Knox Little Athletics Centre Inc.

🔥 HANDICAP DAY IS HERE – THE CHASE IS ON! 🔥

Get ready for an exciting morning of handicap racing at Knox Cross Country.
📅 Saturday 4 July 2026
📍 Norton’s Park
🏃 Program B
⏰ Racing commences at 9:00am sharp

ATHLETE HANDICAP TIMES
Please arrive early so athletes can receive their race start times. This will be written on the athlete’s hand before their race.
Handicap times will be available from the Knox tent on the morning. If an athlete has not raced at Knox before and does not have a handicap time, they will be given a nominal baseline handicap time.
Athletes will be sent off in order of their handicap time, with slower runners starting first and faster runners chasing them down.

Race Order:
U13–U16 3000m > U7–U8 1000m > U6 500m > U11–U12 2000m > U9–U10 1500m

⚠️ Reminder: Bring your name patch
NO PATCH = NO RUN
📝 Parent Duty – https://volunteersignup.org/A38FF
📍 Course map available on the day

Please arrive early to allow time for warm-up, check-in and handicap times before racing.

💛💙 See you all Saturday!

Knox Little Athletics has a proud history of supporting and helping raise funds for cancer research, prevention and support services.

This year, we are proud to support Michael Hough and his team mate Peter as they take on the incredible challenge of competing in the Shitbox Rally, raising vital funds for Cancer Council.

This winter, the trek will take them from Mildura to Townville and loads of interesting places in between.

This cause is especially meaningful to our Knox community. Michael’s father, Stephen Hough, was a legend of our Centre and a much-loved member of the Knox Little Athletics family. Stephen sadly passed away from cancer in 2023, and his contribution, character and impact on our Centre continue to be remembered with great respect and affection.

The Shitbox Rally is not just about getting an old car across the country — it is about raising awareness, supporting cancer research, and helping families impacted by cancer.

We are seeking donation support from our community, families, friends and local businesses to help the Just Send It Team reach their fundraising goal.

Every donation, big or small, will help make a difference and continue Knox’s proud tradition of supporting Cancer Council.

👉 You can Donate to the Just Send it Team here: https://winter2026.shitboxrally.com.au/just-send-it

You can also follow the progress of the Just Send it team and the rally at the Shitbox rally website – https://www.shitboxrally.com.au/

Thank you for your support and generosity.

A huge thank you to everyone who turned up and supported Knox Cross Country yesterday.

What started as a challenging morning due to the unexpected double booking quickly turned into a great example of teamwork, cooperation and community spirit. It was fantastic to see Knox, Caulfield Grammar and the other APS schools all working together to make sure the cross country events could run smoothly.

A very big thank you to Kim Mullhall and the team at Caulfield Grammar, along with the other APS schools, for accommodating us and working so cooperatively with Knox throughout the morning. Their support and flexibility helped turn a tricky situation into a really positive morning of cross-country.

While the course was different to what our athletes were expecting, it was great to see them embrace the challenge, adapt quickly and give it their best. Cross country is all about determination, resilience and having a go, and our Knox athletes showed plenty of that.

Thank you also to our amazing volunteers, officials, families and supporters who assisted with set-up, course changes, marshalling, parent duties, timing, pack-up and encouraging the athletes around the course. Events like this only happen because of the people who step in and help.

Well done to all athletes who competed. You took on the challenge, ran hard and represented Knox proudly.

Thank you again to everyone involved for helping make it a fantastic morning of cross country.

We have been made aware late this afternoon that APS has also booked Nortons Park for a cross-country event tomorrow morning.

While this is unfortunate, it is a result that was beyond ours and APS’s control. We have contacted APS this evening to find a suitable solution so that both cross-country events can proceed with minimal impact on each other.

Knox Cross Country will still go ahead; however, we ask everyone to please be patient and considerate tomorrow morning as we work through on-site logistics.

Car parking will be affected, and we may need to make some adjustments to our course arrangements.

FURTHER UPDATE:

We have had further discussions with APS tonight and made some changes to our race program to suit both programs being run.

Our new race order for tomorrow will be:

NEW Race Order:

U9-10 1500m > U6 500m > U13-17 3000m > U7-8 1000m > U11-12 2000m.

Our U13-U17 will run in the APS 3 km race.

Please note that if you are an under-6 runner, the race will be earlier than usual tomorrow.

APS have already set up their course for tomorrow and have kindly offered to allow us to use it, albeit with some additions for our 500m loop. Knox will be on site from 7am to set up our Knox equipment.

APS Course map

The course map below has been provided by APS for tomorrow; it will give athletes an idea of the course layout we are using. Please note that there will be some adjustments to the course; however, this gives everyone a sense of the layout.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation

Knox Little Athletics is deeply saddened to hear of the tragic passing of Jemma Stapleton while overseas on a family holiday.

Jemma was part of the Knox Little Athletics community as a Little Athlete with the Rowville Club. From an early age, Jemma showed great talent, determination and love for athletics, achieving success at Knox Championship level and going on to represent Knox at State level.

Jemma later continued her athletics journey in the Victorian Athletic League, where she achieved outstanding success, including winning the Women’s Ringwood Gift and competing with distinction at the Stawell Gift, finishing 3rd in 2025.

Her achievements on the track were a reflection of her dedication, competitive spirit and the joy she brought to the sport.

Many within our Centre will remember Jemma and the Stapleton family with great fondness.

Our heartfelt thoughts, love and condolences are with Jemma’s family, her partner Tyler, and all those who knew and loved her, as they face the unimaginable grief of losing a cherished daughter, sister, partner and friend.

Jemma will be remembered with great fondness by the Knox Little Athletics community and by all whose lives she touched.

A GoFundMe has been established, with the family’s approval

https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-for-stapletons