A group of four mums from Newcastle and Lake Macquarie took out first place in the Women's Open Team category of Sydney's City2Surf on Sunday.
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Ingrid Cleland, Felicity Gamble, Regina Jensen and Kim Rackemann represented the Newcastle Flyers Running Club at the 14-kilometre event. They made it to the iconic Bondi Beach finish line with a 15-minute lead on the runners up.
Team race times are calculated by adding together the top three results in each team. Ms Cleland, Ms Gamble and Ms Jensen achieved a combined time of two hours, 45 minutes and two seconds. All four women finished the race in under 58 minutes.
Ms Cleland made the best time of 53 minutes and 42 seconds.
"I actually started running the City2Surf in high school," the Charlestown resident said. "This year was my personal best, and I'm 40 now. I'm very happy - it was a great day."
She said training specifically for the race with The Flyers had given her an edge. The club hosted runs up Memorial Drive in preparation for the race's notorious Heartbreak Hill. Previous race-day experience also helped her develop a strategy.
"Save some energy for the end. The last part is really tough," she said.
Ms Gamble said her team's accomplishment was "the highlight of the year".
"The best thing was sharing it with the girls."
The New Lambton resident and climatologist said she was "hooked" on the fun run after competing for the first time four years ago.
"It's such an interesting race, the sheer numbers and the spectacle of it. I was running behind a guy dressed up in a pink fairy outfit for most of the race."
Ms Gamble said training with The Flyers had seen her run from Merewether as far as Redhead, the university and Stockton.
"I do the long run on Sunday morning. We meet at 6am at Merewether Surf Club and run for about two hours," she said.
"There's lots of good conversation. The social gathering is an important part of it."
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