“There were so many families from far and wide that were seeing Dimboola for the first time, so that was a pleasing aspect of the day for me.
“The community really got behind it – the Lions club, the Dimboola Progress Association, the Imaginarium and Hindmarsh Shire Council all pitched in to help.
“The response from the local traders was very positive. They were all busy during the day, and the overall comment was that these sorts of events are great for Dimboola as it continues building a reputation as a destination in the Wimmera.”
The event included marathon, half-marathon, 10km run, 10km walk and 5km races, with Kaniva’s David Staehr winning the marathon in a time of 02:41.04 – more than 14 minutes ahead of his nearest competitor.
Mitch Williams was the half-marathon winner, with Nelson Rohde taking out the 10km run and Horsham’s Jett Hill winning the 5km event.
The win could be a good omen for Hill, who is set to compete at the Australian Athletics Junior Championships in Queensland this weekend.
Mr Haddy said he was committed to making the Dimboola Dash an annual event.
“Part of what the event was about was, after the not-so-long-ago fires, bringing a bit of life back to the Dimboola community and patting them on the back for the marvellous job they are doing in turning the town around from where it was perhaps 15 years ago,” he said.
“I felt really good about the event as an organiser, because at some of these events the locals might say ‘here’s a blow-in doing something on our patch’, but it was not like that at all.
“The community really stepped up big time and helped put on what I think was a pretty fabulous event in the end.”
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