Once again there were a number of Leith affiliated athletes competing in the various races at the Queenstown International Marathon on Saturday. Jack Divers finished tenth overall in the Cigna 10km Race in 37 minutes 24 seconds. He was second in the Male 16-19 age grade and ninth male overall. He went through the 5km mark in 18 minutes 7 seconds. In the Half-Marathon, Claudia Sole had a steady run starting strongly and finishing strongly to finish in a time of 2 hours 2 minutes 22 seconds. She was placed 1423 out of a large field 5075 runners. She was placed 560 out of 3273 female runners and placed 226 in the 20-29 age grade from 870 runners.

CROMWELL HALF MARATHON, 10k & TEAMS RELAY

Sunday, 27 October 2019

For results >> Road Results

Leith Harbour Free #5

Dunedin Cycle Way, Thursday 24 October 2019

For results >> Road Results

The weather was a bit harsh, which thinned out the numbers somewhat, however 21 hardy souls arrived to tackle the Dunedin Cycle Way course out to St Leonards and back, with some opting for the shorter 2.5km turnaround for the 5km instead. The strong South Wester and cold squally rainy conditions tested the mettle of these tough athletes. It actually got colder just after they set off at 6pm with the strong wind at their backs.

5km run

The first runner to arrive back in blistering fashion was the first 5km runner Jack Shaw who ran a personal best of 17 minutes 13.3 seconds. That was an amazing effort from an improving runner as the headwind was very cold and blustery on the way back. Also to feature in the 5km were second placed Craig McEwan in 27:13.8 and third placed Antoni Moore in 33:34.0.

10km run

In the 10km, Tadhg Ryan Charleton ran extremely well in the tough conditions to finish first in an excellent time of 37:47.0. Harjinder Chander of Leith started 20 minutes late and finished back in the pack in second fastest time of 38:28.6 for the 10km. Simon Leaning also of Leith finished third in 39:24.6 with the first woman runner Sharon Lequeux also of Leith finishing fourth in 43:18.5. Wayne Porteous was the first 50+ athlete, finishing fifth in 44:48.5.

Hill Free Half Marathon & Otago Half Marathon Championship

Sun, 20 October 2019, Outram

For results >> Road Results

Hill Free Half Marathon and Otago Half Marathon Champs

Leith Harriers turned out in numbers for the Hill Free Half Marathon, Otago Half Marathon Champs and 10km race held on Sunday out at Outram. It was a fantastic day for Leith athletes. Although conditions were excellent for spectators, the headwind and 20c Heat made it a tough day for all the competitors. Nic Bathgate finished second overall in 1:15:49 (which was a personal best for Nic), just 42 seconds behind the winner Caversham’s Jonah Smith. In doing so he won the Open Men’s silver medal in the Otago Half Marathon Champs. Jason Palmer finished third overall in 1:17:35 achieving the Open Men’s bronze medal. Fourth placed Simon Leaning won the Master Men’s 35-49 grade gold medal finishing in 1:22:00. Next to finish was Harjinder Chander in fifth place overall and was fourth placed Open Man in 1:28:07. Glenn Thompson finished tenth overall and achieved the Otago Half Marathon Champs, Master Men’s 35-49 silver medal running the distance in 1:31:58 .

Sophie Smith finished 14th overall, second woman overall and first in the Open Women’s grade and in the process won the gold medal in the Otago Half Marathon Champs. Her time was 1:36:06. Non-Registered Leith Athlete Robyn O’Neill finished 42nd overall and sixth in the Masters Women’s 35-49 grade in 1:57:55.

Hill Free 10km Race

Lydia Pattillo was the first Leith athlete to finish the 10km race, finishing in 11th place overall, and third Open Woman in 0:44:18. Gaya Gnanalingam finished as 7th female and 18th overall in 0:47:37. Susan Craig finished third in the Masters Woman’s grade 50+ in 1:02:14.

Thanks to all the marshals and Hill City – University Athletic Club for putting on another excellent event.

Southland Festival of Running

Invercargill, Sunday 13 October 2019

For results >> Road Results

In the Ascot Park Hotel Southland Marathon Leith’s Harjinder Chander finished 5th in 3:14:44 (3rd fastest time) running at a pace of 4:36/km, 126m climbing with a head wind. Not far behind was Sharon Lequeux who finished as first female and seventh overall in 3:23:52. In the McDermotts Coachlines 10km Run Leith’s Susan Craig finished in 61:16 running at an average pace of 6:01/km. Well done to all these athletes.

Invercargill is a sneaky wee course with just enough undulations to make it a real challenge
race report by Susan Craig

Invercargill turned on a bit of a blustery day for this years’s Southland Festival of Running events. Once again I was entered in the 10km. I’ve been doing this event for several years and always enjoy travelling down for it. Waiting to start, it was great to see Harjinder Chander cruise past, 30km into his full marathon – having enough energy and good humour to give me a high 5 as he ran past. He ended up placing 3rd in his age group which was awesome. Harjinder got the job done in 3:14:43. I didn’t see her pass but Leith’s Sharon Lequeux also ran a great full marathon – placing first open female in a time of 3:23:52. The 10km got underway at 10.30am. Invercargill is a sneaky wee course with just enough undulations to make it a real challenge. There was also a strong easterly wind that took my breath (and pace!) away for several of my kms. I had hoped to cross the line in well under an hour but it wasn’t to be. Even though I started strong with some great splits (for me!) I battled a bit of negative head talk in the third of the race and crossed the line in 1:01:15. I didn’t place this year but managed 4th place in the 40+ female age group and 26th overall in the field of 50 runners. Not bad for a tired 53 year old. Fingers crossed I can get under the hour this coming Sunday at the Hill Free 10km.

The Southland Marathon was in Harjinder’s Bucket List
by Harjinder Singh Chander

It was in my bucket list since last year when I stepped back into running and was taking it little more seriously in my life. After my Naseby Miler DNF in August this year I was a bit demotivated and was not taking training properly, I was getting broken day by day, but my other half, Pawan, kept saying to go out and get over it. With 30-50km a week training I knew I was not ready for the Southland Marathon but still I managed to get my name entered to do it. A week before Southland Marathon I ran the Mud Sweat and Tears Challenge 2019 on Sunday 6th October and scored first in 10km (58:42) and that gave me a bit of confidence that I could do well in the Southland Marathon.

As planned, we arrived in Invercargill, the day before, but were too late for me to have a proper rest before the big run. After sleeping 4-5 hours, I was up at 5:30 and on the bus at 6:30am to get to the start line. To be honest the bus took about 40mins to reach the start line and I had a proper 30 minute nap in that. Arriving at the start line was bit quiet for me as I didn’t know anyone but then I started chatting with a couple of local runners and had some last minute tips. Riverton, is a small town by the beach, and that is where the marathon started at 8am on a hilly spot.

The first 10km went so well in 41 minutes 32 seconds and I was right on target. But there was little head wind at that time. After that the wind picked up and didn’t stop till the finish line. Another thing was the traffic. We were running on the motorway and at a few spots there was not enough room for runners and traffic to go at same time. I had to slow down and had to be really careful passing them. I snuck behind one of the runners till 16km but his pace was bit slower than what I wanted to run. So at 16km I took off and tried to speed up a bit. I went so well till 25km. I was targeting to break my second fastest marathon time of 3:13:37 but at 26km I started to feel the lack of training and started to feel the wind, it was like someone pushing me back. The most pleasant moment for me was at the 30km (2:09:43) mark when I saw a Leith Club Singlet and when I came near, saw Susan Craig. I was so happy to see a familiar face cheering for me and gave a high five and it was also good to see Leon Miyhara from the Caversham club.

After 30km we took off from the motorway towards the city. It was a straight flat road but passing through the head wind was hard enough, so I just took it easy and tried to keep going as the body was responding. At 39km I felt like I was done and my pace started to really drop down and I just tried to finish it and it was great to still finish it in 3 hours 14 minutes 43 seconds, placing 5th overall. I lost 4th place by 20sec but also scored 3rd place in the Open Men category.

The other Moment I forget to mention earlier was at about 37-38km mark, some random person, I didn’t see his face properly, he was driving his car, he stopped and took a photo of me. He shouted, go “Leith go Leith”. That was the moment I really felt proud to be a small part of the Leith Club. Now I have time to have a day or two rest and get back to some training before my home village Hill free Half-marathon on Sunday. See you all there.

Aoraki Mount Cook Marathon

Sat 5 October 2019

For results >> Road Results

Congratulations Mark O’ Neill! 1st overall in the 10km at the Aoraki Mount Cook Marathon New Zealand

We all had a great time and are looking forward to next year
by Mark O’Neill

The Mt. Cook marathon has been on my calendar for 12 months now. I was a spectator last year when Robyn ran her first marathon, and as I was sitting waiting for her to finish in 26 degree glorious sunshine surrounded by mountains and glaciers I thought to myself “I’ll come back next year and run myself”.

When we arrived Saturday morning it was evident there would be no sunshine and no ice-creams, in fact it was low visibility, 3 degrees and horizontal rain with gale force winds. We left the car to check in and enjoyed the friendly atmosphere and caught up with some old Queenstown friends while Robyn waited to start her half marathon. Robyn started at 9am with another group of about 100 runners all in high spirits despite the cold. The 10km started at 10am, standing around at the start line I quickly sized up the competition before we got underway, the race starts with a quick 50 meter descent and then evens out along State Highway 80. I found myself in a group with three others with a pace that I felt comfortable with, 1km in the other two guys started to struggle in the blustery winds and cold so I made my move and hit the front never looking back.

It was hard getting any rhythm in the headwind but after 5km I thanked the miserable looking volunteer and turned back to the finish line, as I U-turned I could now look for second and third who looked they were in their own little battle about 100m back. Sensing the wind dropping I upped the pace, spotting some half marathon runners in the distance and then started chasing them down. I crossed the finish line in 41:25 for the win, happy with the win but slightly disappointed with the time, one of my old friends mentioned from the photographs that the weather looked similar to when we used to do the old Irish Cross Country Champs back in the day, and maybe I am suited better to the miserable conditions? I am not so sure about that and would prefer not to find out either.

Robyn finished the half in 1:56 and was 7 th female. We both stayed around for prizegiving and won spot prizes, we both won some Thermatech shorts and sunglasses. Adrian Bailey from Active QT always puts on great events and even though the weather didn’t play ball everyone still had a great time and we look forward to going back next year.

New Zealand Road Relay Champs

Feilding, North Island, Sat, 5 October 2019

For results >> Road Results

The Leith Senior Men No. 1 team of Nathan Hill, Hamish McKinlay, Glenn Thompson, Glen Ferguson, Neale McLanachan, Andrew Lonie and Danny Baillie running in the Senior Men B grade finished fourth in 4:13:28 a distance of 67.4km held over seven legs (the team actually finished 3rd but an A-grade team was dropped one grade so Leith were relegated to 4th place). The team was faster than the predicted time of 4:18, and just missed out on a podium finish with the lead changing over the last leg. Neale McLanachan finished with fastest time of 34:06 on the fifth leg. This was a great team effort.

The Leith Senior No 2 team of Ray Knox, Siobhan McKinlay, Dave McLean, Donald Bate, Stu Hodges, Gaya Gnanalingam and Luke McKinlay finished ninth in the Senior Men C grade in 5:18:04 over seven legs, a distance of 67.4km. Another fine team effort.

The Leith Social team of Susan Craig, Kane Liddell, Margaret Knox, Peter Hughes finished ninth in the social grade in a time of 3:24:38 a distance of 38.2km held over six legs. Well done to this team despite being short of runners still managed to get a good result.

Thanks to Margaret Knox and the rest of the crew and the participating athletes for organising the entries, teams, transport, accommodation etc which made this event a succes for Leith Harriers and which ensured that Leith Harriers was once again represented at this iconic National Clubs Relay event.

Team Reports

Leith Senior 2 Team
by Siobhan McKinlay

The Leith 2 team of Ray Knox, Siobhan McKinlay, Dave McLean, Don Bates, Stu Hodges, Gaya Gnanalingam and Luke McKinlay enjoyed a great day of running around the rural roads of Feilding, competing in the Senior Men C Grade. Adding to the fun atmosphere was our fantastic support crew of Leith partners Donella, Tania and Lindsay and McKinlay kids Frankie and Archie. The course description mentioned a lot of flat and downhill running and the likelihood of wind – which definitely featured!

Ray led the team off strongly from the mass start at Manfield Park, through the streets and out of town where he faced head winds and some uphill sections, finishing his Lap 1 (9.41 kms) in a quick 41.42 minutes. The team just beat the traffic to the start of Lap 2 for Siobhan to take over the baton and face more head wind and a couple of hills before a sharp descent into Halcombe town, covering 10.163 km in 48.28 mins. The head wind continued for Dave as he battled on up more hills in Lap 3 (9.781 km) in 51.51 mins. At the end of his lap Dave disappeared into the roadside culvert for some rest, causing the team a little concern until they saw his beanie pop up and him chatting away! By now the runners were well spread out and Donald took off for a lonely Lap 4 (9.709 km) out of sight of other runners, covering the first few kms of gravel before flying in for a strong finish in 45.30 mins. Next up was Stu who gave it all in Lap 5 (9.707 kms), completing his lap in 47.23 mins before his team members took advantage of his recovery state on the side of the road to take plenty of photos for prosperity.

Gaya was up next and took off so quickly my attempted photo of her changeover ended up being a photo of a road cone. Gaya made Lap 6 (9.549 kms) look easy in 45.41 mins, dealing with the wind changing directions all over the place, from head to tail to side. Luke took over for the final Lap 7, (9.148 km), achieving 4 th fastest time for his leg in the grade in 37.30 mins, with a flat, fast lap, bringing the team back through the streets and to Manfield Park. Overall the team was 9 th out of 9 teams in the grade, and our take home message from this result (especially after hearing the grade win was taken out by a group of young guys) was to aim for entering teams in the Masters sections next year – come and join us! It was great day out, with plenty of laughs, some fantastic running, great team spirit and a well-placed playground at the Lap5 – 6 changeover to keep the kids entertained. Looking forward to next year back in Feilding – put it on your calendar now!

Leith Social Team
by Susan Craig

The four members of Leith Social Team taking part in the 2019 National Road Relay Champs in Fielding on October 5th all went above and beyond to ensure their team finished the event with everyone taking to the road twice over the course. Despite being two runners short, the team finished in a very respectable 9th place. Their participation in the event was made possible by the Kane Liddell, a friend of Don Bates, who travelled the 3 hours from New Plymouth to put on a Leith singlet and run both leg two and six of the short course.

Susan Craig ran a steady first leg of 6.5km which featured quite a few undulations and a strong head wind most of the time, getting it done in 40 minutes. After Kane completed the 7km of leg two, running most of the way with a big smile on his face, it was the turn of Margaret Knox who ran a great leg three over 5.9km despite suffering from chest congestion on the day. Peter Hughes took the baton next for a strong fourth leg of 7.1km. Susan ran the first 3km of leg five enjoying a fast pace and a nice downhill section before Peter ran the next 2km, commenting that he felt stronger on his second run than his first, and then Margaret finished the leg with another strong 2km. Kane completed the course with a great 4km to the finish line. Everyone in the team enjoyed the event – it was a great course to run over – and we look forward to going back next year.

Leith Harbour Free #4

Sunday, 22 September 2019
For results >> Road Results
The fourth Leith Harbour Free was held on Sunday morning with around 40 keen athletes running either the 10km or 5km. The weather was sublime, plenty of blue sky and sun with a bit of a cold breeze blowing up the harbour to help the runners on the way back. First runner back was a 5km entrant Craig McEwan MM55-59 in 25:04.7. Second across the line was Jo Harris MW50-54 in 26:12.0 and third was Leesa Bathgate SW21-35 in 26:41.7. The first 10km runner across the line was Danny Baillie (Leith) MM50-54 in a fast time of 37:34, second was Simon Leaning (Leith) MM45-49 in 37:42.3 with Mark O’Donnell (Leith) MM45-49 finishing in 40:24.3. The first female runner to finish the 10km was Sharon Lequeux (Leith) SW21-35 in 42:16.9. It was a great fun atmosphere with lots of walkers, cyclists, runners, watersports enthusiasts out there enjoying the sun despite the cold wind. Thanks to all the athletes who participated and the officials who did all the organising of this fun event. See you all there on Thursday, 24 October 2019 at 6pm for the fifth Leith Harbour Free.

Peninsula Relay

Otago Peninsula, Saturday 21 September 2019

The Start and Finish is at Portobello Domain which is children friendly.

This was our last big Local Winter event for the year. Thank you to all those people who made this another fantastic event for Leith Harriers

For results >> Road Results

Report Summary

Leith again did well and scooped fastest team trophy. The Leith SM No. 1 team of Hamish McKinlay, Jason Palmer, Nathan Hill (Captain), Oliver Despatis, Liam Chesney and Nic Bathgate was the fastest team crossing in third place on handicap in a time of 1 hours 41 minutes 22 seconds, but were disqualified from the handicap third place honours because they all ran so fast that the team’s overall time was above the 4% threshold. However, the team can be proud of its achievement. We have a nice photo above of most of the members of the Leith teams, and will have a collage of photos here on Sunday sometime with team reports from the captains.

The Leith MM35 No. 1 team of Mark O Donnell MM35+, Danny Baillie MM50+, Glenn Thompson MM35+, Andrew Lonie MM35+, Neale Mclanachan MM35+ and Simon Leaning MM35+ won the Peninsula Relay on handicap. A tremendous team effort. The overall team time was 1 hour 51 minutes 15 seconds.

In the social team results the Leith MM35 No. 3 team of Rob Davies, Marc Boulle MM60+, Tom McKinlay, Stu Hodges MM50+, Peter Hughes MM60+ and Lee Flowers MM35+ finished third on handicap in a time of 2 hours 25 minutes 21 seconds.

And the Leith SM2 Team of Bradley Goodall, Harjinder Chandler, Casey Pearce, Cliff Kelway-Pope, Harry James and Jamie Gardiner achieved fastest in the social grade of 1 hour 56 minutes 15 seconds.

The Leith Senior Women’s team of Rebekah Hill, Rebecca Dalphin, Claudia Sole (Team Captain), Viviane Dalphin, Gaya Gnanalingam and Lydia Pattillo were the second fastest women’s team running the course in 2 hours 16 minutes 46 seconds.

Other notable achievements Fastest Leg Times All Teams were: Leg 1 Hamish McKinlay SM 16:25; Leg 2 Jason Palmer SM 14:10; Leg 3 Nathan Hill M20 15:47; Leg 4 Olivier Despartis M20 13:13; Leg 5 Liam Chesney M20 18:06; and on Leg 6 Nic Bathgate SM was second fastest All Teams in 23:41.

We would like to thank all those who ran and volunteered to help marshal and do other necessary tasks to make this a successful event.

Team Reports

Leith MW35 Team
by Siobhan Buckingham

It was great to have such high numbers running for Leith in this event and to be able to field a Masters Women team. Unfortunately, our Leg 1 runner Megan Balchin had to withdraw amongst the slew of runners with calf injuries. Luckily for us, Orlaith Heron stepped in and ran a blistering pace in Leg 1 (18.24 mins) after already bagging a Parkrun PB earlier in the day, putting the team well ahead of the field and of the team’s estimated time of 2 hr 44 min. New Leith member, Lucy Broughton powered through her Leith debut running up the Leg 2 killer hill (21.51 mins). We look forward to many more outings for Leith from this tough runner. Susan Craig took over for the downhill on Leg 3, maintaining the team lead (28.33 mins).

Unfortunately, a mix up in timing meant Janice was late back from marshalling when Susan arrived back at Portobello for the changeover to Leg 4. Janice managed a quick clothing change and set off without a warmup, running strongly for a time of 30.08 including the delay at changeover. Some lessons learnt here for next year, ideally it would be great if we could find some marshals who are not running also.

Janice handed over to Lucy Marr for Leg 5 who put in an awesome hard effort in what was becoming a very warm afternoon (28.46 mins). Lucy handed over to Siobhan McKinlay for the final and longest Leg 6 (33.20 mins) to bring the team home, giving a final total team time of 2 hrs 41 mins 2 secs. The team was 8 th team to cross the line (6 th out of the Social teams). Despite the day’s stresses the Leith MW team all put in a great effort, ran well, provided great vocal support for each other and all the other teams and had a fun day out on the sunny Peninsula. Thanks team, looking forward to next year!

Leith MM35 no. 3 team
by Marc Boulle

The Leith Master Men’s 35 No. 3 team with a few personnel changes finally made it to the start line. We were competing in the social grade. We were off 19 minutes from Go. So we had a bit of catching to do as well as the task of keeping the chasing bunch at bay. Rob Davies was our first runner and he set steadily into the first couple of hills, to come flying down the hill to turn right at the intersection of Alan’s Beach Road and Hooper’s Inlet Road. From there he set a blistering pace on the loopy flat passing a bevy of runners for the first changeover at the Hooper’s Inlet Road/Hooper’s Inlet Cul-de-sac intersection. He caught the normally functional team captain Marc Boulle who was hanging out behind a bush, completely by surprise. Marc had to finish with the bush and sprint to the changeover doing the 100m sprint in about 10 seconds to start the second leg up the “Hill without Pity”. Rob’s time for the first leg of 4.3km was an excellent 20:45.

Marc lied to Rob when he said he would make up the 10 seconds lost, even more so when he realised there was no place to hide on that road, not even a decent bush. After an endless and pitiless climb which seemed to be 30km rather than 3.2km, Marc handed over to an incredibly patient Tom McKinlay at the top of Sandymount Rd, who after having been woken up, then sprinted down High Cliff Road for the start of the quad destroyer leg to Portobello. Marc’s time for his leg was incredibly slow, no, painfully slow would be a better description, at 25.33. To make up for Marc’s woeful non-effort, Tom kept up a relentless pace down that hill passing a number of runners and finishing with a flourish at Portobello Domain to hand over to the fourth leg runner Stu Hodges. Tom’s time for that leg was 20:34 which was pretty damn fast.

Stu set about tackling the hills at the start of his leg and by the time he reached the intersection of Alan’s Beach Road and Hooper’s Inlet where he made a sharp left turn, he was well into his stride. He kept it steady on the loopy flat all the way to the Alan’s Beach Road/Cape Saunders Road intersection for the handover to runner number five, Peter Hughes, who, yes, you have guessed correctly, was nowhere to be seen. Stu stood there looking mystified until we told him that the anointed one was on his way and to just be patient as he had just been doing some admirable marshal duties, and was not to be hurried. Sir Peter duly arrived about 30 seconds later and like all lords did not even apologise to Stu. The unflappable Stu took it quite well, just as he is always expected to do. Stu’s time for his 4km leg was 19:58, which was pretty much decent.

Sir Peter set a steady pace up the first hill on his way to the 5.6km loop back to where he had just started, to hand over to our last runner Lee Flowers for the start of the sixth leg. Sir Peter’s time for the 5.6km leg was 28:25, another decent time. It was almost like deja vu seeing the outgoing runners returning – in fact quite confusing to our normally functional minds. Lee did mention that our team effort reminded him of “Keystone Cops”. Who were we to argue? So with thoughts of “Keystone Cops” in his head he started off on the last leg to Portobello with immense trepidation not knowing what lay ahead of him. Lee was a revelation on the last leg of 7km almost breaking the 30 minute barrier in 30:06. Lee brought the team into third place in the Social Grade. All in all an excellent performance from the team overall to finish in 2 hours 25 minutes 21 seconds having had an actual predicted time of 2 hours 30 minutes – a difference of 3.5%, which was 0,5% under the handicap disqualification threshold of 4%. Marc did mention afterwards that he purposely went slow on his lap to enable his team to not be disqualified – indeed a very worthy sacrifice of one’s ego, to be sure. Well done team, and thanks to all of you for making yourselves available for this event and to all helpers and officials and of course Chris Sole for the magnificent effort at getting these teams together, gifting him another grey hair or two. We have got to mention here the magnificent weather, sun all day, with a fresh cool breeze and the most breathtaking scenery that one could ever wish for on a running event.

See Details about course below:

The Leg Profiles (climbing/Descending/flat/tarmac/gravel) Should you wish more information,
Leg 1 4.3km undulating flat (Hoopers inlet) from Portobello Domain to start of Sandymount Road intersection.
Leg 2 3.2km Killer Hill Climb from sea level sandymount rd to Highcliff road
Leg 3 5.4km Downhill from intersection of Sandymount road back to Portobello (tarmac)
Leg 4 4km similar to 1, undulating but this time along the other side to Alans Beach road.
Leg 5 5.6km circular loop, start and finish at same point, Papanui inlet and Hoopers-Alans beach rd, undulating
Leg 6 7.0km undulating from Hoopers/Papanui Inlet with Weir Road climb, down to harbor, back over hill into Portobello

Leith Teams

Senior Men no 1 Team Captain Nathan Hill
1 Hamish McKinlay
2 Jason Palmer
3 Nathan Hill (Captain)
4 Oliver Despatis
5 Liam Chesney
6 Nic Bathgate

Senior Men no 2 Team Captain Bradley Goodall Non Registered Competitive Team
1 Bradley Goodall
2 Harjinder Chander
3 Casey Pearce
4 Clifford Kelway-Pope
5 Harry James
6 Jamie Gardner

MM35+ No 1 Neale McLanachan Team Captain
1 Mark O’Donnell (MM35+)
2 Danny Baillie (MM50+)
3 Glenn Thompson (MM35+)
4 Andrew Lonie (MM35+)
5 Neale McLanachan (MM35+) Team Captain
6 Simon Leaning (MM35+)

MM35+ No 2 Team Captain Glenn Thompson (Registered Competitive Team)
1 Steve Tripp (MM50+)
2 Nolan Hill (MM35+)
3 Dave McLean (MM60+)
4 Donald Bate (MM50+)
5 Glenn Ferguson (MM50+)
6 Glenn Thompson (MM35+) (c)

MM35+ No 3 Team Captain Marc Boulle (Non-Registered Competitive Team)
1 Robert Davies (MM60+)
2 Marc Boulle (MM60+)
3 Tom McKinlay (MM50+)
4 Stu Hodges (MM50+)
5 Peter Hughes (MM60+)
6 Lee Flowers (MM35+)

Current (Leith) Women Teams: SW no 1: Claudia Team Captain (all registered)
1 Rebekah Hill
2 Rebecca Dalphin
3 Claudia Sole (Team Captain)
4 Viviane Dalphin
5 Gaya Gnanalingam
6 Lydia Pattillo

Women 35+ Siobhan Team Captain Non-registered Competitive Team
1 Orlaith Heron (MW35+)
2 Lucy Broughton (MW35+)
3 Susan Craig MW50+
4 Janice Ashton (MW50+)
5 Lucy Marr (MW35)
6 Siobhan McKinlay (MW35+)

Athletics New Zealand Road Championship

Cambridge, North Island, Sunday, 15 September 2019

For results >> Road Results

Nathan Hill says he was pretty pleased with his result
here is a short personal story of my race and a photograph

The NZ road race champs were held in Auckland this year on a relatively flat course at Bruce Pulman Park. I was competing in the 8km under 20 race. Despite some earlier rain and a bit of wind, the sun was out making for reasonably good racing conditions by the time my race came around. After a fast start, I found myself about mid-field for the first half of the race. I managed to steadily pick off runners ahead of me, and with a quick last lap finished in 5th place. All up it was a pretty pleasing result, and an enjoyable weekend away.

The Dunedin Marathon, NZ Half Marathon Championships

Sunday 1 September 2019

For full information and results >> Dunedin Marathon

Full Marathon (Also Otago Marathon Champs)

Read about Simon’s Marathon Experience this Year >> I was curious to see if I could still run under three hours

Simon Leaning was the first Leith athlete to finish the full marathon. He posted an excellent time of 2 hours 49 minutes 6 seconds to finish 5th overall and was the first Master Men’s 35-49 athlete to finish. As far as we know he is registered with Leith although the results don’t show it, which means he holds the Otago Marathon Championship MM35-49 grade title (note: this has still to be confirmed). Sharon Lequeux was the next Leith athlete to complete the full marathon coming through in 22nd position overall and third female (first Senior Woman) in 3 hours 15 minutes 4 seconds. This was another excellent effort from her in a tough competitive field. Again she would therefore now hold the Otago Senior Women’s Marathon title, but this again still has to be confirmed. Sophie Smith was next in overall 45th place in 3 hours 35 minutes 59 seconds. She was the 3rd Senior Woman and 7th Woman overall. Our over 60s runner, Dave McLean finished in 140th place in 4 hours 47 minutes 37 seconds and was 20th in the Master Men’s 50+ grade.

Conditions were perfect for racing
by Sharon Lequeux

Today conditions were perfect for racing – there was very little wind and a starting temperature of 7 degrees Celsius, which rose to a high of 13 degrees Celsius. The marathon now starts outside the Royal Albatross Centre, a positive change as it allowed people to stay inside and keep warm and had great facilities, parking and plenty of space. Runners and spectators were treated to a spectacular sunrise over the ocean around 7.15AM. Everyone was in high spirits and ready to run. At 8am the race started and after the small hill near the start runners were able to settle into a steady rhythm running alongside the picturesque Otago Harbour. There was a head wind between 33-38km which was a challenge on tired legs, but the last few kilometers we had a nice tail wind to follow us into the stadium where we were greeted with a cheering crowd down to the finish line. Thank you to all the organisers and volunteers that worked to make this another fantastic Dunedin marathon.”

Full Marathon (Non – Otago Championship)

Bruce Hughes had a good day out there in the sunshine, crossing the line in 14th place overall in 3 hours 4 minuted 50 seconds. He was 10th Senior Man and 13th Male runner overall.

Bruce Hughes says “32km – 42km was always going to be unknown territory”

Bruce: “In general I am happy with the result. I didn’t do myself any favours with my pacing strategy (1:25 first 21k) and I think the major learning I took from the event was how difficult it is to run your own race when others are around. I guess gaining a good understanding of your effort vs pace is a matter of experience. 32k-42k was always going to be unknown territory and I really struggled with the lack of long runs. A couple of short walks put the 3hr mark out of reach. That said, I’m happy I pushed through and satisfied that I could not have pushed harder.”

Half Marathon (also NZ Half Marathon Champs)

Leith’s Ray Knox achieved the bronze medal in the Master Men’s 50+ grade, he was first in the Men’s 55-59 grade and was 31st overall in 1 hour 37 minutes 18 seconds. This was another one of Ray’s fine performances in a senior and masters running career spanning three decades where his work commitments often curtailed the time he could spend training. This national title podium result in the half-marathon is just reward for an excellent running career. Gaya Gnanalingam finished 37th overall in 1 hour 42 minutes 58 seconds and was 7th Senior Woman across the line. Gaya is starting to get back into the form she was in a few years ago when she first ran for Leith.

Half Marathon (Non-Championship)

John Bayne finished 33rd overall and was third in the Master Men’s 50+ grade in 1 hour 28 minutes 32 seconds. Susan Craig getting back into form finished in 2 hours 14 minutes 50 seconds and was 14th in the Women’s 50+ grade. She said she was pleased with her run and was aiming to get back under 2 hours for the distance in the near future.

Susan Craig says the course was a definite improvement on 2018
read below what she had to say about her experience this year

Dunedin put on a stunning day for the 2019 Dunedin Marathon events on Sunday the 1st of September. Glorious sunshine and very little wind made for great running and walking conditions. I was very anxious about tackling the Half Marathon after a recent bout of quite poor mental health but surprised myself by not only finishing, but also by taking 5 minutes off last years’ time. The course was a definite improvement on 2018, apart from the hilly section about 1km from the start. It was also a shame that we didn’t run through campus this year or past the railway station. The final 3km running back along the cycle way was my biggest challenge as I was very tired and the knees had started to hurt so it was with a huge sense of relief that I ran that final lap of the stadium and up the tiled path to the finish line. I’m determined to get back under 2 hours next year!

10km Race

Neale McLanachan had a fine race, finishing 8th overall in 35 minutes 30 seconds and was first Master Men’s 35-49 runner home. Lydia Pattillo was the next Leith athlete to finish. She was 15th overall and was the third Senior Woman, crossing the line in 42 minutes 11 seconds. Donald Bate come through in 26th place overall in 44 minutes 39 seconds and was second in the Master Men’s 50+ grade. Robyn O’Neill finished in 55 minutes 17 seconds to make up the Leith contingent in this event.

The Otago Road Champs

Victoria Road circuit, Dunedin
Saturday, 12pm, 24 August 2019

For results >> Road Results

Doubles for Greene, Staufenberg
Wayne Parsons, ODT online Mon, 26 August 2019

Leith once again came to the fore

Leith athletes once again came to the fore on Saturday at the Otago Road Champs held around the 1.8km loop on the footpath around the Forbury Park Raceway in Victoria Street. The weather was brilliant for running with a slight breeze and plenty of sunshine (temp about 15 degrees Celsius). Leith’s Janus Staufenberg won the Open Men’s 10km title in 31 minutes 52 seconds winning the G L Austin Memorial Trophy for first Senior Men’s athlete. Nic Bathgate finished third in 34 minutes 13 seconds .

Leith also took out the first three places in the Under 20 Men’s 8km championships to win the team’s title. First was Nathan Hill in 0:27:01, second Olivier Despatis in 0:28:02 and third was Julius Staufenberg in 0:30:25. The winner Nathan Hill won the Adam Beveridge Cup (Men U20 Individual Winner) as well as the Anniversary Trophy for best aggregate MU20 in the Otago Cross Country and Otago Road Race Championships.

Sharon Lequeux finished second in the Open Women’s 10km Championships in 0:41:22 with Lydia Pattillo third in 0:43:53.

Leith also did well in the Master Men’s 35-49 Championships 10km race. Simon Leaning crossed the line in second place in 0:37:19. Mark O’Donnell was third in 0:41:03.

Ray Knox showed the youngsters how it is done, by snatching third place in the Master Men’s 50+ championships 10km race. He kept a steady pace lap by lap and finished in 0:43:16. However, after his great effort, there was no time for dilly dallying as he had to rush back to work, so we didn’t even have time to interview him.

We spoke to some of the athletes after the Championships

Marc caught up with Lydia not long after her race and she said that for some reason she found it tough out there despite it being a deceptively easy flat course (she had had a good Port Road Race the week before over a tough 12km course). She said she was about 3 minutes slower than her normal time over this distance. Marc spoke to George Hamilton, one of the young Hill City-University runners, and he said he found the breeze at stages of the run seemed to be a factor in making it a fairly tough run. He had just won the Boys Under 16 champs 4km race in an excellent time of 13 minutes 32 seconds. Marc also interviewed Nic Bathgate at the prizegiving and he said he kept it steady throughout and used it as a taping off run after quite a heavy training week, and was happy with his 3rd place finish. His aim this year is to do well in the Otago Half Marathon Championships at the Hill-Free in October, so this was a good workout with that race in mind.

Leith Harbour Free #3

cnr Neptune/Magnet Sts, Dunedin Cycle Way
6pm Thur, 22 August 2019

For full information and results >> Leith Harbour Free

report by Marc Boulle

Leith Harriers held the 3rd Leith Harbour Free 5 & 10km race starting from 6pm on Thursday 22 August 2019. There were 48 starters with 33 opting to do the 10km and 15 doing the 5km. Probably with the Otago Road Champs looming on Saturday and only one day to recover, the 5km was the better option for some, providing a good hitout. Nevertheless, there were some smart times in the 10km with Neale McLanachan (36:28.9), Simon Leaning (37:50.9), Andrew Wilson (38:23.3) and Matt Jenkins (39:26.2) all throwing out sub 40 minute efforts in taking the first four placings. Sonya Cameron was not far behind in 40:11.7 taking fifth place and Sharon Lequeux 6th in 42:09.5. Under 20 runner Jack Shaw blitzed through the 5km to take first place in 17:52.2. Second was Alex Dodds in 18:16.5 and third Bruce Hughes in 18:25.3. Thanks to all those who took part, the organisers, supporters and helpers. We would love to see you again at the same start line at 10am on Sunday 22 September 2019. And all the best for those doing the Otago Champs on Saturday and the Dunedin Marathon the following Sunday.

Port Chalmers to Dunedin Road Race

Logan Park, Saturday 17 August, 2019

For results >> Road Results

Chisholm Makes Amends
article by Wayne Parsons, ODT online Monday 19 August 2019

Note: This report is based on registered club runners, see further down for Leith affiliated non-club results

Open Men’s Port Road Race Report

Leith Harriers athletes once again excelled on the local Athletics Otago running scene taking all three podium Open Men’s placings in the handicap format Port Chalmers to Dunedin 12km Road Race held on Saturday 17 August 2019. Glen Chisholm running off a handicap of 24 minutes worked his way through the field and sometimes inclement weather, due to the cold and rainy headwind southerlies, to clinch victory and the Hooper Cup in this iconic event – the Oldest Road Race in Australasia – crossing the line in 1hr 10min 20sec with fourth fastest time of 46 minutes 20 seconds. Not far behind him crossing the line in second place in 1hr 11min 45sec was Leith’s Harjinder Singh Chander (off a 20min handicap) with 10th fastest time of 51 minutes 45 seconds. Third across the line just three seconds back was Leith again in the form of Mark O’Donnell (also off 20 minutes) with 11th fastest time of 51 minutes 48 seconds. Both had been unable to hold out the fast and in form Glen Chisholm.

Leith’s Simon Leaning also had an excellent run, finishing fifth across the line. He was off a handicap of 22mins 30secs and crossed with a finish time of 1hr 12min 27sec and 8th fastest time of 49 minutes 57 seconds. Andrew Lonie was the next Leith athlete to show up on the radar finishing in 8th place off a handicap of 26 minutes crossing the line in 1hr 13min 34sec. He had a tough job working his way through the field and clinched 7th fastest time of 47 minutes 34 seconds. The evergreen Masters 50+ runner, Stuart Hodges finished 15th across the line (off 14 minutes) in 1hr 16min 20sec. He achieved 17th fastest time of 1:02:20. And the ever evergreen Masters 50+ athlete Dave McLean off 12 minutes crossed in 1hr 27min 32sec with an actual time of 1:15:32.

Open Women’s Port Road Race Report

Leith’s Under 20 athlete Suzie White had an excellent race to clinch second place in the Open Women’s field. Off a handicap of 18 minutes she crossed the line in 1hr 13min 32sec for third fastest time of 55 minutes 32 seconds in the Open Women’s grade. Running off a handicap of 19 minutes, Leith’s Senior Women runner Lydia Pattillo crossed the line in fifth place in this grade in 1hr 15min 11sec with fifth fastest Open Women’s time of 56 minutes 11 seconds. Finishing 16th across the line in this grade off 17 minutes was Leith’s Gaya Gnanalingam in 1hr 20min 30sec for 12th fastest time of 1:03:30.

Suzie thoroughly enjoyed her run

“I thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the Port Road Race this year. It was my first time doing this race and will definitely be doing this one again! The weather down at Port in the morning was not looking flash, but the sun made a timely appearance just as we all set off. I was not expecting the course to be quite as hilly as it was however I found myself enjoying the undulation. Everyone out on the course was so supportive and it was great to be part of such a positive group of runners.”

Frank Perry Trophy

The full Leith 6 member team (with overall finishes across both Open Men’s and Women’s grades) to clinch the Frank Perry Trophy were in finishing order: 1st Glen Chisholm, 2nd Harjinder Singh Chander, 3rd Mark O’Donnell, 5th Simon Leaning, 9th Suzie White, 10th Andrew Lonie, for a total team points = 30.

The Open Men’s team trophy was also won by the 3-person Leith team in Open Men’s finishing order of 1st Glen Chisholm, 2nd Harjinder Singh Chander, 5th Mark O’Donnell (total team points = 6)

The 3-person Leith Open Women’s team finished second: in Open Women’s finishing order were 2nd Suzie White, 5th Lydia Pattillo, 16th Gaya Gnanalingam (total team pts = 23)

Leith Harriers also won the Nickels Challenge Cup (Barnes and Port Races Open Men Team Aggregate Points)

Leith also had some non-club members competing, here are their results:
Non-Club Open Women Port Chalmers to Dunedin 12km: Tess Molloy was third with and actual time of 59:54
Non-Club Open Men Port Chalmers to Dunedin 12km: Bradley Goodall was second with an actual time of 53:13. Bradley Goodall actually entered late so was unable to compete in the main handicap section of the race.

Well done Leith team, this was another very successful day at the office. Thanks to all the marshalls. organisers, timekeepers, traffic control experts and athletes and supporters.

Bradley Goodall’s Rollercoaster Port Road Race
as told by Bradley

“The port road race was a bit of a rollercoaster for me this year, and that had nothing at all to do with the rolling hilly nature of the course! Only remembering to enter the race at 5 to midnight on Tuesday wasn’t a good start, and (narrowly) missing the 12am deadline meant that I not only had to run as an unregistered runner, it cost me an extra $15… (Will I learn from this? Probably not).

On race day Saturday we were greeted with some classically bipolar Dunedin weather; sleety showers and a cold wind interspersed by periods of lovely sunshine. I was more prepared for this run than I was two years previously when I learned the course was not in fact a fast, flat run along the cycle trail to Dunedin. This was a good event to get me back into racing, with the hills being similar to my training.

I began after 15 minutes with a large group of other unregistered runners, but by the bottom of the first hill found myself running alone in a gap between the leader of our group and the rest of the field which never changed for the remainder of the race. My only company was occasional roadside spectators and passing the odd runner who had started ahead of me. Being alone makes having the right pacing pretty difficult to get right, and in hindsight I probably should have tried to stay closer to the man in front of me (who was well gone by the time I picked up the pace over the last 3rd or so of the race). Still, the handicap format meant that I was forever paranoid at the thought of someone charging up and picking me off from behind and that threat kept me honest in terms of pace and effort.

I was 2nd across the line, which is something that doesn’t happen a lot so that felt good. Overall, I finished a minute quicker than two years previously and it was a good reintroduction to racing for me, so I’m pretty satisfied. Next time I think it would be nice to enter on time and contribute to the Leith team win! Oh, and saving myself $15 would be nice too…”

Clyde – Alexandra Road Races

Saturday 10 August 2019

For full information and results >> Clyde – Alexandra Road Races 2019

Open Men’s runner, Leith’s Janus Staufenberg had an amazing run on a bitterly cold and rainy Saturday afternoon in Central Otago. He won the Clyde-Alexandra 10km and cracked the 30 minute barrier with a time of 29 minutes 56 seconds. However, it was no walk in the park victory as he was followed closely across the finish line by Daniel Balchin from Cromwell (30:25) and Andy Good of University Of Canterbury in 30:45. Nic Bathgate also did Leith proud by finishing sixth Open Men’s runner in 33:08 and also 6th overall. Glen Chisholm achieved a podium third place finish in the Master Men’s 35-39 grade in 36 minutes 9 seconds. Also in this grade, Glen Thomson finished 6th in 39:45 and not far behind was Mark O’Neill in 8th place in 40:01. While in the Open Women’s grade Leith finished well up the field with Olivia Thornbury finishing in fourth place in 39:39 and Sharon Lequeux not far behind in 5th place in 39:51. Gaya Gnanalingam was in close support finishing in eleventh place in 45:36. Steve Tripp also had a great run, finishing 5th in the Master Men’s 50-59 grade in 41:03. The results are now finalised and our report has been updated.

Chris Sole compiled a beautiful race record and 2019 Leith overall results list for our website: See below

Race Records
Alan Carmen (Leith) 1995 in 29:16
Shireen Crumpton (Hill City) 2001 in 33:40

2019 Leith Results
1 Janus Staufenberg 29:56 (1st SM)
6 Nic Bathgate 33:08 (6th SM)
21 Glen Chisholm 36:09 (3rd MM35+)
38 Olivia Thornbury 39:02 (4th SW)
41 Glenn Thompson 39:45 (6th MM35+)
42 Sharon Lequeux 39:51 (5th SW)
44 Mark O’Neill 40:01 (8th MM35+)
49 Steve Tripp 41:03 (5th in MM50+)
80 Gaya Gnanalingam 45:36 (11th SW)

Sunshine Coast Marathon

Australia, Sunday 4 August 2019

Sunshine Coast Marathon 2019 >> Road Results

For Event >> Sunshine Coast Marathon

Michael Walker had a fantastic run in the Sunshine Coast Marathon over in Australia on Sunday. Michael ran 3 hours 6 minutes and 4 seconds and finished 57th out of 588 and 10th in his age group. Well done, Michael, all that hard training and dedication is paying off.

South Island Half Marathon

Lake Hood, Sunday 4 August 2019

For South Island Half Marathon Results >> Road Results

For Event >> South Island Half Marathon

Leith’s Sophie Smith had an excellent run in the South Island Half Marathon held around Lake Hood on Sunday. She finished sixth in the 20-39 Open Women grade in a very competitive field with a time of 1 hour 35 minutes 9 seconds. She was 33rd overall in a total field of 268 competitors and sixth female athlete overall, which can only be described as a superb performance. We are hoping to have Sophie’s take on her experience of this event soon.

Leith Harbour Free #2

Sunday 10am 28 July 2019

For full results and further information >> Leith Harbour Free

Leith Harriers held its second Leith Harbour Free 5/10km run on Sunday at 10am. A field of around 50 athletes turned up on what was a perfect day for a run on the cycleway from the corner of Neptune and Magnet Streets to St Leonards and back. There was no wind to speak of and mild temperatures. There were pace runners for the faster participants and times for all finishers. The majority opted for the 10km with Under 20 runners Nathane Cochrane (first in Nathan Cochrane in 37:17.6) and James Matthews from Hill City Uni (second in 37:20.8) being the first 10km runners to finish. Third was Senior Men’s runner Jack Brooks in 38:32.6 and fourth was Leith Master Men’s 35-49 Simon Leaning in 38:34.8. The first runner to finish the 5km was Leith Senior Woman Claudia Sole in 24:23.7. A big thank you to all who organised and assisted.

Leith Harbour Free #1

Start Neptune/Magnet Streets
6pm, Thursday 20 June 2019

Venue: Start – Neptune/Magnet Streets. Enjoy a run along the west harbour recreation trail to St.Leonards and back

For results >> Road Results

We had 59 hardy runners take part tonight in great winter running conditions. We hope everyone enjoyed themselves and managed to achieve your own targets tonight. Thanks to all the volunteers tonight who made this possible.

NZ Marathon Championships

Christchurch Marathon, Sunday 2 June 2019

For 2019 Results >> Timingsports/Christchurch Marathon 2019

report by Marc Boulle

Leith Harriers had a number of runners competing on a bitterly cold day in Christchurch. In the full marathon, Ultra-Runner Harjinder Chander achieved a personal best of 3hr 34sec (net personal time) coming oh so close to breaking the magical three hour barrier. He finished 55th overall and was 35th in the Men’s 20-39 grade. In the half-marathon, Susan Craig finished 24th in the Women’s 50-59 grade in the net personal time of 2hr 6min 37sec. Michael Walker finished 56th overall out of 1052 runners, 41st in the Men’s 20-39 grade in a personal best time of 1hr 24min 13sec (net personal time). Danny Baillie finished 33rd overall and 3rd in the Master Men’s 40-49 grade(VM race designation) in 1hr 20min 02sec (personal net time). Apologies if some times and positions were initially incorrect, but it appears there was a change to some results. All times here are based on the personal net times of the runners not on the official start (gun time) and finish times. Yes, it can get confusing but most runners cross the start line after the gun has gone due to size of fields. So the actual time for the race distance (net time) for each runner is from the moment they step on the start matt until they step on the finish matt which is the called the net time. Your measure of personal best timing is on the net time. Official placings and medal awards are based only on when you cross the finish line from the gun time, and not on net times and placings. See results link above for full set of results.

Joe Cowie Memorial 5km Handicap Race

Saturday 25 May 2019
Forbury Park Raceway

For results >> Road Results

Sophie Smith wins the 2019 Joe Cowie Memorial 5km

report by Marc Boulle
Sophie Smith won the 2019 Joe Cowie Memorial Handicap 5km Race held on the 1km lap course at Forbury Park Raceway on Saturday. Running off a handicap of seven and a half minutes she setabout the task of catching those in front of her and also keeping out the fast chasing bunch. She finished with a flourish passing second placed Susan Craig in the straight and winning by 15 seconds. She achieved 10th fastest time of 20 minutes 24 seconds.

Susan Craig who started off go, ran well having come back from injury to hold off the fast finishing pack behind her. Gaya Gnanalingam off a handicap of five minutes finished five seconds behind Craig in an exciting sprint finish. Hamish McKinlay finished with fastest time of 17 minutes 21 seconds in 15th position off the scratch handicap of 13 minutes. Men’s 20 runner Ben Mitchell off a handicap of 12 minutes finished 8th with second fastest time of 17 minutes 34 seconds. Jonah Belk off a handicap of 12 minutes was third fastest in 18 minutes 9 seconds and 12th across the line. Olivia Thornbury OW was the fastest woman runner achieving a time of 20 minutes 1 second.

Donald Bates opted to complete the distance as a race walk. Starting off go, he completed the 5km walk in 32 minutes 8 seconds.

Jason Palmer pushed his baby daughter around the course in a pram, challenging anyone to beat him. Starting with a handicap of 11 and a half minutes, he ran a very respectable time of 18 mins 34 seconds which was fourth fastest time, almost beating half the field on handicap.

Thanks to all those participants as well as the organisers and assistants who all made this a great day of running for our club.

Southern Lakes Half Marathon

Sat 6 April 2019

On Saturday, Susan Craig ran the Southern Lakes Half Marathon finishing in the MW 50-59 grade in 2hr 2min.