Melhuish claims prestigious Elite Female Mile title in Leonora

ACT’s Zoe Melhuish made her mark on Leonora’s main street with a tactical performance during the Elite Female Mile on Sunday.

Melhuish paced herself behind Stephanie Kelly and Georgia Winkcup before surging ahead on the final lap to record an impressive time of 4min. 42.79sec. as part of this year’s $65,000 Leonora Golden Gift program.

Kelly (4:45.99) and Winkcup (4.53.03) placed second and third, respectively.

The headline event saw a field of experienced athletes face-off across three laps of the freshly resurfaced Tower Street.

Melhuish said she enjoyed the street circuit layout of the race.

“I think the corners suited me quite well,” she said.

“It was nice going past every so often and you get the same people (cheering), and the same music going.

“I think a mile is a really good distance, I quite enjoy the mile.”

The Canberra-based runner said she had dedicated more time to athletics this season and achieved success in Perth and Sydney.

“I don’t think I really raced an awful lot until about this last athletic season,” she said.

“Quite a few things went my way, so I’ve just had a few good races.

“I went to nationals . . . in Perth and then I’ve been at Sydney for a 10k and then out here.

“It’s my first time in Leonora, I never been before so it was really exciting.

“It has been so nice having everyone out here and having people lining down on the streets.

“All of the other races, like the sprints earlier, I loved watching those.”

Melhuish said the event had a “great atmosphere” and planned to return next year to defend her title.

“The atmosphere was very exciting and having the bands (perform) the night before was really great,” she said.

“It was great to see how many people were out . . . it’s exciting to see kids playing and getting photos afterwards.

“It has been an awesome weekend so yes, I will definitely be back next year.”

Elite Mile winners pocketed $7500 in prize money and a one-ounce gold coin valued at more than $5000.