Some 58 players gathered in the Henry Lawson Room at Revesby Workers Club to run in the 12-round October Marathon (Scrabble's answer to the City-to-Surf).
We had a goodly sprinkling of interstaters from Queensland and the ACT.
A few stragglers delayed the start for 20 minutes - Basil Sands was hijacked by Sydney's State Rail and had to get a taxi across country. However we quickly made up time under the able direction of Lee McGiffen.
I got off to an unusually good start winning my first 8 games. The tiles fell nicely for me against Bob Jackman Paul Cleary and Esther Perrins although I nearly blundered away my game against her by playing PANNEL* and allowing her NEUTRINO on a blocked board.
My pre-lunch game against Graeme Lock Lee was an even battle with Graeme finding CAJOLERS for 94 to secure a win by 51.
By the last round KoH I found myself one game ahead of Paul and Bob but with a handy 340+ lead on spread - Paul needing to win our game by 171 to snatch the tournament. An early CONFUSER* (101) gave him an outside shot but luckily for me it was disallowed. He followed it with the 69-point anagram* but managed a win by 6 giving me a 'marginal' victory. Bob also finished on 10/12 and overtook Paul for second after a 300+ result in his last game.
Sam Greenberg had a great tournament finishing fourth and gaining a whacking 136 point ratings gain.
Highlights:
9-year old Alastair Richards excellent result of 5.5/12 lifted his rating to 1218 and a gave him a berth at the Sydney Summer Masters in January.
He might have had another scalp had Rod Talbot's crafty OLIVE setup been foiled by a knowledge of the hook.**
There were some interesting bingos dished up including Paul Cleary's 9-timer TROPHIES (around H) for and 158 Esther's ORGANISM (158). Bob Jackman appropriately extended EXTEND to EXTENDABLE and Jean McGiffen added AD to VENTURER.
Other exotic bingos were DWARFEST (Esther) ADDIBLE (Paul) my ORINASAL and INNATELY (who knows the front hook?***) CINDERED (John Barker) and Graeme Lock Lee's almost game saving find of XYSTI (62) against Paul Cleary.
But play of the day must go to Esther Perrins with the Nyman-like nine MODULATES played through a D and a T.
Thanks to Lee McGiffen for directing and all those who helped out on the day. It was a marathon effort.
* FROUNCES ** SOLIVE *** PINNATELY
Results after game 12
SPRING MARATHON 2001 -- OPEN
Rank Player Wins Mar
---------------------------------
1 John Holgate 10 1210
2 Bob Jackman 10 1076
3 Paul Cleary 10 892
4 Sam Greenberg 9 84
5 Joanne Craig 8.5 454
6 Graeme Lock Lee 8 298
7 Alison Pollard 8 241
8 John Barker 8 173
9 Penny Wells 8 31
10 Esther Perrins 7.5 764
11 Jean McGiffen 7.5 89
12 Raya Wilkinson 7 424
13 Peter Shaw 7 346
14 Rod Talbot 7 267
15 Jan Serisier 7 228
16 Audrey Newman 7 164
17 John Spaan 7 106
18 Pat Schuberg 7 -16
19 Hanne Marks 7 -124
20 Victor Tung 7 -134
21 Karen Richards 7 -203
22 Ann Fiddler 7 -242
23 Moana Nepia 6.5 20
24 Ivor Zetler 6 261
25 Gary Pollard 6 210
26 Jean Noonan 6 142
27 Robyn Flynn 6 82
28 Tony Hunt 6 69
29 Hari Nanayakkara 6 -52
30 Norma Tracey 6 -168
31 Tim Reddan 6 -176
32 Edith Lowbeer 6 -259
33 Kerry Constable 6 -260
34 Donna Macdonald 6 -399
35 Jenny Templeton 5.5 289
36 Alastair Richards 5.5 132
37 Cheryl Michler 5 92
38 Betty Coleman 5 75
39 Peggy Womersley 5 48
40 Paul Richards 5 3
41 Margaret Andrews 5 -55
42 Susan Macgillivray 5 -229
43 Richard Birch 5 -240
44 Therese Newman 5 -363
45 Sunny Wright 5 -392
46 Silvana Newman 4.5 -458
47 Claire Dove 4.5 -459
48 Sue Tuckett 4 -77
49 Dolores Barbon 4 -110
50 Alan Gauci 4 -170
51 George Khamis 4 -223
52 Judy Hay 4 -278
53 Ivana Duria 4 -378
54 Andre Lajoie 4 -396
55 Chris Phillips 3 -199
56 Basil Sands 3 -399
57 Daphne Bezuidenhout 3 -609
58 Diana Field 2 -1202
HIGH GAME: Paul Cleary 576
HIGH WORD: Esther Perrins 158
"ORGANISM"
Stats for Tournament : SPRING MARATHON 2001
+--------------------------+-----------+---------+-----------+---------------+
| state Name | National | State | Wins | Rating Points |
| | Old New | Old New | Exp Act | Old Change New|
+--------------------------+-----------+---------+-----------+---------------+
+Section: *OPEN + + + +
+--------------------------------------+---------+-----------+---------------+
| NSW John Holgate | 3 2 | 1 1 | 9.2 10.0 | 1890 +13 1903 |
| NSW Paul Cleary | 4 4 | 2 2 | 9.1 10.0 | 1874 +16 1890 |
| NSW Bob Jackman | 5 5 | 3 3 | 9.5 10.0 | 1863 +8 1871 |
| NSW Sam Greenberg | 228 139 | 58 40 | 3.7 9.0 | 1302 +136
1438 |
| NSW Joanne Craig | 22 23 | 7 7 | 9.3 8.5 | 1707 -15 1692 |
| NSW John Barker | 31 24 | 11 8 | 6.7 8.0 | 1662 +27 1689 |
| NSW Graeme Lock Lee | 56 43 | 15 14 | 6.1 8.0 | 1598 +39 1637 |
| NSW Alison Pollard | 130 95 | 36 25 | 5.4 8.0 | 1456 +52 1508 |
| NSW Penny Wells | 136 114 | 38 32 | 6.2 8.0 | 1444 +40 1484 |
| NSW Esther Perrins | 15 17 | 4 5 | 8.4 7.5 | 1764 -13 1751 |
| NSW Jean McGiffen | 32 38 | 12 11 | 8.3 7.5 | 1662 -13 1649 |
| NSW Peter Shaw | 73 79 | 20 20 | 8.0 7.0 | 1558 -19 1539 |
| NSW Rod Talbot | 16 21 | 5 6 | 9.9 7.0 | 1759 -56 1703 |
| NSW Raya Wilkinson | 172 155 | 46 43 | 5.8 7.0 | 1387 +26 1413 |
| NSW John Spaan :act | 99 94 | 28 24 | 6.7 7.0 | 1505 +6 1511 |
| QLD Karen Richards | 98 100 | 8 8 | 7.8 7.0 | 1512 -12 1500 |
| NSW Jan Serisier | 82 89 | 23 21 | 8.1 7.0 | 1539 -22 1517 |
| NSW Pat Schuberg | 298 252 | 77 63 | 3.3 7.0 | 1198 +84 1282 |
| NSW Audrey Newman | 200 163 | 51 45 | 4.3 7.0 | 1345 +53 1398 |
| NSW Ann Fiddler | 512 421 | 122 102 | 2.8 7.0 | 928 +101
1029 |
| NSW Victor Tung | 432 366 | 104 91 | 3.3 7.0 | 1014 +84 1098 |
| NSW Hanne Marks | 185 187 | 48 48 | 7.4 7.0 | 1372 -6 1366 |
| NSW Moana Nepia | 85 121 | 24 35 | 9.9 6.5 | 1538 -66 1472 |
| NSW Robyn Flynn | 24 41 | 8 13 | 8.2 6.0 | 1679 -40 1639 |
| NSW Gary Pollard | 209 199 | 54 52 | 5.1 6.0 | 1330 +18 1348 |
| NSW Jean Noonan | 195 205 | 49 53 | 6.5 6.0 | 1353 -11 1342 |
| NSW Ivor Zetler | 71 109 | 18 30 | 9.7 6.0 | 1565 -75 1490 |
| NSW H Nanayakkara | 264 260 | 68 66 | 5.5 6.0 | 1255 +14 1269 |
| NSW Norma Tracey | 182 196 | 47 50 | 7.1 6.0 | 1374 -18 1356 |
| NSW Tony Hunt | 216 239 | 57 60 | 7.6 6.0 | 1320 -32 1288 |
| NSW Kerry Constable :act | 77 97 | 21 26 | 8.3 6.0 | 1547 -45 1502 |
| NSW Donna MacDonald | 428 409 | 103 99 | 4.8 6.0 | 1019 +26 1045 |
| NSW Edith Lowbeer | 338 312 | 86 80 | 4.0 6.0 | 1135 +40 1175 |
| NSW Tim Reddan :act | 350 316 | 88 81 | 3.4 6.0 | 1123 +51 1174 |
| NSW Jenny Templeton | 287 306 | 75 78 | 7.0 5.5 | 1215 -29 1186 |
| QLD Alastair Richards | 317 284 | 34 30 | 3.1 5.5 | 1171 +47 1218 |
| NSW Cheryl Michler | 205 211 | 53 55 | 5.8 5.0 | 1340 -15 1325 |
| QLD Paul Richards | 123 167 | 10 15 | 8.7 5.0 | 1471 -75 1396 |
| NSW Margaret Andrews | 260 289 | 66 75 | 7.7 5.0 | 1266 -53 1213 |
| NSW Betty Coleman | 87 137 | 25 38 | 9.7 5.0 | 1530 -91 1439 |
| NSW Peggy Womersley | 469 439 | 108 105 | 3.4 5.0 | 969 +32 1001 |
| NSW Richard Birch | 214 240 | 56 61 | 6.8 5.0 | 1320 -33 1287 |
| NSW Susan MacGillivr:act | 156 192 | 42 49 | 7.7 5.0 | 1411 -51 1360 |
| NSW Sunny Wright | 498 534 | 118 130 | 6.7 5.0 | 944 -33 911 |
| NSW Therese Newman | 541 507 | 131 120 | 3.6 5.0 | 904 +28 932 |
| NSW Silvana Newman | 762 717 | 190 184 | 2.4 4.5 | 708 +42 750 |
| NSW Claire Dove | 648 656 | 160 164 | 4.8 4.5 | 812 -6 806 |
| NSW Judy Hay | 203 261 | 52 67 | 7.8 4.0 | 1344 -76 1268 |
| NSW Alan Gauci | 445 467 | 106 108 | 5.2 4.0 | 997 -24 973 |
| NSW Dolores Barbon | 616 570 | 154 141 | 1.6 4.0 | 838 +47 885 |
| NSW George Khamis | 482 485 | 115 116 | 4.1 4.0 | 960 -2 958 |
| NSW Sue Tuckett | 650 645 | 161 160 | 3.7 4.0 | 808 +7 815 |
| NSW Ivana Duria | 578 554 | 141 135 | 3.1 4.0 | 877 +18 895 |
| NSW Andree Lajoie | 747 733 | 187 187 | 3.2 4.0 | 720 +16 736 |
| NSW Daphne Bezuidenhout | 426 492 | 101 117 | 6.5 3.0 | 1020 -70 950 |
| NSW Chris Phillips | 703 698 | 178 176 | 2.8 3.0 | 761 +4 765 |
| NSW Basil Sands | 720 705 | 183 179 | 2.2 3.0 | 744 +16 760 |
| NSW Diana Field | 1012 986 | 271 262 | 1.1 2.0 | 500 +18 518 |
+-------------------------------------+---------+-----------+----------------+