Weekly NewsLetter
Monday, July 28, 2008

The road season kicked off on Saturday with the running of the Resnick
Cup - a 6.4 km handicap race from Evans Bay out to Shark Bay and back.
While the weather was "character building", it wasn't too bad once you
were running and the turn-out of just 23 starters in the open race was
disappointing.

I haven't seen the junior results, but noticed Tyler White well in
front of that field. The senior race was an exciting affair with a cluster
of the younger runners (James Palmer, Hayley Green, Kieran McDonald,
Finn Roy and Julian Baker) rocketing through the field to take the 3rd -
7th placings. Georgie Quinn held onto 2nd while the clear winner was
John "Burglar" Barrance, whose recent form improvement escaped the notice
of the handicapper. It was wryly noted that a number the recent
Resnick Cup winners have come from the notoriously cunning MM50 grade.
Generally the handicapping proved pretty accurate with over half the field
running within 6 seconds of their predicted "per km" time - well done
Brendon Flannagan! Fastest time of 22 minutes and 11 seconds went to Mike
Krause, with James Palmer and Hayley Green 2nd and 3rd.

This Saturday will see many of the clubs runners farewelling the
cross-country season competing in the New Zealand Champs - this year being
hosted by the Kapiti Harriers on their popular course around Waikanae
Park. Good luck to you all, especially those who have been chosen in the
Wellington provincial team. Looking further ahead, our club will be
hosting the Bays Relay on August 9. If you are not in a team, please
contact Graham Tattersall about helping out as a volunteer marshall.

Tony.

The Kapiti Harriers hosted Saturday's Wellington Cross Country
Championships, held on the normally firm footing at Waikanae Park. However,
following persistent rain, the course became uncharacteristically testing
with some slippery corners and boggy patches.

With the weather gods not smiling on the day, numbers were
understandably light. However, it was great to see the blue WHAC tops prominent at
the front of many fields. The club gold medalists were in Boys 13: Nick
Lucie-Smith (right at home in the wet!), Men 16: Nathan Barrett, Women
16: Anna Roche, Women 19: Hayley Green and Masters Women: Vickie
Humphries. Silvers went to Girls 11: Kelsey Foreman, Women 19: Barbara Roy
and both Senior and Masters Women: Gabby O'Rourke. Bronzes were won in
Men 16: Mike Krause, Women 19: Katherine Vance and Senior Women: Vickie
Humphries.

Highlight of the day was seeing Wellington's magnificent trio of
Masters Women (Melissa Moon, Gabrielle O'Rourke and Vicky Humphries) taking
out the Senior Women's trifecta. With one eye on the upcoming National
Road Relay, it was great to see seven WHAC runners in the top twenty of
the big Masters Men field.

Following Saturday's races, the Athletics Wellington Cross Country Team
for Nationals was announced. Congratulations to the following club
runners who were selected: SM: Dan Nixon, Jason Cressingham. SW:
Gabrielle O'Rourke. M19: Max Biggs. W19: Hayley Green, Barbara Roy, Katherine
Vance, Penny Roy. M16: Nathan Barrett, Mike Krause, James Palmer, Nick
Bingham. W16: Anna Roche. M35: Paul Forster. W35: Vickie Humphries.
M50: Dave Mason.

Saturday saw the North Island Cross Country Championships being run in
Taupo. The event was organised with typical efficiency by the Taupo
Harrier Club and the course was in amazing condition given the amount of
rain over the previous 24 hours. The weather was a bit of everything -
brilliant sunshine, sweeping rain and sleet, and an icy wind straight
off the plateau.

The fields seemed a bit light on numbers to me, and certainly the blue
WHAC tops were hard to spot in a number of the races. That said,
special mention must be made of two races. Our B16 guys took "togetherness"
to the extreme with marvellous 2nd, 3rd and 4th placings. And the W19
team continued their great form also getting three placings in the top
10. The club's individual stars included Kelsey Forman getting the day
off to a great start by winning the G10 race; Victoria Humphries taking
out the Masters Women 35-44; and Hayley Green holding out Barbara Roy to
win the W19 race in record time.

The top ten placings were: Kelsey Forman 1st G10, Kieron McDonald 7th
B14, Nathan Barrett 2nd B16, Nicholas Bingham 3rd B16, Michael Krause
4th B16, Victoria Humphries 1st MW35-44, Hayley Green 1st W19, Barbara
Roy 2nd W19, Penny Roy 10th W19, Max Biggs 8th M19, Gabrielle O'Rourke
6th SW and Vickie Humphries 9th SW.

While the weather was bitterly cold for the entire weekend, the
combination of a well run event, great course, hot pools and snow fights
ensured everybody had an enjoyable weekend.