Bill Dunn 400m Handicap 1999
Gary Bissett broke through for this first win in the 1999 Bill Dunn 400m handicap race.
Held on January 21st, 18 athletes completed in the annual Sandy Bay Harrier Club event.
The first heat was closely contested , with Andrew Graeme-Evans the victor. Patrick Lyden was next, followed by his brother Mark who ran the fastest time with 51.8 seconds. Daniel Clarke rounded out the top four, edging out a tired Chris French who had just completed 16 x 400ms in training.
Alex Piekutowski was an easy winner in the second heat. He was followed home by Nick Gozzi, backmarker Michael Bond who ran the fastest time with 49.6 seconds and Gary Bissett, who just scraped into the final after also doing a 400m training sesion prior to the race.
Nick Gozzi was later to pull out of the final, his place going to Symon Bird.
The final was an exciting affair, with only two seconds separating the first five athletes. Gary Bissett, running off 7 seconds, made his winning move in theback straight, surging to put himslf in touch with the front markers. He had passed them all when he reached the final 100m and was able to hang on to win his first Bill Dunn after 20 years in the Sandy Bay Club.
Symon Bird took advantage of his late entry into the final to finish second, followed by a fast finishing Michael Bond who once again recorded the fastest time, running 50.44 seconds.