half marathon for open athletes and a 6km option for juniors and shorter-distance runners.
It is primarily a club competition contested by Athletics Victoria clubs, but unaffiliated runners are welcome to enter for a small surcharge. Net times are recorded for the half, with a 2 hour 45 minute cut-off. A no-frills, quick half for anyone chasing a time in a competitive field.
Round 8 of XCR'26 was run at Lake Wendouree in Ballarat on Sunday 9 August 2026, moving from Burnley, where the previous two editions were held. Tom Bowers won the men's race for the second year running, though only just: two seconds covered him and Callen Goldsmith, and Ben Ludbrook and Benjamin Beischer could not be separated for third, both timed at 1:06:04. Thirty-two seconds covered the first seven.
| Position | Name | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tom Bowers | 01:05:55 |
| 2 | Callen Goldsmith | 01:05:57 |
| 3 | Ben Ludbrook | 01:06:04 |
| 4 | Benjamin Beischer | 01:06:04 |
| 5 | Reece Edwards | 01:06:11 |
| 6 | Oliver Lewry | 01:06:26 |
| 7 | Richie Egan | 01:06:27 |
| 8 | Tynan Mims | 01:07:15 |
| 9 | Tom Davoren | 01:07:18 |
| 10 | Nathan Tse | 01:07:33 |
| 11 | Michael Kernahan | 01:07:37 |
| 12 | Luca Di Conza | 01:07:42 |
| 13 | Caden Murray | 01:07:42 |
| 14 | Adrian McLean | 01:07:59 |
| 15 | Liam Cashin | 01:08:18 |
| 16 | Rory Vial | 01:08:20 |
| 17 | John Portwood | 01:08:21 |
| 18 | Colm Fitzgerald | 01:08:26 |
| 19 | Callum Drake | 01:08:30 |
| 20 | Dion Finocchiaro | 01:08:34 |
| 21 | Matthew Venour | 01:08:40 |
| 22* | Adrian Beer | 01:09:37 |
| 23 | Matthew Patton | 01:09:38 |
| 24 | Abdi Rhoble | 01:09:52 |
| 25 | Reece Langdon | 01:10:01 |
Donve Viljoen also won for the second year in a row, and went quicker doing it — 1:14:51, twelve seconds inside her 2025 winning time and close to three minutes clear of Mia Roux. Cassie Little, fourth here in 2024, was the fastest athlete over 40 in 1:21:40.
| Position | Name | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Donve Viljoen | 01:14:51 |
| 2 | Mia Roux | 01:17:45 |
| 3 | Annabelle Colman | 01:18:01 |
| 4* | Melanie Townsend | 01:18:05 |
| 5 | Chloe Phelan | 01:18:59 |
| 6 | Olivia Twining | 01:19:01 |
| 7 | Ebony Dodemaide | 01:19:05 |
| 8 | Ciara Sullivan | 01:19:26 |
| 9 | Poppy Scot-Dalgleish | 01:19:51 |
| 10 | Ella Mangan-Walker | 01:20:34 |
| 11 | Saskia Lloyd | 01:21:19 |
| 12 | Alexandria Anthony | 01:21:22 |
| 13 | Sophie Houghton | 01:21:32 |
| 14 | Cassie Little | 01:21:40 |
| 15 | Meg Oakley Kerr | 01:22:24 |
| 16 | Brigitte Humphrey | 01:22:40 |
| 17 | Rachel Waters | 01:23:04 |
| 18 | Kristy-Lee Jones | 01:23:04 |
| 19* | Jasmin Long | 01:23:09 |
| 20 | Kate Sarris | 01:23:51 |
| 21 | Emily Pryor | 01:24:24 |
| 22 | Sara Tucker | 01:24:25 |
| 23 | Stella Crawford-Rust | 01:24:50 |
| 24 | Sarah Knox | 01:24:54 |
| 25 | Lucy Polkinghorne | 01:25:20 |
Positions marked with an asterisk are invitational entries, which are placed in the official finishing order but do not score for a club.
Timing by Athletics Victoria: official 2026 XCR Round 8 results, all races.
Round 9 of XCR'25 was run at Burnley on Sunday 7 September 2025. Tom Bowers took the men's race in 1:05:35 out of a blanket finish — fourteen seconds covered the first four, with Harry Norman, Ben Chamberlain and Nathan Tse all home inside 1:05:50. There were 497 finishers.
| Position | Name | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tom Bowers | 01:05:35 |
| 2 | Harry Norman | 01:05:42 |
| 3 | Ben Chamberlain | 01:05:45 |
| 4 | Nathan Tse | 01:05:49 |
| 5 | Andre Waring | 01:07:22 |
| 6 | Colm Fitzgerald | 01:08:00 |
| 7 | Michael Tosin | 01:08:13 |
| 8 | Erick Niyiragira | 01:08:16 |
| 9 | Abdi Rhoble | 01:08:19 |
| 10 | Zayd Al Sayd | 01:08:20 |
| 11 | Ben Ludbrook | 01:08:21 |
| 12 | Musa Genemo Jegula | 01:08:22 |
| 13 | Brandon Muscat | 01:08:23 |
| 14 | Peter Dutton | 01:08:31 |
| 15 | Campbell Brooks | 01:08:47 |
| 16 | Liam Cashin | 01:08:57 |
| 17 | Matthew Schaumberg | 01:08:58 |
| 18 | Benjamin Beischer | 01:08:59 |
| 19 | Callen Goldsmith | 01:09:02 |
| 20 | Peter Green | 01:09:03 |
| 21 | Callum Drake | 01:09:06 |
| 22 | Dion Finocchiaro | 01:09:11 |
| 23 | Lachlan Herd | 01:09:14 |
| 24 | Tim Logan | 01:09:29 |
| 25 | Nathan Stoate | 01:09:36 |
Donve Viljoen won the women's race in 1:15:03, three and a half minutes clear of Erika Florez, from 144 finishers. Olympian Melissa Duncan, the 2024 winner, was eighth this time in 1:25:00.
| Position | Name | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Donve Viljoen | 01:15:03 |
| 2 | Erika Florez | 01:18:42 |
| 3 | Rachel McGuinness | 01:18:59 |
| 4 | Olivia Twining | 01:20:33 |
| 5 | Tarra L Brain | 01:22:24 |
| 6 | Alexandra Schulz | 01:23:00 |
| 7 | Sarah Howe | 01:23:28 |
| 8 | Melissa Duncan | 01:25:00 |
| 9 | Anna Kasapis | 01:25:21 |
| 10 | Siorcha Creaton | 01:26:00 |
| 11 | Katrina Winger | 01:26:04 |
| 12 | Julie Fitt | 01:26:26 |
| 13 | Amy Hessell | 01:26:28 |
| 14 | Sophie McMillan | 01:26:37 |
| 15 | Thi Reynolds | 01:26:48 |
| 16 | Kate Sarris | 01:26:51 |
| 17 | Tracey Austin | 01:26:58 |
| 18 | Oliviah Bodycott | 01:27:36 |
| 19 | Stella Lockhart | 01:27:46 |
| 20 | Georgia Riordan | 01:27:52 |
| 21 | Lauren Mosbey | 01:28:01 |
| 22 | Sarah James | 01:28:20 |
| 23 | Stacey Bulger | 01:29:06 |
| 24 | Sarah Lewis | 01:29:09 |
| 25 | Emily Bartlett | 01:29:12 |
Timing by Athletics Victoria: official 2025 XCR Round 9 Burnley results (PDF), all races.
Round 9 of XCR'24 was run at Burnley on Sunday 8 September 2024. Seth O'Donnell won the men's race in 1:02:05, close to three minutes ahead of Harry Norman. The men's field alone returned 548 finishers, with 25 of them inside 1:10.
| Position | Name | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Seth O'Donnell | 01:02:05 |
| 2 | Harry Norman | 01:04:53 |
| 3 | Ben Chamberlain | 01:04:55 |
| 4 | Liam Adams | 01:05:01 |
| 5 | Benjamin Stevens | 01:05:34 |
| 6 | Reece Edwards | 01:05:45 |
| 7 | Cornelius Ngetich | 01:06:35 |
| 8 | Jesse Dunsmore | 01:06:50 |
| 9 | Nathan Stoate | 01:06:59 |
| 10 | David Ridley | 01:07:12 |
| 11 | Abdi Rhoble | 01:07:27 |
| 12 | Thomas Thorpe | 01:07:52 |
| 13 | Will Ford | 01:08:00 |
| 14 | Michael Kernahan | 01:08:05 |
| 15 | Ben Ludbrook | 01:08:11 |
| 16 | Ben Kelly | 01:08:22 |
| 17 | Dion Finocchiaro | 01:08:29 |
| 18 | Liam Cashin | 01:08:34 |
| 19 | Brady Threlfall | 01:08:45 |
| 20 | Jordan Cowley | 01:08:47 |
| 21 | Samuel Toll | 01:08:55 |
| 22 | Erick Niyiragira | 01:08:56 |
| 23 | Brett Ellis | 01:08:59 |
| 24 | Jake Stevens | 01:09:04 |
| 25 | Erik Ueda | 01:09:09 |
Olympian Melissa Duncan won the women's race in 1:13:03, more than four minutes clear of Erika Florez, from 191 finishers.
| Position | Name | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Melissa Duncan | 01:13:03 |
| 2 | Erika Florez | 01:17:15 |
| 3 | Kate Mason | 01:17:24 |
| 4 | Cassie Little | 01:18:26 |
| 5 | Eliza Howard | 01:19:10 |
| 6 | Madeleine Gwynne | 01:20:08 |
| 7 | Ella Mangan-Walker | 01:20:40 |
| 8 | Stephanie Demestichas | 01:21:20 |
| 9 | Whitney Sharpe | 01:21:30 |
| 10 | Lauren Cockerell | 01:22:21 |
| 11 | Sophie Houghton | 01:22:34 |
| 12 | Amy Hessell | 01:23:10 |
| 13 | Alexandra McNaughton | 01:23:50 |
| 14 | Madison Button | 01:24:22 |
| 15 | Stella Crawford-Rust | 01:24:36 |
| 16 | Alice Oakley Kerr | 01:24:40 |
| 17 | Olivia Weston | 01:25:04 |
| 18 | Julie-Ann Undrill | 01:26:14 |
| 19 | Bev Thomas | 01:26:17 |
| 20 | Zoe Woods | 01:26:25 |
| 21 | Charlotte Wilson | 01:26:56 |
| 22 | Alice Wilkinson | 01:26:56 |
| 23 | Katrina Winger | 01:26:58 |
| 24 | Siorcha Creaton | 01:27:27 |
| 25 | Mia Bailey | 01:27:34 |
Timing by Athletics Victoria: official 2024 XCR Round 9 Burnley results (PDF), all races.
