Marlborough Harriers Club

Running and walking in marlborough!

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Nelson Half Marathon 2013

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Ray Waters, Sheila Waters and Mieke Holtrop competed in the Nelson Half and Quarter Marathon held on Sunday. Ray clocked up yet another run over the 21.1km distance while Sheila tackled the walk. Mieke ran the shorter 10.25km course.
 
Phil Costley who was a late entry following his last-minute withdrawal from the Rotorua Marathon took overall line honours in the half marathon with a time of 1hour 9min 56sec. Graeme Taylor was a further four minutes back. Paula Canning claimed her eighth consecutive Nelson Half title to lead the women home in a time of 1hour 24min 17sec.   
 
Marlborough Results:
 
Half Marathon Run (113 finishers)
Ray Waters 2hrs 19min 42sec. (101st overall; 11th M60+)
 
Half Marathon Walk (19 finishers)
Sheila Waters 3hrs 12sec. (13th overall; 4th F55+)
 
Quarter Marathon Run (119 finishers)
Mieke Holtrop 58min 21sec. (52nd overall; 2nd F55+)
 

Burton Cup 2013

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More than 30 runners took part in the Burton Cup handicapped event held at Taylor Dam on Saturday. The walkers who took part started off on scratch.
The original W.G. Burton Trophy, one of the club’s oldest trophies dating back to 1933, is presented to the winner of the Senior Mens race and this was taken out comfortably by Jeremy McKenzie.  
Hunter Bendell, Sophia Bendell and Hannah Munro won back-to-back Burton Cup titles all stepping up in their respective grades. First year club members who claimed titles on the day were Neve McKenzie, Xander De Luca, Teresa Campbell, Emma Jones and Jeremy McKenzie.
The final race at Taylor Dam for the 2013 season is the Brooklyn Shield on Saturday 25th May. This is an annual interclub event between Marlborough, Nelson and Waimea. Marlborough are the current holders of the Brooklyn Shield as well as the Senior teams silverware associated with the event; the Don Pederson Cup (Senior Womens team competition) and the Brooklyn Trophy (Senior Mens team competition). The Charlie Sturrock Cup, awarded for Boys 12 and under teams competition was not contested last season.

London Marathon Sunday 21 April 2013

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Ron Adams from our Club ticked off one bucket list item by competing in the London Marathon. Race result for Ron taken off the website is:

Time 3 hours 46 minutes 37 seconds. Half way 1 hour 45 minutes 32 seconds.
Placed for the marathon field overall 7678. Was placed 6243 for males and 472 in the category 50 – 54 age.

Well done Ron from Marlborough Harrier Club.

The following is Ron’s report from the day:
Well that would be a big fat line through the Bucket list line for today’s effort.
What a fantastic time. Spectators everywhere, the longest stretch I saw without people lining the railing was about 100 meters. Over half of the way it was 2 to 15+ deep on the railings then in the city centre ( the last 10 k or so) there where people up on the buildings everywhere, so much noise and support all the way it was amazing, the ears are just about as sore as the legs.
Was a good run for me up until the last 5 km or so then I started getting very sore knots in the legs that slowed me down by about a minute a km but I managed to run all the way.  I saw Debbie and our friends twice on the course.  The first about the 18km mark just as we were coming up onto Tower Bridge and then just before the finish outside Buckingham Palace.  Was absolutely packed basically all the way while I was running on the course. Just so many people, more than anything you think to expect even Auckland 1/2 is no-where near as congested but you had to be really careful not to get foot tripped or foot trip anyone else.
Security and Police wasn’t really anything more than normal for London. Police everywhere is the norm.
We all observed a minutes silence at the start for those from Boston.
Off tomorrow to start the Europe leg of the trip, but from all the different languages spoken everywhere here you’d thing we were already on the continent.
Cheers
Ron & Debbie

Novice Cup 2013

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Despite heavy rain good competitive fields contested the Novice Cup at Taylor Dam on Saturday. The handicappers did an excellent job and racing throughout most of the grades was close.

The handicap system works so as to give every competitor, no matter what their ability, an even chance of winning their grade. In theory everyone should cross the finish line together. The closest finishes were in the Girls 12 and Girls 14 grades where just one second separated the first two placings in each event. The winners were Lucy Bendell and Anna Barnes.

The next race at Taylor Dam is for the Burton Cup which is one of the club’s oldest trophies. This will be held on Saturday 4th May and once again all competitors (with the exception of walkers) will start off on handicap. However it will be an extra challenge for seniors and veterans who will step up to longer distances on the day.

Full results

NZ Mountain Running Champs 2013

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Representing Marlborough Athletics Robbie and Jess Barnes claimed their first national running titles on Saturday at the NZ Mountain Running Championships in Wainuiomata, Wellington.
Competing in the Mens 50-54 Age Group over the 9km distance Robbie outclassed race favourite Wellington’s Liam Healey to win by two minutes. Robbie’s winning time was 46.1 minutes. The undulating out and back course course with a couple of extra loops played nicely into Robbie’s hands. Despite drizzly overnight rain the course was in reasonably good condition throughout.
Colin Earwaker (Lake City) and Paul Sharp (Wellington) competing in the Mens 55-59 Age Group were the only two Masters Men ahead of Robbie over the 9km course.
Jess comfortably beat Hastings athlete Monica Burnard by more than four minutes to comfortably win the Junior Womens crown. Race favourite Monica towered over Jess and rocketed away at the start but it was Jess’s experience on the hills that saw her win in a time of 27.4 minutes over the 4km distance.
In addition to winning gold medals Robbie and Jess also won two of the eight spot prizes on offer.
Junior Womens Race results – http://athletics.org.nz/Resource.aspx?ID=17328
Photo Copyright Sharon Wray

Taylor Dam XC Scratch Race

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The first cross country race of the season held was at Taylor Dam on Saturday. Firm ground and a cool southerly promised some quick times and we weren’t disappointed. It was great to welcome new faces along the fifty competitors who lined up to take on the deceptively demanding course.

Angus Kopua and Gianna Harris clocked the quickest times in the Boys and Girls Under 7 grades. Hannah Monroe (W16), Bailey McKay (B14), Hunter Bendell (B12) and Jaxon Harris (B10) won their age grades with Lucy Bendell (G12) and Anna Barnes (G14) both having to hold off some stiff competition to be first across the line.

Judith Hyndman was the first walker home covering 3km in 23:35.

Andrew Curnow brought home the senior men in 24:50, with  Robbie Barnes the first veteran home only seconds behind in 25:15 for the 6km distance.

Seniors also edged out veterans in the women’s race with Jess Barnes finishing 4km in 19:32 just under a minute ahead of veteran Joanne Farrell.

Full results are here

Times from this race will be used to calculate handicaps for the next race in the Taylor Dam series which is the Novice Cup held two weeks from now on Saturday April the 20th.