'Great atmosphere': Olympic hopeful dethrones former champion at Nail Can Hill

Melbourne's Liam Adams crossed the finish line of the 11.3 kilometre race in a time of 37.30, clearing the field by more than a minute. He also completed the run in 2018, recording a similar time and placing third.

Adams represented Australia at the Rio and Tokyo Olympics, where he came 23^rd in the marathon event.

He has also represented his country in multiple Commonwealth Games, just missing out on a medal - finishing fourth - at the 2022 games in Birmingham.

Adams said the Nail Can Hill Run was part of his preparation for the Paris Olympics in July.

"I'm pretty happy with my time," he said. "It's completely different to most other races.

"I'm just building up my fitness now, so wanted to be really controlled up the hills. I really felt those hills - they're brutal."

Adams said he would find out if he had made the Australian Olympic team in a week's time.

"I'm hoping that I make the Olympics - that's the goal," he said.

"I'm sitting 73rd out of the 80 quota. This is the last day of the qualifying period, so I should know where I sit today and then probably get told next week if I've made it or not."

Rounding out the top three in the men's division was Albury's Patrick Stow with a time of 39.07 and Ashley Hoffman at 41.09.

Stow, who had won the past three years, finishing with a time of 38.45 in 2023, said he was happy with his time given his injuries leading up to the race.

He had been recovering from surgery late last year, and only last week caught COVID.

Despite this, he said the run was a little easier given the wet weather endured last year.

"Today was far better conditions than running in the wet," he said.

"You can't complain with a day like today versus last year. Last year, you're slipping everywhere.

"But I was actually surprised (with my time this year). It's not quick compared to what I've run previously, but I was actually surprised with how well I ran given the lead-up this year."

In the women's division, English runner Kate Avery led the field with a time of 44.47.

She recently moved to Melbourne from north east England and learned about the race from friends on the running scene.

"I thought it was a great atmosphere and a really fun event," she said.

"It was a bit shorter compared to what I've been running lately, so I knew it was going to be a shock. But I'm happy with my time and how it all turned out."

Avery was followed by Albury runner Belinda Dore with a time of 45.58 and Charlotte Wilson with a time of 47.43.

Dore, who missed last year's race as she was pregnant with her second child, recorded her personal best for the event nine months after giving birth.

"It was still a PB, but I thought I probably could have run about 30 seconds to a minute faster," she said.

"But overall, I'm pretty happy. It was probably one of the most competitive fields I've run against on this course.

"It was good to see where you stack up against some of the elite girls that have come up from Melbourne."

Far from the podium but no less impressive, age buster Vyner Smithwick, a 79-year-old retired farmer from Talmalmo, completed the course in 73 minutes.

"Farmers (when they retire) give the farm away, come into town, drink beer, watch TV, don't exercise, and they're dead within two years," he said.

"I wanted to go the other way. So I started running; I run about 100 to 120 kilometres a month on dirt roads at Talmalmo.

"And for this event, I did a bit of hill work, so I could get a few other muscles in running. The up and down hills are just cruel.

"I'm happy with how I went today, but I'll be back again to beat my time next year."

The event was organised by Albury West Rotary Club, with $12,000 raised from the race going towards Carevan's school lunch program.

Club president Bill Smits said he didn't yet have the exact figures of how much money was raised in 2024, but said he expected it to surpass that of previous years.

There were 259 runners in the men's division and 164 in the women's while 175 people competed in the four kilometre Half Can.

Former Olympian Steve Moneghetti's 2003 course record of 34.57 remains unbeaten.