INSIDE STORY

Stablemate Nigel “Granddaddy” De La Rosa slaughtered his 10K PB at the Moreton Bay Running Festival in beautiful Brisbane, Australia. The wily geezer clocked a stonking 42:12, whacking a solid two minutes and four seconds off his lifetime best—and picked up age category gold in the process.

In hurricane-like blasts, old Nigel paced himself to perfection, slicing through the wind like Coach Stazza’s “Turkey teeth” through a hot croissant. The old codger even managed to break into the top 10 overall, with a divine ninth place.

The Stable News appealed to Ally “the Chin” Smith’s better nature (and the promise of some Castlemaine XXXX) to get the lowdown from the veteran:

Ally: G’day, Nigel: get that down you and tell me all about this t’riffic trot of yours.

Nigel: Cheers, Ally. The rest of the family were doing triathlons on the Sunday, so I was enlisted as support crew (carrying bags) for Helen (the Mrs) and Ashton (my son)—he’s nine and was doing his first! There was a 10K/5K on the Saturday afternoon, when they needed to do the bike drop off, so I thought, Why not!

Ally: Why not, indeed, ha-ha. Go on.

Nigel: Well, I hadn’t raced a 10K since 2021, and seeing as I have come out of the Australian summer strong and ready to start the racing season, I figured this was a great chance to do a rust-buster before my half-marathon at the end of the month.

It was a wind tunnel, but I decided to give it my best shot and maximise on the turnaround to give me a push; I felt really strong at the end and got a two-minute PB!

Ally: Bonza, mate! Nothing better than having the wind at your back and the finish line in sight. You’re showing some amazing progress; that 40-minute barrier is so close.

Nigel: I know! If you had told me I would be doing a 42-minute 10K when I first started with The Stable, I would have laughed. Coach is working on getting me nearer to The Stable’s “recreational elite,” and I am the working example of a no talent runner; so I appreciate all his efforts to support me.  

I have learnt a lot about nutrition, as well as effort-based running over the past year—which is leading to a more balanced approach, and I feel a lot stronger for it.

Ally: Superb, mate. It’s all coming together nicely, and managing your effort without the need of tech is a blessing. You can see that from this run, when the conditions weren’t perfect, but you still got the win and a massive PB. Great stuff. Are any more running festivals coming up, ha-ha?

Nigel: Hahaha, yeah; we do like a festival of running down here. I’ve the Noosa HM at the end of the month before tackling the Sunshine Coast Marathon in August. Then it’s on to the Chicago Marathon in October.

Ally: Lovely jubbly! Fancy another?

Nigel: Would be rude not to. Cheers.

The News gave The Bossman a call for his input on De La Rosa’s super stride: “Young Nigel dropped out a banging performance … A spectacular PB and masters win shows his consistency through the Aussie summer is paying dividends. Nice one, Nigel, nice one!