After all, following back-to-back success at Gift events at Keilor and Castlemaine during the past month, Lubeck is building a fair assortment of prizes.
February 17’s Keilor Gift was a big step, with Lubeck taking out the 1600m Open race under a 130m handicap more than 1½ seconds clear of second place.
The following weekend the Seymour athlete backed up his success from the previous week — and last year — by claiming his second straight victory in the 800m Open at the Castlemaine Gift on February 25.
Coming in with the lowest handicap in the field after coasting through his heat, Lubeck took the race out by almost 1½ seconds to keep the momentum rolling.
Now, the mother of all Australian running events looms large as the iconic Stawell Gift approaches on Easter weekend.
Lubeck has seen all this success off the back of allying with the Kelfit side competing across the Victorian Athletic League this season.
Kelfit, run by Lubeck’s father Kelvin, has found winning avenues aplenty of late after two other runners crossed the tape first at last week’s Bendigo Madison.
Lubeck remains riding this high for now, describing his last win at Castlemaine as “memorable and special”.
In the wake of these victories, Lubeck praised his dad for “all his hard work”, adding he enjoyed the environment created by his Kelfit teammates where “everyone is there to have fun at the end of the day”.
Meanwhile, Kelvin had nothing but praise for his squad’s output as the big day approaches at Stawell.
The Kelfit side is new within the VAL framework, but adjusting naturally, with Kelvin saying his charges ought to feel “incredibly proud of all their hard work”.
Racing commences at the Stawell Gift on Easter Saturday, March 30, as part of the annual three-day long weekend carnival that wraps up with the Gift finals on Easter Monday, April 1.
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