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Amy Lam lead the whole way in the race for the leading women’s prize during Sunday’s Mount Panorama Punish.
Wollstonecraft’s Lam came home in 26 minutes and 33 seconds to finish more than 90 seconds clear of her nearest rival, Bathurst’s Kellie Gibson (28:10), in a dominant debut run at the Bathurst event.
The Queen of the Mountain prize also came Lam’s way when she reached the peak in 13:56, clear of another Bathurst runner Dominique Windsor.
The draw of Mount Panorama was too much for Lam to resist given her love of climbs.
“There were some strong girls out there. Hills are my strength so I wanted to test myself on a good hill and it sure was a good hill,” she said.
“I don’t know what my downhill speed is like so I tried to play it like the City 2 Surf. This is similar but like a condensed version of that race.”
After finishing just outside the top 10 in her age group at the City 2 Surf Lam arrived at Bathurst several months later feeling confident about her chances on an ascent which is just as brutal as Heartbreak Hill.
Lam said it was a great moment to score a victory on Sunday in a place that means a lot to her.
“Bathurst is where my grandparents live so I used to come here when I was a kid for holidays,” she said.
“I picked up running when I was studying at university and I’ve kept on running ever since. It was a great way to keep fit wherever I was in the world.
“When I was studying for big exams running was great stress relief. Now I get to run in all sorts of beautiful places, including Bathurst.”
Overall, Lam finished the race in 19th and was the 17th person to reach the top of Mount Panorama.
Following her victory Lam also paid tribute to the fallen soldiers on Remembrance Day.
“It’s a very special day today,” she said.
“So many people gave so much so that we could run freely today.”
Lam was a cut above her competitors on Sunday but the runner-up battle remained fierce throughout the running.
Following on from Gibson in second place was Gorokan competitor Kellie-Anne Musty (28:21).
Musty reached the peak only two seconds clear of Gibson and the pair were never out of each others’ sights during the trip back down the mountain.
It was over the closing kilometres where Gibson got the better of her rival to seal the silver result.
Bathurst junior Renelle Donges (28:45) was the fourth female home while Karen Gauci (28:55) pipped Amber Rich (28:57) for the top five result.
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