COMMONWEALTH Games gold medallist Brendan Cole says a running holiday in the region was well worth the drive.Cole has moved into intense base training after capturing gold for Australia in the men's 4x400m at Delhi in October.His winter-style training regime is geared towards the European track season.He broke it up with a summer visit to Daylesford yesterday.The 400m hurdles specialist drove down from his Canberra base on New Year's Eve to be on the field at Maryborough on New Year's Day.Staying with his parents in Melbourne, Cole commuted to Cricket Willow."There's been lots and lots of driving but I hadn't run a sprint race for awhile," Cole said."I've been doing lots of longer training so it was good to get a couple of faster runs in."Cole thrilled the crowds at both meets.He powered off seven metres in the 400m open final at Maryborough to finish second to 2005 Stawell Gift finalist Luke Versace - who started 20 metres ahead on the 27m-mark.Cole returned to reach the semi-finals at Daylesford.He then defeated a 100m invitational handicap off 2m against a decorated field, including backman Matt Hargreaves, 70m open winner Patrick Hammond and 2010 Stawell Gift finalist Kevin Brittain.Cole's focus is on the 2012 London Olympics, especially after tasting gold in Delhi and celebrating with a victory dance on-track with his teammates."Delhi was great fun," Cole said."To even run in the relay was a bit unexpected because I'm a 400m hurdler."His next step is the national track and field titles in April, which double as world champion trials for Korea.Cole will then move into a busy European summer season for lead-up to the world championships at Daegu in August.Gift running has given him a different training perspective in the meantime.