Thousands join in City2City raising $130,000 for Albury Wodonga Health

Starting at QEII Square in Albury at 7.45am, February 19, over all categories 3348 people ran, jogged and walked their way from Albury to Wodonga.

Organisers said the number of entries for the run, which raises money for Albury Wodonga Health, was short of the 2018 record of 4516, but better than the 2186 figure from last year.

"COVID really had a big impact on the event in the past few years so we're delighted with the result this year, it has certainly bounced back," City2City co-founder Michelle Hudson said.

"QEII Square was absolutely packed on Sunday morning with families and people keen to see the spectacle and Junction Place also had a huge crowd.

"This year's record donation is a direct reflection of the incredible generosity of our community, with many participants choosing to make an additional donation as part of the online registration process.

"The continued strong participation sends a clear message that people value their local health service and want to do as much as they can to support it."

Crossing the line at Wodonga's Junction Place 31 minutes and three seconds after leaving QEII Square in Albury for the 10-kilometre race was first place winner Patrick Stow.

Stow, clearly chuffed by the fun factor of the event, still seemed slightly disappointed at his result.

"It's actually quite slow," he said minutes after finishing the race. "I'm in the middle of a marathon block at the moment so I wasn't expecting to run too big, but yeah, I feel OK.

"I'm in an event in the Blue Mountains in the second week of March which is a 45km trail race so it's a little bit different to running on the bitumen from Albury to Wodonga, but it's exciting."

One remarkable outcome was for Riordan Bell, of Wooragee, who completed the 15km race in 59 minutes, 13 seconds pushing his toddler Finlay in a pram, coming ninth.

"There were a couple of others running with prams there, so that was nice to see," he said.

"It was good - the hill at the end was a bit of a challenge, but it's all good fun.

"This is my third City2City run, I did better this year than the last time, but I'll certainly be doing it again next year."

Jen Bevege, whose husband Simon who came fourth in the 10km run with a time of 35 minutes, 26 seconds, was with their children Lila and Alfie waiting for Dad to cross the finish line.

"We weren't sure if he was going to win or not but, of course, it's not about winning, Simon just loves it, he's been running for a really long time," she said.

"He just does it for the enjoyment, everybody has a good time just watching them come over the line."

More race results can be found at www.city2city.org.au.

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