Athletics New Zealand - Weekly update

PENNSYLVANIA USA
ING Rock ’n’ Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon – 19 September 2010
Kimberley Smith finished fifth in 1h 8m 39s. Won by Meseret Defar of Ethiopia in 1h 7m 44s.
Smith holds the New Zealand record of 1h 7m 55s set in New Orleans in February.

FRANCE
IAAF World Combined Events Challenge, Talence – 18/19 September 2010
Brent Newdick finished 11th with a total score of 7828 in the decathlon. Newdick’s performances; 100m 11.03s (+2.4) 854, long jump 7.21m (+3.6) 864, shot put 14.40m 753, high jump 1.93m 740, 400m 50.66s 784, (day one 3995 points 11th place), 110m hurdles 14.80s (-0.2) 874, discus 44.48m 756, pole vault 4.76m 837, javelin 56.30m 682, 1500m 4m 39.47s 684.
Event won by Leonel Suárez of Cuba with 8328. Maurice Smith of Jamaica was fifth with 8157.

AUSTRALIA
Athletic All Stars Meeting, Sydney – 15 September 2010
1997 World Champion Beatrice Faumuina was third in the discus throw at the Athletic Allstars meeting in Sydney last Wednesday evening.
Faumuina was out to 59.32m in the fourth of the six rounds.
World champion from Berlin last year Dani Samuels of Australia won the competition with a throw of 61.90m, the first of her two legitimate throws. Beijing Olympic Games discus Gold Medallist Stephanie Brown-Trafton of USA was second, marginally ahead of Faumuina with 59.48m.
The meeting centred around the guest appearance of Olympic and World champion and world 100m and 200m record holder Usain Bolt of Jamaica.

Sydney Marathon – 19 September 2010
Mikki Williden was 64th and ninth woman in 2h 59m 21s.

UQ Athletic Centre All Comers meeting, UQ St Lucia Campus, Brisbane – 12 September 2010
Andrea Miller won the 100m hurdles in 13.55s (+2.3) and was second in the 100m in 12.11s (+0.8). Scott McLaren was sixth in the 400m in 50.54s and fourth in the discus throwing 39.34m (2kg).

USA
Indiana Intercollegiates cross country, Purdue University West Lafayette Indiana – 17 September 2010
Camille Buscomb was fifth in the 5km in 17m 49s and Simon Rogers was 11th in 25m 8s and Caden Shields 12th in 25m 10s in the 8km.
Delaware Invitational, White Clay Creek State Park, Newark Delaware – 18 September 2010
Laura Sinclair of George Mason won the 5km in a course record of 17m 40.83s.

THE NETHERLANDS
Arena Games, Hilversum – 12 September 2010
Monique Williams was sixth in the 100m in 12.07s (-1.4) and second in the 200m in 24.09s (-1.6).

HONG KONG – 12 September 2010
News from Rebecca Wardell
I competed in Hong Kong on Sunday at this amazing green track set amongst all the high rises. I started with long jump at 9am, winning with a jump of 5.74m which was a season’s best and big improvement on the Gold Coast last week. The competition was the longest I have ever done at 3 hours, there were 46 girls jumping and only one pit in operation so we finished at 12 noon! In the middle of the comp I had a 200m which I won in 24.79s, into a head wind which I was happy with.
I missed the last two jumps of the long comp due to a massive storm that came over.
After a short break we had hurdles, I won with 14.50s, a little slower than I would have liked but good to have another race under my belt.
I had a great cheer squad, some of my family who live here in Hong Kong came along and made lots of noise which was awesome!
We started warming up for high jump before another massive rain storm came over and the event then got cancelled after waiting at the high jump until 4.30pm for it to stop!!
But overall it was a good day at the office and I managed to survive the increase in temperature from Christchurch!
We did high jump this morning at training to make up for the comp being cancelled and I cleared 1.65m which I was really happy with considering the big day I had yesterday.
My coach Andrew and physio Vanessa are both here with me which is awesome.
Keep an eye on my blog for pictures and more regular updates etc...http://rebeccawardell.blogspot.com/
Hope all the shaking is easing for those of you in Christchurch, it looked really bad on TV and thinking of you all.

AUCKLAND
Viaduct Harbour 5km Series – 14 September 2010
Simon Riley won in 16m 5s, beating Matthew Ogden 16m 9s and Bruce Duncan 16m 11s. Elise Salt was the first woman in 18m 42s.

Lydiard Legend Marathon and Arthur’s Half Marathon, Waitakere – 18 September 2010
Dale Warrander crossed the Tasman from his Gold Coast base to completely dominate the annual Lydiard Legend marathon raced around the Waitakere Ranges on Saturday morning.
The 2004 Athens Olympian eased into the lead at 5km and went on to battle through the gusty conditions in a time of 2h 30m 1s for the 42.2km.
Iain MacDonald of Tauranga passed a tiring Steven O’Callaghan at 30km to claim second five minutes later, with O’Callaghan of Rotorua taking third in 2h 36m 57s.
Warrander who is aiming for a fast marathon in Fukuoka in December said that the weather conditions were against him running a faster time.
“They were tough, I knew it was going to be a rough day. My intentions were to come over and try and break the record (2h 23m 11s) but once I knew the weather was going to be like this, I knew it was going to be an uphill battle and it was just a matter of doing a good solid tempo run.
“But I really struggled that last eight kilometres, the weather didn’t help at all – it was just a matter of getting through it in the end,” said Warrander, who returns in two weeks time for the national road relay championships in Inglewood.
MacDonald said that the conditions were pretty brutal.
“It is the toughest marathon I’ve done. I’d rate it tougher than Rotorua,” he said.
“I really paid for it on the uphill, and was fortunate to have enough downhill to recover it. I felt strong at 30km and got on to the back of Steven then he said ‘go for it mate’ and I took advantage of that and he dropped off quite fast,” said MacDonald.
O’Callaghan said that there was too much downhill in the race for him.
“I really enjoyed it, but my quads burnt up on the downhills, but I’m still happy enough,” he said. With entries closed O’Callaghan is seeking a transfer entry into the Auckland marathon next month.
New Zealand women’s marathon champion Shireen Crumpton from Dunedin won the women’s section in 2h 59m 32s, nearly four minutes ahead of last year’s winner Ady Ngawati of Whangarei. Lesley Turner Hall was third for the fourth year in a row.
Crumpton said after the New Zealand road championships in Christchurch two weeks ago were cancelled due to the earthquake she decided to tackle the iconic event.
“I needed a good tempo run so I did this as a training run. All the greats have done it in the past and I wanted to have a go,” said Crumpton.
“I’ve done 160km in training this week, I haven’t freshened at all,” she added.
Ngawati said that it was a tougher race than last year.
“It was good to have Shireen to race against. We were running together having a chat as we do, but on the first West Coast hill she just started to pull away and on the downhill went on me,” said Ngawati.
Turner Hall said that she is at least consistent.
“Maybe I shouldn’t do three marathons in a year and then maybe I could win one. But this is it for a while, I’m saving myself for my first ultra marathon in March,” she said.
Rugby League great Reuben Wiki and his wife Santa completed the marathon in 5h 9m 23s.
Stephen Lett of Takapuna won the associated Arthur’s half marathon in 1h 11m 55s, beating third placed last year Kerry Faass of Christchurch by 21 seconds. Stefan Smith of Wellington was third in 1h 14m 3s.
Lett said it was a slow race from the start.
“No one wanted to take the lead into the wind. The race really started on the uphill of Carter Road,” said Lett.
“I went off the front and started to make little surges and got a break which I was quite surprised,” he added.
Former New Zealand cross country champion Maria Akesson of Whangarei won the women’s half marathon in 1h 27m 28s. On a comeback trail following giving birth to a son a year ago, Akesson said it was a case of test and see.
“I’m out jogging lots lately and not really with any pace. I entered today to see how I am going,” she said.
“I won here two years ago when I was pregnant with my son, so it kind of feels special in my first race back,” said Akesson.
Tara La Grange of North Harbour was second in 1h 27m 46s with Anna Bramley third in 1h 33m 11s.
Results: Men.-
Dale Warrander 2h 30m 01s 1, Iain MacDonald 2h 35m 21s 2, Steven O’Callaghan 2h 36m 57s 3, Graeme Taylor 2h 42m 20s 4, Gavin Stevens 2h 45m 48s 5, Ben Chidgey 2h 54m 6s 6.
Women.-
Shireen Crumpton 2h 59m 32s 1, Ady Ngawati 3h 3m 19s 2, Lesley Turner Hall 3h 7m 10s 3, Debbie Fillery 3h 14m 54s 4, Jean Beaumont 3h 29m 1s 5, Jacqueline Eastman 3h 29m 51s 6.
Arthur's Half-Marathon
Men.-
Stephen Lett 1h 11m 55s 1, Kerry Faass 1h 12m 16s 2, Stefan Smith 1h 14m 3s 3, Andrew Haigh 1h 14m 25s 4, Craig Kirkwood 1h 16m 48s 5, Marcel Blake 1h 22m 13s 6.
Women.-
Maria Akesson 1h 27m 28s 1, Tara La Grange 1h 27m 46s 2, Anna Bramley 1h 33m 11s 3, Gilly Davy 1h 37m 58s 4, Sally Ebbett 1h 38m 9s 5, Emma Revell 1h 39m 13s 6.

Auckland Road Relay Championships, Hunua – 19 September 2010
The Auckland relay course got the thumbs up as the venue for next year’s national relay championships.
Wellington Scottish took the opportunity to travel north to test the course and work out their strategy for next year. Scottish duly won the senior men’s relay covering the eight lap 64.5km race in 3h 38m 53s, beating Auckland City Athletic by a wide margin of over 11 minutes.
Manager of the Scottish team Todd Stevens said that the team really enjoyed the event.
“It is a great course, it will be very challenging for the national road relay, the variety of laps – good variety of distances, the ups and downs were pretty punishing,” he said.
“We are pleased that we had this opportunity to give it a test run, because this was about preparing before next year’s nationals and there is nothing like getting the feel of the course beforehand.”
Stevens added that it was good to have a course close to a main centre.
“To come up with this close to Auckland is pretty impressive, hats off to the organisers because I know what it takes from a traffic management perspective to put these relays on and I’m thankful that we can still have a decent road relay on the roads as it’s getting harder and harder.”
Results: Men.-
Senior 64.5km: Wellington Scottish (Hamish Carson 8.5km 26m 37s, Peter Kelly 5.5km 20m 23s, James Coubrough 8.95km 30m 32s, Rohan Biggs 6.75km 22m 19s, Sam Kidd 7.20km 26m 9s, Glenn Hughes 10.60km 35m 7s, Stephen Day 6.90km 24m 59s, James List 10.10km 32m 47s) 3h 38m 53s 1, Auckland City Athletic (Simon Yarrow, Chris Trabing, Tom Stewart, Aaron Jackson, Angus Bell, Chris Robb, Graham Moore, Josh Maisey) 3h 50m 14s 2, Takapuna 3h 50m 55s 3, North Harbour Bays 3h 52m 56s 4, Wesley 4h 7m 17s 5.
Masters 35-49 64.5km: Auckland University (Brett Katterns, Keith Proctor, Tony Woodhouse, Graham Macky, Dave Harkness, Bruce Duncan, Clive Henderson, Matt O’Donoghue) 4h 21m 10s 1.
Masters 50 plus 64.5km: Auckland City Athletic (Charles Stewart, Richard Bright, Brett Laurent, Gerald Duncan, Bernard Hanley, Greg Banks, Richard Adams, Malcolm Chamberlin) 4h 34m 44s 1, Pakuranga 4h 57m 35s 2.
M19 42.05km: Auckland City Athletic A (Tadele Tekle-Haimanot, Haile Tesfaye, Jonathan Jackson, Matt Morreau, Sam Morreau) 2h 26m 16s 1, Wesley 2h 29m 59s 2, ACA B 2h 33m 13s 3.
Women.-
Senior 64.5km: Pakuranga (Penny Peskett, Virginia Hales, Hannah Barker, Renee Holtom, Rosana Balle, Lisa Robertson, Sarah Devoy, Leah Hirshfeld) 4h 20m 43s 1, ACA 4h 51m 34s 2.
W19 42.05km: Auckland City Athletic A (Georgie Grgec, Ashleigh Williams, Courtney Hendrickson, Sally Wilkins, Ella Mangan-Walker) 2h 52m 4s 1, ACA B 3h 11m 20s 2, 2h 34m 46s 2, Pakuranga 3h 16m 20s 3.

WELLINGTON
Waterfront 5km Series – 14 September 2010
Hamish Carson won in 15m 47s, beating Richard Swan 16m 23s and Tim Stewart 16m 30s. Stephanie Mackenzie won the women’s section in 18m 38s, from Florence Reynolds 19m 26s and Bernie Portenski 19m 38s. Terri Grimmett won the race walk outright in 32m 16s.

Hutt Valley Marathon Clinic Pelorus Trust Runs, Petone – 19 September 2010
Daniel Clendon won the half marathon in 1h 13m 50s, from Simon Maister 1h 21m 48s. Patricia Sloan won the women’s half in 1h 29m 29s from Mandy Simpson 1h 33m 9s. 10km winners were Jesse Patel in 32m 57s from Grant McLean 33m 26s and Sarah Christie 38m 34s from Bernie Portenski 39m 49s. The half walk was won by Peter Baillie 2h 3m 9s and the women Sue Hoskin 2h 17m 51s. The 10km walk went to Michael Walton in 58m 26s one second ahead of Tim Dutton. Jacqueline Wilson was the women’s 10km walk winner in 1h 9m 37s.

INVERCARGILL
Southland Road Championships, Queen’s Park – 18 September 2010
It took an earthquake to cancel the New Zealand road championships in Christchurch two weeks ago and it took a massive snow storm to postpone the Southland road championships in Invercargill, to Saturday 2nd October.
As advised on Friday the 2010 New Zealand road championships will now be held in conjunction with the Sir Barry Curtis 10km and 5km road races on Sunday 17th October at Pakuranga Auckland.