1. Overall Report Summary
Congratulations on a fantastic effort by the 40-strong
Leith contingent that went to the National Road Relay
in Christchurch and to all who helped make this a great
occasion for our club and that includes non-travelling
reserves, support staff and moral support from patrons
and other members. The team captains did a fantastic job,
with Jan Craig and Kirsty Morris putting in a lot of time
getting their team's together despite not having much
time due to work committments. Andrew Lonie and Ray Knox
as always did a great job in organising their teams, while
the Open Masters 50 team had many a wise head in its ranks
to keep it on track.
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The 2009 Silver Medal
winning Leith Masters Women's Team standing on the
podium at the medal ceremony after the 2009 National
Road Relay held on the Takahe to Akaroa Relay course.
From left, Viv Eyers,
Jan Brosnahan, Jan Craig, Meredith Molloy, Louisa
Andrew, Joy Wylie, Sue Cuthbert, Jill Alexander
More photos will be posted
here soon.
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The Leith Masters Women's team
excelled at the National Road Relay Championships 2009,
Akaroa Relay, held from Christchurch on Saturday 10 October
2009. The team of Jan Craig, Louisa Andrew,
Joy Wylie, Viv Eyers, Jill Alexander, Jan Brosnahan, Meredith
Molloy and Sue Cuthbert won the Silver Medal for Leith.
Jan Craig set a lap record on lap one for the Master
Women's 50 grade of 42min 1sec and not to be outdone,
Jan Brosnahan set a lap record on lap six for the masters
women's (MW50) grade of 40min 6sec. .
The Leith Open C grade team of Jason Palmer, Andrew
Lonie, Grant McDougall, Mark O'Donnell, Peter Green, Richard
Wilson, Lachie Ashton and Neale McLanachan, finished
third in its grade. This was a great achievement in a
very competitive and unpredictable grade, with many an
A grade runner competing.
The Leith Master Men's 40 team finished fifth in arguably
the toughest grade in the competition.
The Leith Senior Women's team finished ninth in another
very competitive grade, while the "Leith Legends"
or as some may call, the "Old Crock's" team,
the Open Masters 50, committed itself well in finishing
eleventh in its grade.
There were also some great individual lap efforts to
report on too (more on these in the report summary and
Captain's teams reports).
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2. News Item - abstract from ODT Monday 12 October
2009 - Wayne Parsons wrote:
"The best-performed Dunedin club was Leith,
which finished third in the C grade competition and second
in the masters women's grade.
Its masters women's team of Jan Craig, Louisa Andrew,
Joy Wylie, Viv Eyers, Jill Alexander, Jan Brosnahan, Meredith
Molloy and Sue Cuthbert completed the course in 5hr 40min
10sec, behind winner Hamilton City in 5hr 18min 58sec.
Third was Pakuranga in 5hr 42min 3sec.
Brosnahan set a lap record on leg six for the masters
women's (MW50) grade of 40min 6sec.
Leith's C grade team of Jason Palmer, Andrew Lonie,
Grant McDougall, Mark O'Donnell, Peter Green, Richard
Wilson, Lachie Ashton and Neale McLanachan withstood strong
challenges from Wellington Scottish and Ariki to record
5hr 4min 15sec for its bronze medal behind second-placed
Napier Harriers in 5hr 2min 5sec and winner Hutt Valley
in 4hr 52min 22sec."
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3. Abstract from Star Midweek - Harrier reports -
by Marc Boulle
LEITH HARRIERS Report for Sat 10 Oct 2009 - Star
Midweek
Congratulations on a fantastic effort by the 40-strong
Leith contingent that went to the Athletics New Zealand
National Road Relay in Christchurch on Saturday and to
all who helped make this a great occasion for our club.
The Leith Masters Women's team of Jan Craig, Louisa Andrew,
Joy Wylie, Viv Eyers, Jill Alexander, Jan Brosnahan, Meredith
Molloy and Sue Cuthbert excelled by winning a silver medal.
Leith's Open C grade team of Jason Palmer, Andrew Lonie,
Grant McDougall, Mark O'Donnell, Peter Green, Richard
Wilson, Lachie Ashton and Neale McLanachan finished an
excellent third in its grade.
The Leith Master Men's 40 team finished fifth in a very
competitive grade.
The Leith Senior Women's team finished ninth in another
very competitive grade, while the Open Masters 50 committed
itself well in finishing eleventh in its grade.
Jan Craig and Jan Brosnahan set new records on their laps
in the MW50 grade.
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4. Leith Open C grade report - by Jason Palmer
On a freezing cold and wet morning the Leith Senior Men's
team huddled at the sign of the Takahe for the start of
the 2009 National Road Relays. But not before Andrew decided
it would be better to drive on the footpath than the road
and to crash sideways into another teams van.
With all of that out of the way 'Racin' Jason started
the team off at 9.45am donning his usual wetsuit top.
The first leg started with a steady climb to the Sign
of the Takahe, followed by a steep downhill to Gouvners
Bay. Handing over to team Captain, Andrew 'Bonie' Lonie
the team were excited to see what Andrew could do with
his run. Running the same leg that got the better of him
a few years ago, Andrew dominated it and raced hard against
a couple of tough competitors. The strain on his face
and the noises of a cow giving birth let the rest of the
team know he was working…… and working hard.
Next to run was the hairiest man on the Leith senior men's
team, Grant McDougall, but his hair didn't slow him down…..
It protected him from the driving rain and howling headwind
he was faced with. In the van, the team discussed how
Grant always runs well in relays, and this was one of
those races, Grant stormed to the finish at a blistering
pace and handed over to Mark O'Donnell who was to run
the 4th leg. Unsure of his recent ankle injury, Mark started
at a steady pace which paid off, slowly but surly he extended
the gap between Leith and the chasing team. As his confidence
in his ankle grew he picked up the pace and handed over
to Leith's 'statistics professor' and 5th runner, Peter
Green. Peter was fortunate in his leg as he was able to
take advantage of the strong tailwind, but by no means
was this an easy leg, it was the longest leg of the relay
at 10.7km and Peter put in a gutsy effort, unfortunately
for the team Peter was unable to hang on to 'A' grade
runner Matt Smith who looked as he was trying to run a
world record.
Richard Wilson took on the uphill leg and for some bizarre
reason he looked as if he was enjoying it. Richard on
his debut relay race for Leith ran extremely well picking
up a few places on his way up the hill. At the top of
the hill Richard handed over to Leith's oldest competitor
(who ran like the youngest) Lachie Ashton who ran the
gruelling downhill leg - and boy did he run, many may
have been fooled that Lachie had rollerblades on. Lachie
ran the 5th fastest time for MM50 and was right up there
with many of the youngest competitors. Last to run for
Leith was Neale 'Legs' McLanachan who in a similar situation
to Andrew was trying to get his own back on this leg that
got the better of him a few years ago. Neale had a tough
race ahead of him and not just because of the 3 massive
hills in his way but both Wellington Scottish and Ariki
2 were only a few seconds ahead of him, all teams trying
for a placing. Neale passed both these teams with ease
and never looked back, gaining Leith 3rd place in Open
Men 'C' Grade.
With great relief for the team Lachie drove the van back
to Christchurch and not Andrew. The trip was full of entertainment
thanks to Grants hilarious stories and Andrews excellent
impersonations of Chris Sole. Thank you to the team who
all raced really well and supported each other in the
cold wet conditions.
Jason.
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5. Leith Open 50 team report - report by Marc Boulle
When Dave "Mad Man" McLean, war wounds and
all, started the first lap at the top by the Sign of the
Takahe, it had started to snow. He was determined to show
that the Leith Open 50 team were not going to be pushovers,
despite being lumped into the smallest grade of the day
- the B grade Open 50 - just two teams - no's 511 (Leith)
and 512 (Methodist). He did not disappoint and brought
our team to the fore with a great effort of 40mins 42secs
(13th MM50) over 5 minutes ahead of Methodist and also
putting us in mid field of the A grade Open 50 teams that
started 45 minutes after us.
Peter "El Presidenti" Hughes took over the
baton and had to contend with rain and wind on the deceivingly
tough second lap. However, he stuck to his task and extended
Leith's lead on Methodist by almost a minute with a fine
47-minute time (14th MM50) for lap 2.
Peter passed to Graham "Ageless" Anderson who
also had to battle the elements of nature on lap 3 with
the rain and wind seeming to increase at this stage. While
Graham took off into the distance, Peter Hughes had to
watch at Grant Koedyk's attempts to get the van out of
the mud and back onto the road - resulting in Dave McLean
absorbing whatever the back wheels of the van could throw
at him in the way of cow-dung and mud while he pushed
the back of the van with all his might in an attempt to
single-handedly get it back onto the safety of the road.
While all this drama was going on, Graham was steadily
completing his lap. He did so with gusto to extend by
another seven minutes or so, the lead over Methodist.
His time was 44min 21sec (16th MM50), which was very good
considering the cold and wind he had to battle.
Now was the time for the real Leith legends to take over.
The golden oldies of the road. First up was Jim "The
Professor" Flynn on lap 4 who set about to show that
he still has what it takes despite being on the wrong
side of 75. The Professor also had to contend with the
elements that those on the latter laps escaped. It pays
to be a selector and runner. Methodist had a pretty sharp
runner on this lap, but Jim did not let Methodist get
too close. His time was on form at 55min 7sec (28th MM50)
showing he could maintain a good pace despite having to
run against a strong wind. Methodist was now just five
minutes behind Leith and gaining fast.
The second golden runner of the road now took over for
the slightly ascending lap 5. Jim "Kersie" Kerse
who set about to show that he can smile all the way, although
the smile was more like a grimace. His motto was "smile
all the time, amid the salt, wind and grime, and when
you feel like you are being run into the ground, doff
your cap to all, smile, and place it back the other way
round". Methodist had another fast runner on this
lap, but Jim did not let him get too far ahead at the
end of his lap. His time was on form at 54min 19sec (26th
MM50) showing he could maintain a good pace even though
attempting to smile the whole way. Methodist must have
had an Olympic class runner on this leg (or so say's Kersie)
because they had sneaked into the lead by about one minute.
While most of the team were having coffee at a restaurant,
Marc "Biltong" Boulle took the baton from Kersie
and set about dealing with the Methodist team. He surged
up the hill, and although 3 minutes slower than four year's
ago, he said he was helped near the top by a strong tail
wind or was it the hand of some ghostly hill runner. His
time of 34min 32secs (=7th MM50) helped Leith to gain
ascendency over Methodist with Leith now enjoying a seven-minute
advantage over them.
Taking the baton from Biltong for the penultimate lap,
Grant "Mountain Man" Koedyk, did what most mountain
men have always done with ease, ran like a grizzly bear
down the side of a mountain. When he hit the bottom, I
am sure that he was going faster than the fastest A grade
Senior Men's runner. His awesome time of 36min 25sec (8th
MM50) for lap 8 drove the nail firmly into the coffin
for the Methodist team with the Leith lead now about 14
minutes.
"Steady" Ed Stevens now took the fast moving
baton for the last lap from the Mountain Man and set about
securing an 11th place finish for Leith with Methodist
only in with the faintest of chances of an upset now.
This would only happen if Ed's suspect calf muscle played
up. However, Ed is a past master at nurturing injuries
on important runs, and he put in a steady effort over
a lap that had three huge hills. He finished with a flourish
on the field in the township of Akaroa in a time of 48mins
21secs (21st MM50) and nine minutes ahead of Methodist
for a total team time of 6mins 41secs, about 4 minutes
faster than predicted.
There was a great team spirit and it was great to see
so many long time members taking part together in a team
and enjoying the moment. Congratulations to everyone in
the team for making it such a great weekend. Roll on the
Timaru Gorge relay next year with it being unlikely an
Open 50 team will go to Inglewood for the 2010 National
Road Relay. However, never say never.
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7. Leith Masters Women's Team - by Jan Craig
When putting this team together I have to admit I was
really excited and thought we would have a chance. I did
do a bit of exaggerating to encourage the older Leith
girls into the team.
Then I noticed the website printed the other teams and
their members that included names like Melissa Moon, Michelle
Allison, Bridget Ray and Marion Millward and my hopes
of the bronze disappeared. Too late to tell them now I
thought, we are entered. Not to worry, it is a great race
and relays are always fun and I'm off tramping for 10
days as soon as I've run so we will just go and enjoy
it. The pressure is off, I thought.
On the Saturday morning at 7am I relaxed in the motel
drinking my morning coffee, stretched on the couch and
noticed the other Jan on the floor doing her stretches.
It looked quite serious. It was noted by others in the
room that I had a very casual warm up method as opposed
to Jan's more appropriate athletic method.
I realised then that I needed to behave like a captain
and set the example. After all, these girls had believed
my story I had spun them and believed they were in with
a chance of getting a medal and I was yet to inform them
that after a close read of our opponents I had rethought
our placing and consoled myself by saying I will tell
them it's because half our team are over 50 (I didn't
mind being partly to blame). The other teams didn't play
fair they filled their teams with sprightly things who
had probably just had their 35th birthday the day before.
Anyway up we went to the start. It was so cold I couldn't
take my polyprop top off.
I was on Lap one so I got up to the front (I may as well
start where I had intended to be).
One of the starting chaps told me to take my top off and
put it underneath. A girl from Scottish Harriers said
she would help me. I politely explained that I could get
pneumonia and so long as I showed my number was that ok.
He agreed, I promised to have it off by the time I crossed
the changeover.
The gun went, and away I went chasing the fine figure
of Dave McLean up the hill. I was lucky on the first lap
as I had lots of support with all the teams starting out.
Dave wouldn't have got much support from his team, as
they were too busy trying to get me to get my top off.
Eventually, after Marc Boulle got out of his van, crossed
the road (he obviously thought I hadn't heard him before)
and desperately told me to take my top off or I would
get disqualified. I assured him I had it all sorted. Marc,
that conversation probably cost me 30 seconds. Anyway
I must say I really enjoyed the leg but was pleased to
see the words Allandale and knew I would be finished soon.
A welcome sight approached as I saw Louisa and gave her
the baton.
I was surprised to hear that we only had one team ahead
of us at that stage. No time to dilly-dally, we had to
get up and support Louisa. She had not been feeling well,
and not knowing Louisa that well, she was I thought a
naturally quiet person. Despite not feeling 100% she had
an amazing run and while I was unable to catch the Leith
chaps, Louisa soon overtook the Leith men along with a
few other teams. We realised we couldn't follow her for
too long as she was clipping along very quickly and we
needed to get Joy along to her start. We parked in the
boggy field as directed and went along to see Louisa finish.
She ran a great time and handed onto Joy the baby of the
team.
Joy is new in terms of masters, as she has just come of
age this year. Joy is also new to running, and was probably
the most nervous of us all, having not run in such an
event. She took the baton and kept a great pace up and
would have to be pleased with her time. We did worry that
we would not get to our next lap as we noticed the Leith
men stuck in the boggy field. However we had Jill - alias
Stirling Moss at the wheel and she took a flying leap
on wheels and got us on the road. Viv was next to run
and I knew she would not be too upset about not getting
a medal as she was just looking forward to heading off
to Nepal for a trek and she had been in winning teams
before. However we thought we were in 3rd place at this
point and rushed off to count the runners with the 400
digits on their shirts.
Viv ran like she was in a hurry to get to Nepal and was
her ever-consistent self. Jill was up next (I think it
was around this time that Jill realised she was doing
the longest lap and I had chosen the laps) and there wasn't
time for her to moan about her long lap, she just had
to get out there and run.
The weather had not improved, it was bitterly cold, and
we stood waiting for Viv with our jackets on.
Sometimes I think it would be nice if we had tracksuits
and looked like a team but on this occasion we were standing
with Jill waiting for Viv to come in and I was listening
to the people beside me saying they just had to watch
the Leith runners and asking one of the others if they
knew the next Leith runner. They had plans to pick us
up over the next two legs and by the time Melissa (yes
the Moon one) was running the last leg they would be fine.
Along came Viv still on her mission to Nepal and I grabbed
Jill's jacket off her and pushed her over to the changeover.
The team beside turned and looked at me (The Scottish
Team) and said did you hear that. I said " Yes, but
don't worry I won't repeat it".
Off Jill went - she only has one pace, I know because
I train with her and I can never keep up. I realised recently
that Jill probably just runs that pace with me so she
doesn't have to listen to me talking. She did have a long
flat run but she kept a really good pace. This is where
we did panic for a while as we noticed an Asian female
with the 400 number running in front of Jill with the
Scottish uniform. Oh no we thought where the ….............
did she come from? We had not noticed a Scottish uniform
pass us. It must have been when we were in the car park.
Piling back into the van, we usually did this quite quickly,
as unlike some teams we can all drive being over 25. This
is always the least of our problems.
I couldn't believe they had overtaken us so soon. We were
gutted. There is no medal for 4th place and we wanted
our bronze. Further along we saw the Asian girl stop -
She was warming up for lap 6.
We were ready to make a complaint. That is such bad tactics,
even Louisa was no longer the quiet Louisa, and she wanted
a medal too. The excitement of a medal took away her shyness
(I thought it best not to mention the Melissa Moon coming
up the rear at this point).
We were waiting for Jill and it was a long lap. I ran
over to the changeover to wait with Jan.
She ducked into the portaloo only for me to think that
I had seen Jill coming in and I have to yell at her to
get out. Which she promptly did only to realise it was
not Jill and there was now a big Q for the loo and she
wouldn't have time to go.
Jill came in having completed her lap in a good time
and was 2nd fastest W50 on that leg.
I remember her distinctly saying she had enjoyed it, so
I clung onto that in case she mentioned the long lap again.
Jan went and powered up the hill at a great pace. Jan
set a new record on this lap for W50.
I knew she had made up time on the hill but was also aware
that some teams had stacked their teams differently and
Betty the Scottish girl we had seen warming up (dirty
tactics Betty from the Moon team) on lap 5 was getting
up the hill in fine form.
Jan handed onto Meredith who loves downhill running and
specifically wanted that leg. A North Canterbury team
had changed over around the same time and we had no idea
what would be happening. We knew Hamilton was out front
and Pakuranga was 2nd and now we were neck and neck with
North Canterbury.
We rushed down to the changeover just in case Meredith
found a shortcut. By now other, later starting teams,
like the Leith master's team had come through and were
overtaking us.
We couldn't follow Meredith and had no idea how she would
go. She was hyped up and keen and I knew she would run
her insides out. Probably pressured by the fact she has
not raced for a while.
We rushed into the toilets at the hotel at the changeover
and were met by the North Canterbury runner Tracey Crossley
who had proceeded to tell us they had a really strong
runner on the downhill and Kath Aitken on the last leg
who they said was amazing. Well I had to tell them that
we had Sue Cuthbert and she was an amazing runner too.
I went out to wait for Meredith thinking that we were
in 4th place now and it was getting close to me bringing
out the age card. Hamilton had changed over, North Canterbury
came in and changed over and then Meredith came in and
we had assumed for a short time that Pakuranga had also
changed over until we noticed the Pakuranga girl and realised
we were back in 3rd place.
This was exciting now as we were on our last leg.
We all piled in the van to follow Sue. She was running
strongly and made the hills look so easy.
Sue was catching the North Canterbury girl. We got out
to cheer Sue on we were so excited. Louisa was so excited
she had renamed her, something to do with Silver. She
was gaining on the North Canterbury girl when we realised
we were standing with her support crew. They told us that
anything could happen - she (meaning Sue) could fall over.
I made a point of not stopping at any lay-byes near them
again. It was soon not to be a problem as Sue had made
her break, and overtaken their runner, powering ahead.
We yelled at her that she had 2 kms to go and she had
a good lead from the North Canterbury girl and no one
else threatening. It was hard to believe. We rushed to
the end to see Sue finish and claim our medals.
It was an exciting day and I have to say it was thanks
to good consistent running by everyone.
Everyone finished saying they had enjoyed their lap and
I never had to bring out the over 50 card however we can
reverse that now and be proud that we competed in the
over 35 section and got silver with half our team being
over 50. The winning team and the team that got 3rd had
none.
We managed to get 3 fastest times for over 50's and Jan
and myself set new records on our laps.
Having so many other Leith members at the finish added
to the day.
Sorry this has become a book, I felt like I was back
running the race again
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8. Leith MM team report - by Ray Knox
The Leith masters men's 40 team finished 5th at the Takahe
to Akaroa NZ Road Relay Championships. This continues
this team's fine record of 4 top 6 finishes at the NZ
Road Relays in the last 4 years.
Despite our disappointment at not gaining a top three
finish, the team can be proud of this top result for a
small club like Leith. Despite some injury concerns, everyone
put in a gutsy effort. The team consisting of lap1 Richard
Hendry 35m 12s; lap 2 Alan Funnell 38m 52s; lap 3 Brian
Pascoe 39m 00s; lap 4 Paul Beauvais 35m 24s; Lap 5 Ray
Knox 38m 43s; lap 6 Chris Sole 32m 34s; lap 7 John Bayne
30m 59s; lap 8 Glen Ferguson 34m 59s.
Our total time of 4hr 45m 43s compares remarkably to
Marc Boulle's prediction of 4hr 45m 32s for this team.
Well done Biltong. Special mention must go to John Bayne
3rd fastest MM40 on lap 7 and Glen Ferguson 1st MM40 on
Lap 8 - awesome running guys.
Entertainment on the day was provided by Brian Pascoe
getting lost while warming up on lap 2 and Richard Hendry's
(don't try this at home) example of how to get out of
a moving van without hurting yourself.
Finally thanks to all the team members for the great
team spirit displayed all weekend.
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