Her last was the 5km Rupanyup Garden Centre in April 2018.

With two years of COVID and changes to her work schedule, Matilda hasn't been able to attend as many SAAC events as she would have liked.

The 42-year-old mum hasn't let lockdown and restrictions hamper her training, running her own marathon during the 2021 lockdown and backing it up with a 50km ultra in Warburton earlier in the year.

Matilda wasn't expecting a win at the Howdy Classic.

"I'm no longer at my fastest, and I've been placing towards the bottom at the last few club events," the runner said.

Having run a cruisy 5km race at the Wimmera River Parkrun (a free 5km event every Saturday, at various locations around Australia), she went into the club run with low expectations.

OTHER NEWS:

"The plan was to run 5-5:15 minute kilometre pace, and just see how I felt," Iglesias said.

A flat course must have worked in this trail runner's favour, as she stormed home in an icy headwind with a 90-second lead of ever-improving Drew Christian.

In the sub-juniors 1000 metres, only three runners battled it out in wintery conditions, with Jerome Baker taking the win.

The club returns on Sunday 19th June for the 8km L.W Kent Memorial Championship with sister club SACCC.

Please meet at the back of Stawell Airport on Pipeline track, at 9:15 for a 9:45 am start.

While you're with us, you can now receive updates straight to your inbox from the Stawell Times-News. To make sure you're up-to-date with all the news from across the region, sign up here.