OTAGO ROAD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Saturday 23 September 2006

LEITH REPORT

The 2006 Otago Road Championships were held on Saturday 23 September 2006 commencing at 1.00 pm on the wharf circuit. Start and finish were outside the Naylor Love building beside the Anzac St over bridge. >> Course Map

OTAGO ROAD CHAMPIONSHIPS RACE DAY PROGRAMME

EVENT 1: 1.00 pm on the 2500metre circuit

Boys 12 & under 2500m 1 lap

Liam McCall and Hayden Cleminson continued with their good form shown during the season to finish 4th and 6th respectively with times of 10 minutes 20 seconds and 10 minutes 33 seconds.

OPEN (reg/unreg) 5000 2 laps

Mark O'Donnell was unable to compete in the Otago Championship 10k Road Race due to a birthday celebration in the family, but he was able to compete in this race, which he did in fine style by winning in 17 minutes 40 seconds. Julian O'Hagan was second with a flying finish to post a good 18 minutes 23 seconds. Bill Kenny ran well to finish 8th in 23 minutes 3 seconds while Jim Flynn who is recovering from a severe knee injury finished 10th in 29 minutes 44 seconds.

EVENT 2: 1.30 pm on the 2000metre circuit:

Girls 14 & under 4000m 2 laps

Sarah Thomas had only the boys to compete with but she maintained her form to finish with a good time of 17 minutes 38 seconds.

All ages handicapped 10000m 5 laps

Steve Skilling was always going to be in with a chance as the fastest runner by far in this 14 field handicap race. He was off a handicap of just over 16 minutes and set about catching the whole field. Ivan Bell of Caversham managed to hold him off by about 30 seconds. Steve finished second with fastest time of 36 minutes 1 second.

EVENT 3: 2.30 pm on the 2000metre circuit

Senior Women 10000m 5 laps

Kirsty Morris once again, as in the Clyde Dam to Alexandra Road Race, ran a tactically sound race, letting Courtney Quirin and Kellie Palmer set the pace while she held back before setting about catching them. She finished very strongly to be only 7 seconds adrift of Kellie Palmer (2nd in 36:56) and less than a minute behind Courtney Quirin (1st in 36:19) finishing in 3rd place with a time of 37 minutes 3 seconds. This showed that her run in the National Road Championships in Christchurch, where she was battling a flu virus, was only a slight hiccup in her improving running performances. Great stuff Kirsty.

Senior Men 10000m 5 laps

Neale McLanachan was our sole performer in the Senior Men's grade finishing 8th in 32 minutes 55 seconds to maintain his level of performances for this winter season.

Masters Men 10000m 5 laps

Alan Funnell finished the 2006 winter season with a great win in the Masters Men's grade to beat Alan Keen of Ariki into second place with a time of 34 minutes 29 seconds. Ray Knox making a steady comeback finished in 4th position in 36 minutes 16 seconds while Brian Pascoe still battling a niggling groin injury was not far back in 5th position with a time of 36 minutes 50 seconds.

The team of Funnell, Knox and Pascoe won the teams event.

Masters Men 50+ 10000m 5 laps

Marc Boulle suffered from a big head by trying to foot it with some faster runners than himself and got spat out the window to finish in second place to his eternal rival Gene Sanderson of Taieri in the Men's 50 grade with a time of 38 minutes 11 seconds. A fast finishing and rejuvenated Graham Anderson finished in third place with a time of 39 minutes 34 seconds. Alistair McAlevey now running into form was not far off the pace in finishing in 5th position in 40 minutes 13 seconds. Ed Stevens was 6th in 40 minutes 23 seconds.

The team of Boulle, Anderson and McAlevey won the teams event.