While last Sunday’s Angela Taylor Run/Walk ended up a very damp affair with a downpour at the end of the day, it didn’t dampen the spirits of those attending.

Competition for the prestigious Angela Taylor Team Shield was fierce, particularly in the 10km section, with the Fire Rescue Victoria Running Club winning by just 11 seconds, with their combined top four competitors finishing in 2.54.10sec. Second-place team, the Victoria Police Gang Crime Squad, finished in 2.54.21sec and the Academy Cruisers finished third.

The 5km section in the Police section was won by the Critical Incident Running Team, who won for the first time – beating AFP Southern Command by three minutes and Team Mernda.

#fortheloveofjosh Team were worthy winners of the General Public/Corporate Team section. The Team in honour of Constable Josh Prestney also won the largest team award and Josh’s parents Belinda and Andrew both won individual awards for the second year in a row in the over 55s 5km run bracket.

The highest fundraising team award went to the Boroondara Blazers with a special shoutout to Stephanie Smith who raised $680 on her own. She would have won the individual fundraising medal if it wasn’t for Blue Ribbon Foundation CEO Vedran Drakulić raising over $53,000. It was an amazing effort by all attending to raise such a large amount of over $100,000.

First place across the line in a time of 16 min and 30 sec went to 18-year-old Cameron Ellis of the Forensic Services Department. Mia Ioannou from AFP Southern Command was the first female to cross the line in 20 minutes and six seconds.

Local Middle Park resident Callum Drake, who just loves running and wanted to support the cause won the 10km section in a time of 34.24 while Amanda Bowden was first female across the line.

The special award of first dog across the line went to Olive who is part of the Critical Incident Running Team.

The last little dogs across the line were Millie and Mack with owner Donald. They were all pretty drenched by the time they finished. Winning and last placed dogs received special awards donated by EAC Animal Care, while all others chowed down on samples from Ziwi Peak.

A special Thank You goes to event sponsor BankVic and supporting partner ESSSuper for hosting the BBQ even though the snags got a bit wet at the end. The Victoria Police Blue Ribbon Foundation would also like to thank Channel 9 Melbourne crime reporter Gillian Lantouris for being a wonderful MC on the day, the SES for manning the water stations around the lake and Victorian Road Runners for marking out the course.