Completed Events:

Athletics New Zealand Cross Country Championships, Sunday 5 August, 2018

Grenada North Park, Tawa, Wellington

For results >> Cross Country Results 2018

Leith Harriers had three athletes representing Otago at the New Zealand Cross Country championships on Sunday. For team Otago, Glen Chisholm and Andrew Lonie finished 18th and 22nd respectively in the Men’s 35 – 49 age grade 8km race. Their individual placings in their age grades were Glen Chisholm 5th M35-39, Andrew Lonie 6th M45-49. Sophie Smith finished 15th in the Senior Women’s 10km race.

Athletics Otago Cross Country Champs, Saturday 21 July 2018

Waikouaiti Race Course, Waikouaiti

For results >> Cross Country Results 2018

Leith Athletics enjoyed fantastic results

Report by Marc Boullé

Leith Harriers athletes enjoyed fantastic results in this year’s Otago Athletics Cross Country Champs held at the Waikouaiti Race Course on Saturday. Cailtin O’Donnell won the 4km Women’s Under 18 title by being the first Athletics Otago registered athlete to finish, finishing second overall in the race. Andrew Lonie won the 8km Otago Master Men’s 35-49 title in 30 mins 43 secs spearheading Leith to the team’s title in this grade. Neale McLanachan third, Glenn Thompson fourth and Mark O’Donnell fifth rounded out the team effort. Leith also won the 8km Master Men’s 50+ grade team title with John Bayne finishing second, Steve Tripp third, Chris Sole seventh and Tom McKinlay tenth. Christine Montgomery won the 6km Master Women’s 35-49 title in 28 mins 26.4 secs. Sharon Lequeux finished second in the 10km Open Women’s race in 45 mins 39.2 secs. Sophie Smith third and Olivia Thornbury fifth ensured that Leith won the team’s title. Hamish McKinlay won the 8k Men’s Under 20 title in 32:10.1. Thanks to all Leith members who assisted on the course set up and dismantling. This was another great effort by our small but vibrant club.

Edmond Cup Cross Country, Saturday 30 June 2018

Wingatui Race Course, Mosgiel, Dunedin

For results >> Cross Country Results 2018

Leith had three age grade winners on Saturday at the Edmond Cup Cross Country

Report by Marc Boullé

Leith had three age grade winners on Saturday at the Edmond Cup Cross Country. The course around the Wingatui Race Course was soft underfoot but the weather was fine. John Bayne won the Master Men 50+ grade 5km race in 20 minutes 21.9 seconds. Christine Montgomery won the Master Women 50+ grade 5km in 23 minutes 5.2 seconds and Caitlin O’Donnell won the Women Under 18 grade 2.5km in 11 minutes 0.7 seconds. Andrew Lonie finished second in the Men 35 grade in 18 minutes 3.1 seconds with Glenn Thompson not far back in fourth place in a time of 20 minutes 48.7 seconds.

The evergreen Chris Sole showed the youngsters how well the over 60+ runners can run by finishing seventh in the Master Men 50+ grade in an impressive time of 21 minutes 32 seconds.

All runners in the Open division were included in both the Men and Women 5km results for determining the team placings. Andrew Lonie was the first Open Men’s runner for Leith finishing in fifth place with a time of 18 minutes 3.1 seconds. Hamish McKinlay was not far behind in sixth place with a time of 18 minutes 10.5 seconds. Christine Montgomery was the first Leith runner to finish in the Open Women grade finishing in fourth place.

Barnes Cross Country Races, Sunday 10 June 2018

Dunedin Rugby Football Club Grounds, Victoria Street, Dunedin

For results >> Cross Country Results 2018

Report by Marc Boullé

Luke McKinlay (off a 4:30 minute handicap) finished second across the line on the 5km course to spearhead the Leith Team of Luke McKinlay, Nathan Hill, Chris Sole, Hamish McKinlay, Tom McKinlay and Michael Walker into second place at the Barnes Cross Country Handicap Races held at Kettle Park on Sunday. Nathan Hill (off a 9:30 minute handicap) had the second fastest time of 18:13.5. Caitlin O’Donnell (off a one minute handicap) won the Women’s U18 grade 2.5km race finishing with third fastest time of 11:07.6. Siobhan McKinlay (off a 4:30 minute handicap) finished fourth in the Women’s 3.75km race and Christine Montgomery (off a 5:30 minute handicap) finished sixth.

The Leith Cross Country Relays, Sat 19 May 2018

Dunedin Pony Club, Three Mile Hill Road, Dunedin

For results >> Cross Country Results 2018

The Hill City- University Open Men’s Team 0f Alistair Richardson, Kirk Madgwick, Drew Cairney and Matthew Ogle won the main 3km (approx) event, with Leith One placing second and Caversham One placing third.

The Hill City-Uni 4 team of Rebecca Allnutt, Aly Craigie, Bella Bloomfield and Lorna Pairman won the Open Women’s 2km (approx) event from Caversham 2nd and Leith third.

Leith Athletics Teams do well

Leith Cross Country Relays report by Marc Boullé

It was a very successful day for Leith teams at the club organised cross country relays held at the Dunedin Pony Club grounds on Three Mile Hill Road. Of the eight teams entered seven were placed in a top three placing.

The first race was the combined master’s men and high school boy’s race. Glen Chisholm, celebrating his 35th birthday, completed his first master’s event in style by scorching around the course in 7 mins 25 secs, the fastest time recorded for the day, handing over to Andrew Lonie with a 25 second lead over the second placed team. Lonie (7min 40secs) and the other two team members, Nolan Hill (8min 21 secs) and Danny Baillie (7min 44 secs) extended the lead, with the team finishing with a time of 31 mins 10 secs, two minutes ten seconds ahead of the second placed team. The Master’s Men 35 number two team consisting of Luke McKinlay (8mins 16secs), Mark O’Neill (9mins 17 secs), Alan Funnell (8mins 53secs) and Glen Chisholm (7mins 39secs) combined well to finish in 3rd place overall. Lonie and Baillie also featured in the fastest time honours with 2nd and 3rd fastest times respectively. The Leith master’s men 50+ team of Chris Sole (8mins 57secs), Ray Knox (9mins 18secs), Tom McKinlay (8mins 49secs) and Steve Tripp (8mins 51 secs) all ran well to finish in first place in the Masters Men 50+ grade. Fastest time in this grade went to John Bayne who ran 8min 9 secs when completing the first leg for the Pubrunners team.

The second race featured all of the women’s grades as well as the social/mixed grade teams with 19 teams in total facing the starter. Once again the Leith teams were to the fore in their respective grades. A great first lap by Rebekah Hill (8 min 37 secs – 2nd fastest high school girl) saw the High School Girls team in third place over all of the women’s teams at the end of lap one. Steady runs by Caitlin O’Donnell (9min 38 secs) and Rebecca Dalphin (9mins 25 secs) over the next two laps saw the team consolidate their lead in the high school girl’s grade. Last runner for the team, Cecelia Crooks had a storming run over the last lap, completing the lap in 8mins 16 secs, and in doing so recording the fastest women’s time overall and bringing the team home in 1st place in the high school girl’s grade, and second fastest women’s team overall, just two secs behind the winning women’s team. The senior women’s team of Sophie Smith (8mins 58secs), Gabi Newman (9mins 2secs), Olivia Gold (8mins 59secs) and Christine Montgomery (9mins 51secs), ran steadily to finish in third place in their grade. Christine Montgomery recorded the fastest Masters Women 50+ lap time.

Meanwhile in the social/mixed grade the Leith team also performed with considerable credit. Young first leg runner, Viviane Dalphin (9min 5secs), ran a great first lap to be in third place at the changeover. Christian Schmied (8mins 38secs), Peter Hughes (10mins 9secs) and Robyn O’Neill (14mins 3 secs), all ran well, with the team finishing up in third place in the social/mixed grade once all runners had completed their laps.

The final race of the day was the Open Men’s race and just like at the Lovelock Relays two weeks earlier, the Leith number one team was leading at the first changeover thanks to the brilliant run by Nathan Hill, who completed the lap in a time of 9mins 35 secs, the fastest lap time overall for the day on the longer course. He was ably backed up by Hamish McKinlay (10min 20secs), Louis Freeman (10mins 36secs) and Jamie Gardner (10mins 11 secs), with the team finishing in a notable second place, just over a minute behind the first placed team and over a minute in front of the third placed team. The second men’s team consisting of Bradley Goodall (10mins 55 secs), Glenn Thompson (12mins 19secs), Harjinder Chander (11mins 29secs) and Cliff Kelway-Pope (14mins 30 secs) had a great tussle with four other teams throughout the race with the lead changing several times over the laps. The team eventually finished in 7th place.

As a club we can feel proud of all of our teams and individual runners’ achievements. For the record, the club won three grades, finished second in one grade and third in three grades. Individuals recorded the fastest times in four grades, including the fastest men’s, and women’s time overall. We can also be very proud of the way the club conducted the event. For many of the runners, the Leith Cross Country Relays is their favourite event on the Athletics Otago running calendar. A special thank you goes to Laurie Hill and Bryce Watt for helping with the time-keeping and results on the day and the Dunedin Pony Club for allowing the event to be held on their grounds. Many thanks to all those who helped out to make the event happen, whether it be setting out the course on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning, doing the event administration, running for a team, marshalling out on the course during the races, being an official at the finish line, bringing food for the afternoon tea, helping serve the afternoon tea or bringing in all of the gear at the end of the day, it is a culmination of everyone working together that makes the event such a successful day for the club and for the Athletics Otago running community. Well done everyone, another very successful Leith Cross Country Relays event has been completed. It was great that the weather played its part as well!

Lovelock Relays, Saturday, 5 May 2018

University Oval, Logan Park, Dunedin

For results >> Cross Country Results 2018

A great showing by Leith at the Lovelock relays on Saturday

Lovelock Relays report by Alan Funnell and Siobhan McKinlay

A great showing by Leith at the Lovelock relays on Saturday! Nine teams were entered for our little club, which was excellent and everybody ran well. First race up was the social grade with Leith Social 2 coming 7th and Social 1 coming 12th. New runners Louis Freeman (5:09) and Harjinder Chander (5:19) ran exceptionally well and it was great to see Marc Boulle back out in the Leith uniform. A special mention to for Jim Flynn, running 13:46, a week after celebrating his 84th birthday. Masters women were next up. Christine was lining up again after having already run in the social grade. Kudos to her as this isn’t an easy thing to do. She ran 4th fastest time 5:58 (1st MW50+). There were 2 new faces fronting up for the club here as well. Janet Rhodes and Marion Rhodes both gave their all and did the singlet proud. This team finished up 3rd. Then came the race where we had two senior women’s teams and 3 masters men’s teams. The women’s teams were placed 2nd and 3rd. It was great to see so many new faces here and hopefully they can all make the Leith relays in a couple of weeks. Erin Conway gained 2nd fastest lap time (5:14) and Rebecca Hill 3rd fastest (5:18; fastest schoolgirl). Olivia Gold was 5th fastest (5:29) and Cecilia Crooks 6th fastest (5:30). Meanwhile the Leith masters men’s 1 team had the race to themselves and made no competition of it, finishing 1.30 minutes in front of the second placed team. The masters men’s 2 team weren’t too far behind in getting 3rd. The MM 3 team came 5th. Danny Baillie had a great run to take out the fastest lap time (4:43) with Neale McLanachan only 3 secs behind in getting 2nd fastest. Andrew Lonie was 4th fastest (5:02) and Glen Ferguson 6th fastest (5:05, 1st MM50+). There were some typically gutsy runs by the Leith men and Nolan Hill showed us the benefit of multiple tramps over the summer months while the running took a back seat. The kids also had a run and it is always a highlight watching the up and coming Leith athletes having fun out on the course. The last race of the day was the Senior Men in which we had one team. Finishing 3rd in this race provided the highlight of the day for Leith. Nathan Hill ran the first lap brilliantly (5th fastest, 4:20, fastest high schoolboy time), showing that his skills off the track could be transferred onto the grass. He handed over to Hamish McKinlay in first place by 2 seconds. Hamish had his work cut out for him with being up against a couple of well-known young runners. Keeping his cool and sitting in behind them after they caught up, Hamish was running smoothly and looked to be doing it easily. With just under a lap to go he pounced and took everyone by surprise. It certainly got all of the Leith supporters vocal and everyone cheered as Hamish dealt to them to hand over to new runner Bradley Goodall, still in first place. Bradley, Jonah Belk, Glenn Thompson and Danny Baillie (running for the second time) ran as best as they could and ended up in 3rd place. A great effort!

Lovelock Relays Trials (Club Mile), Chingford Park, Sat 21 April 2018

Chingford Park, North East Valley

For results >> Cross Country Results 2018

Report by Marc Boullé

Glen Chisholm led from the start to the finish of the Leith Club mile which was held on Saturday in cool overcast weather around a Chingford Park course with soft underfoot conditions. Hamish McKinlay and newcomer Bradley Goodall had a good tussle for second over the early laps with McKinlay proving the stronger over the final lap. Mark O’Donnell and Nolan Hill also had a good tussle over the four laps, with Mark finishing two seconds in front of Nolan at the line. Chris Sole, on the comeback trail after recuperating from a serious injury, ran strongly to finish next and be the first Masters Men 50+ to finish. First woman home, Caitlin O’Donnell, ran strongly to head off Christine Montgomery and Siobhan McKinlay. Frankie McKinlay finished her one lap race strongly to win the Girls 12 and under race.

Open 1600m
1 Glen Chisholm 5:12 1st Open Men
2 Hamish McKinlay 5:19 1st Men U20
3 Bradley Goodall 5:35 2nd Open Men
4 Mark O’Donnell 5:52 1st MM35-49
5 Nolan Hill 5:54 2nd MM35-49
6 Chris Sole 6:17 1st MM50+
7 Tom McKinlay 6:20 3rd MM35-49
8 Caitlin O’Donnell 6:21 1st Woman U18
9 Cliff Kelway-Pope 6:38 3rd Open Men
10 Christine Montgomery 6:45 1st MW50+
11 Siobhan McKinlay 7:07 1st MW35-49
12 Dave McLean 7:25 2nd MM50+

Girls 12 & Under 400m:
1 Frankie McKinlay 2:00