Edmond Cup XC Wingatui Saturday 29th June 2019 grassed Horse Racing Paddock: 2 laps =5km
Race Results >> Webscorer Results Edmond Cup 2019

Bragging rights but no trophy for Edmond Cup race winner
by Wayne Parsons (ODT Online, Monday 1 July 2019)

The Leith Men’s team bring the trophy home after a 14 year wait

It was the year 2005 since Leith last held the Open Men’s W F Edmond Cup Trophy, awarded to the first 6 member team in the main Open race at Wingatui. The 2019 Leith Men’s team pulled out all the stops to win this one. The Leith Men’s team of Glen Chisholm (1st), Andrew Lonie (3rd), Nathan Hill (4th), Danny Baillie (7th), Harjinder Chander (15th), and Simon Leaning (18th) won the Open Men’s W F Edmond Challenge Cup for the team title with 48 points. Glen Chisholm had a magnificent run to lead the Leith Men’s team to victory winning the Open Men Individual Winner Edmond Cup for first Otago registered runner . His time was 17 minutes 10 seconds for the tough 5km course and he finished second overall and was the first Master Men’s 35-49 runner. Andrew Lonie also had a great run finishing fourth overall and was second MM35-49 in 17 minutes 27 seconds. Nathan Hill who finished fifth overall was the first Men’s Under 20 runner in 17 minutes 29 seconds winning the J W Geddes Cup – Men U20 Individual Winner. Danny Baillie finished eighth overall and was the first Master Men’s 50+ runner in 17 minutes 45 seconds.

Lydia Pattillo finished second in the 5km Female grade race in 21 minutes 42 seconds. She was the first Senior Woman to finish. Christine Montgomery won the Women’s 50+ title in 21 minutes 58 seconds finishing fourth overall. Siobhan McKinlay finished seventh overall in 24 minutes 6 seconds.

After her great run, Lydia Pattillo gives us her account of the race

Another Dunners Stunner greeted us for Wingatui, promising good surface conditions and fast times! Being the first “proper” cross country I have personally done for many years I had no expectations for the day but was pleasantly surprised at the outcome. The first quarter lap for me proved all about not rolling an ankle in the deep (and scarily hidden) divots caused from what looked like some serious horse gallops. For me this was where I was reminded of why I hadn’t done a “proper” cross country for many years, thinking “gosh, how will I survive this?”. Fortunately for me my sanity returned near the first steeple where conditions under foot improved and I realised I would indeed be fine. The back straight was the easy part for all on the much firmer and smoother surface where all Leith members sped up significantly as a result of Chris Sole’s unrelentingly motivational support! Chris could be heard right across the entire venue so we all got a grasp of where everybody was in the race regardless of where on the course we were… thanks Chris! The final quarter lap was where only the truely brave attempted the water jump (no injuries to report that I heard of) before we all came into the home straight and enviously ran past the finishing younger age groups, to set off on surviving lap 2.

Andrew Lonie reflects on Tuesday Night’s Training, Edmond Cup XC Race today and in the Past

Running barefoot at pace on grass for 15-20 minutes in a way felt like a repeat of a Tuesday night session with a good proportion of the crew there – no 1 min rests in between though. It was fantastic to win the men’s team trophy as reward and result for the hard work of the group and Chris’s ultra-encouragement over the past several weeks. The quartet I was running as part of (Nic, Glen, Jonah and myself) ran at a solid pace and I was happy to stay with it for most of the race, and then not fall too far off it – or any steeples – by the end! The race also brought back memories of Edmond Cup races, as far back as 2003 when a strong tide of Leith runners also swept down the finishing straight as today, and Cliff Donaldson’s recollections of the Edmond Cup from the 1950s when he and other Leith runners, including the National Cross Country champion, did so well. Just great to be out running in the sun in a midwinter sky, with such a great bunch of people!

Edmond Cup – a poem by Donald Bate

Well today we ran an awesome race
On a track named Wingatui
Conditions perfect for a rapid pace
Ground firm and not too gooey
It seemed whoever made this course,
In grass I saw much proof:
Obviously liked to race a horse..
Some holes were left by hoof

A bank, a ditch, and a pair of steeples
To bound or duck beneath
Were swarmed by hoards of running peoples
From Cav and Uni and Leith

I think that ditch was the testy bit
(A few did chicken out)
You really had to fully commit..
No second thoughts or doubt

Equine vaults and jumps so wide
Such things did make us tired
er But looking at the positive side
At least we don’t carry a rider!

Around we went the circuit twice
Chris yelling out support
With training schemes and good advice
We didn’t come up short

Go you champions our men had won
The Edmond Challenge team prize!
From the starter’s gun we all had fun
This love of running never dies

A message from Donald…….May I take this opportunity to say, as a visiting runner from Nelson/Marlborough I want to thank Leith Harriers for your warm welcoming atmosphere, very pleasant company and particularly those great group training sessions Chris! And this Edmond Cup cross country was quite unlike any I’ve done before and happily unforgettable, a fitting final event before I return home! Sincere thanks also to Athletics Otago organizers and volunteers. See y’all again in September!

Glen Chisholm reflects on his run

Where is everyone? On the start line I look to my left, right, behind and those making a final dash for the starting box. Where are all the Hill City Uni lads and potential winners? Do we mere mortals standing in the front actually have a chance to win the Edmond Cup? I surged hard off the line to ensure I held good position leading into the first mound, all the expected suspects were present and correct, with Jonah Smith, Andrew Lonie, Nic Bathgate, Alistair Richardson, Nathan Hill and Alex Dodds forming a group (sorry if forgetting someone!). Panic almost set in as we started to realise one of us could win, half expecting a flurry of guys who turned up late to tear past us……..but it never happened.

Showing his years of experience, Lonie took charge and pressed on round the first bend, dragging us with him. What tactics to employ here? I know I should conserve as much as possible but what if I slacken off and let the likes of Jonah slip away, which I have been guilty of so often. I decided to mark the front as best I could without giving too much away. Lonie continued to surge at will, prompting immediate responses from Jonah and myself. Down the finishing straight to complete the first lap, the steady effort increased as young George Hamilton broke off the front to claim the junior title, leaving the rest of us to venture another lap with the field whitling down to Lonie, Jonah, Bathgate and myself. Hands were starting to be shown as we made the first turn but were quickly stalled as the wind cautioned us to wait. The tempo increased rounding the top right hurdle, no one wanting to be caught off guard with the likely back straight attack to come.

As expected it came from the man I feared most, the man who had been banking incredible training, the man racking up PB’s on the track over the past month, and with a hard flat surface presenting itself just 1500m from home he took his chance, stretching us wide until we could hold no longer. “Just hold to the top jump Glen, just hold!”…but I couldn’t and I broke quicker than a dinner plate on tiles, slipping 5, 10, 15, 20 metres off the back. We hit the long stuff nearing the final gap jump where Lonie finally relented, leaving it in the hands of Jonah and myself to reel Bathgate in.

Heading into the final straight the gap remained, “don’t let him win” I called out to Jonah a few metres ahead (why do I even have the energy to speak?), prompting a surge, dragging me with him. It felt like Bathgate was 100s of metres ahead and a pointless task to try catch him, so the attention turned to ensuring a victory against Jonah and with my mind finally relenting and letting me switch to top gear I took off, passing Jonah and to complete amazement I was reeling Bathgate in! “OMG I’m going to catch him”……20m turned to 15, then 10, 5 and Bathgate took the tape for a well-deserved win as we ran out of real estate!

While disappointed, I was stoked for Nic, what a great run. Disappointment in myself for being so weak down the back straight, all I had to do was survive a few hundred metres and we would’ve been in the thick long stuff which suited me so well. A perfectly timed attack from Nic, which even though expected, I had no answer to follow. Chris put this to me very frankly post-race: “why did you let him go?” A question for me to stew over for some time to come. Claiming the trophy was a hollow feeling, the man who won did not take the spoils, and the man who took the spoils did not win. Or is that being glass half full and in actual fact we both won? Well Nic Bathgate did anyway! It was such an awesome experience to compete in such a prestigious race, it is not often the eternal battler gets such opportunities.