Club Captain Reports
(Scroll all the way down)
Leith Senior Men (by Andrew Lonie)
The Leith Open Men's team consisted of Neale
McLanachan, Alan Funnell, Mark O'Donnell, John Winsbury,
Grant McDougall, Andrew Lonie, Andrew Perry and Jason Palmer,
as well as driver/DJ/motivator Julian O'Hagan.
The team had been seeded into the B Grade,
unlike the comparable but less fortunate Otago University
team who were put into A Grade. Looking through the entries
on the way up in the van, it seemed the team had a fair
shot at winning the B Grade, with the main obstacle looking
to be Canterbury University, which although their No. 2
team, boasted talent seen previously in Dunedin such as
Ryan McInnes and Justin 'The Maggot' Carnaby.
After an hour's nervous pacing, Neale got
things underway with his customary 'it's just like a track
race' first leg. This year there was a howling norwest headwind
to contend with, but Neale ran brilliantly, leading the
B Grade and Masters Men field the whole way and ending up
with 8th fastest senior man and overall time on the lap.
Alan Funnell followed this up with a very good run on Lap
2 of 30:15, maintaining the lead over the competition.
Then it was over to a focused Mark O'Donnell,
who having trained like a madman for the past few months
put in the run of the day over the demanding Pareora Gorge
leg. His time of 27:43 was 14th fastest of the day and was
in reality even better than that as this time included 30
seconds panicked searching for the next runner!
John was next up on the anchor leg, running
amongst some top class masters opposition in the form of
Kerry Rodger and Richard Bennett, and recording a very good
time of 37:39 for the 11 km into a headwind, and extending
the lead over Canterbury University out to over five minutes.
Grant McDougall had a good run up to the limeworks
on Lap 5, recording under 4 min/km on this mainly uphill
leg. He handed over to captain Andrew Lonie who had elected
to run the 8 km Lap 6 over the longer last leg due to a
dose of the lurgy. The drum and bass coming from the van
at top volume however kept him going at an acceptable pace.
Canterbury University were at this stage making inroads
though, having saved most of their top runners for the second
half.
Andrew Perry ran very well up the gruelling
zigzag despite the increasing heat of the day and also having
had a recent illness. He was greeted at the top of the hill
with Jules's yelling and a camera being shoved in his face!
By the end of this lap though Canterbury Uni were only 25
seconds behind, and with their last runner being Maggot,
things were always going to be tough. 'Racin' Jason' ran
his heart out though, recording a time of 33:30 for the
9.4 km leg and ensuring that the team broke the four hour
mark, and also bettered Otago Uni's total time. Perhaps
this was the best result as winning B Grade would have meant
Jason having to follow up on a rash promise of doing a victory
lap in his underwear!
Leith Open Masters 50+ (by Marc Boulle)
The Masters 50+ team consisted in running
order of Peter Morris, Graham Anderson, Dave McLean, Chris
Sole, John Scoones, Ed Stevens, Marc Boulle and Gerald Scoones.
Peter Morris, although battling the "lurgy",
a sore hamstring and calf muscle, showed how tough the masters
runners are by putting in a great sustained effort to finish
his lap in 36:02 (5th MM50) to hand to Graham Anderson.
Anderson put in probably the team's run of the day, to finish
in 33:56 (7th MM50). Dave McLean was a revelation over his
hilly lap finishing with a flourish and dramatic collapse
posting a time of 30:28 (3rd MM50). Chris Sole, although
short of training, still posted a good time over the gradual
ascending fourth lap against a strong gusty and dry headwind.
He finished in 43:16 (6th MM50). Next up was John Scoones
who on short notice had to run this race but he still ran
well to finish in 26:19 (11th MM50) and hand to Ed Stevens.
Stevens put in his trademark steady run to be one of the
Leith performers of the day with a time of 30:21 (7th MM50).
Marc Boulle was next up and although not as fast as last
year, still managed a steady run up the hill to finish in
32:22 (5th MM50). As this stage we were lying 5th and a
far way off from the 4th place team. Gerald Scoones took
up the task of trying to catch this team, but the gap was
too far and he put in a good steady run to finish with a
time of 36:21 (10th MM50). Great team effort guys and thanks
goes to our Technical Advisor and Relay expert and driver,
the honourable Steve (Skillo) Stevens for his efforts in
supporting the team (even adding his trademark "moan"
on occasions). Where would we be without it?
Reports have it that all enjoyed the weekend
and the race and promise to be there for next years race
in Mosgiel.
The Composite Team
Well what an awesome group of runners in the
Composite Team. Never a dull moment believe me.
A stop in Oamaru to obtain some watery refreshments to go
with the cheese and water-biscuits on the way up was a great
start to the weekend.
The Relay
Race day dawned windy & balmy
No elite runners so no expectations
Claire took off with a bang and a surge
Alison's leg gusty & warm
Bills scottish legs did him proud uphill & down
Peter we were honored to have,
On the scorching long leg
Jim the Prof. consistently ran
Up, down Christine ran looking for water
She finally did find
Wow Karen, what's in that drink bottle ?
Up hill she did fly
Finally Sarah, brought us home in much style and fanfare
Thanks Team
Psst: We had a leprechaun who would turn
up on a bicycle to cheer us on or inform the next runner
when they were nearly due to run!!
A lovely barbecue tea followed, by drinks
and dancing downtown. Sunday morning breakfast was had at
Friday nights venue were we watched the rugby, it was a
good game and as some of us say winning isn't everything.
The team would like to thank Russell, Jacinta and Peter
for their driving and wonderful support during the weekend.
MM40 and Senior Womens' report are on
their way
