Calder Stewart Coastal Classic, Sunday 6 November 2022

Taieri Mouth, Otago

For full results >> Multisport Results 2022

This event has taken place with many Leith athletes taking part.  A report with photos will be up here soon!

For more on this exciting event >> Calder Stewart Coastal Classic Website

Below is a collage of some of the action – photos by Gisela and Chris Sole

Leith & Friends Results

See the stories from some of the athletes further below.  Thanks to Gisela and Chris Sole for being out there supporting the athletes and taking some great photographs too.

In the 21km race, Leith’s Corey Lewis strode to victory with close attention by second placed Chris O’Connell.  Corey’s time was 1 hour 30 minutes 17 seconds with Chris not far behind in 1 hour 30 minutes 54 seconds.  Leith’s Lars Winther who finished in 1 hour 31 minutes 16 seconds completed the podium and they finished 1, 2 and 3 in the Open Male grade too.  Leith’s Simon Leaning had another amazing run finishing fifth overall and first in the Vet Male (35-49) grade in 1 hour 35 minutes 27 seconds.  Leith’s Lydia Pattillo also had a fine race, finishing 3rd in the Open Female grade in 1 hour 48 minutes 12 seconds. Lee Flowers was the first Leith runner to finish in the Master Male grade.  He ran the course in 1 hour 59 minutes 36 seconds. For full results check the results link at the top of this article.

21km
1 Corey Lewis, Leith 1:30:17 Open Male 1st
2 Chris O’Connell 1:30:54 Open Male 2nd
3 Lars Winther, Leith 1:31:16 Open Male 3rd
5 Simon Leaning, Leith 1:35:27 Vet Male (35-49) 1st
7 Casey Pearce, Leith 1:38:34 Open Male 5th
8 Bryan Staunton, Leith 1:39:10 Open Male 6th
11 Kristy Eyles, Caversham 1:42:01 Open Female 1st
12 Liam Turk, Leith 1:42:26 Open Male 9th
19 Lydia Pattillo, Leith 1:48:12 Open Female 3rd
25 Christopher Holmes 1:52:28 Vet Male (35-49) 5th
33 Croydon Paton  1:56:23 Masters Male (50-59) 3rd
36 Mandy Lowther, Leith  1:58:21 Open Female 6th
37 Lee Flowers, Leith 1:59:36 Masters Male (50-59) 4th

The 12km Race also had a number of Leith athletes competing.  Leith’s Chris Clark finished ninth overall and second in the Vet Male (35-49) grade in 1 hour 9 minutes 43 seconds.  Peter Hughes was the first Leith runner home in the Legend Male (60+) grade. His time was 1 hour 20 minutes 1 second.  Kate Roberts was the first Leith female across the line finish 6th in the Open Female grade in 1 hour 28 minutes 36 seconds.  For full results check the results link at the top of this article.

12km
1 Leon Miyamara, Caversham 53:25 Open Male 1st
4 Wayne Porteous 1:02:35 Legends Male (60+)
9 Chris Clark, Leith 1:09:43 Vet Male (35-49) 2nd
22= Mike Todd, 1:17:03 Vet Male (35-49) 3rd
26 Peter Hughes, Leith 1:20:01 Legend Male (60+) 5th
34 Julia Devereux 1:24:04 Open Female 4th
37 Elizabeth Gordon 1:27:56 Open Female 5th
39 Kate Roberts, Leith 1:28:36 Open Female 6th
40 Georgia Meyer 1:29:01 Open Female 7th
45 Sue Kim, Caversham 1:32:27 Vet Female (35-49) 5th

Athletes had this to say about their experiences

Leith’s Corey Lewis and winner of the 21km:

“Today was my first time running the Coastal Classic out in Taieri Mouth. The conditions were perfect, overcast and not too hot. The gravel roads were dry, and the hills were tough. The sections through farmland and the long grass in the last 5km made things tough going. I’m already looking forward to next year’s event!”

Leith’s Mandy Lowther:

“I ran the 21 km today. Mentally it just wasn’t my race, I’m not sure what happened exactly. It may have been from the poor sleep due to fireworks the night before, or stress due to an exam tomorrow morning. At about halfway, I started to find my usual rhythm and finished strong. I felt better after 21 km than I did after 5 km! I suppose this is a good sign physically, but also emphasises the importance of mental strength and the contribution your mindset makes to your overall performance”.

Gwen Pinches had this to say:

“I decided just midweek to sign up for the 21k (inspired at Tuesday track!) as a last long run before Queenstown HM. I knew it would be tough with the hills and was stoked to pick a few people off on the climbs! But the final beach kms were a struggle – not enough left in the legs to win a last 1km battle with Antonia! No way I could have done this just 2 months ago though so pretty thrilled overall. Great day and lush event”.

6 + 6 Maxis Projects Adventure Race, Sunday 1 May 2022

Teretonga Park, Sandy Point, Invercargill
Southland Triathlon and Multisport Club

Karen, Maggie, Lucy and Siobhan given a map and told “GO!”

It was a balmy Southland Saturday when a group of us numbering just short of 200 were dropped by bus on the side of the road somewhere past Riverton, given a map and told “GO!”. We made up 50 Adventure Race teams, theoretically four team members, but due to COVID this year teams could race with 3, or even 2 if they were unable to replace team members who suddenly became unavailable. The race would be competed over 2 x 6-hour stages, involving treks, mountain biking, and kayaking as well as map-reading and picking up points along the way by solving location clues. The directors did advise that teams had a look at the map before really “GOing”. So we did, and all set off into the bush on a hillside in search of coloured tags on farmland and then on into the bush.
The first trek was through a beautiful bush track on private land, birds were chirping, we were hitting all of our location points and spirits were high. The most memorable clues of this track were “Tunnel entrance” and “Tunnel – breather hole”. Sure enough we came across a tunnel entrance, big enough to walk through single file and long enough to be pitch dark in the middle. Lit by a head torch we looked for the mysterious “breather hole” – which found us half way through, as creepy music started and a ghoul with painted face and black robes lunged at us from a little posse on one side. Got the clue and got out of there!
The trek ended at our bike transition in a paddock in Pourakino Valley, where my Mum grew up, with her father working on a timber mill which is no longer there. I had never visited this spot, so this was special for me. Off on our bikes and collecting clues along the way we travelled via the main road to Riverton, over the bridge, then chasing clues through the back blocks and eventually onto Oreti Beach. Along the way we decided not to do a detour for some optional points which ended up being the right call for us.
Just the week before I had been with my family at Beach House Cafe in Riverton, looking at this very stretch of sand and admiring how long Oreti Beach it was. The site of Bert Munro’s famous “World’s Fastest Indian” speed trials, it is very long. The tide was incoming, the sun setting and in the dusk we biked through large patches of seaweed, laughing, splashing and occasionally falling. Darkness fell and we biked and biked and biked, the flashing red lights of each others bikes and packs bobbing around us. People regularly called out names in the night, looking for their own teams. There was a car with headlghts at the end of the beach and it didn’t seem to get any closer. We started to think it was getting further away. Our legs hurt. Our bums hurt. However, eventually it did end – relieved and exhausted we rode back onto the road and into Teretonga Park where we had piled into buses over 6 hours earlier. The weather was still so warm that we were in singlets.
The next morning the campsite was buzzing again as we lined up, back on our bikes at 7 am. It was no longer warm, with the wind blowing and rain just starting to fall, which would continue all day. It was a new experience for me being in a group of almost 200 bikes speeeding around a lap of Teretonga motor track to start, being pulled along by the other riders and the energy. The next 30 kms or soon on our bikes took us all over, around in loops collecting more locations on roads, on tracks and back on the beach, doubling back more than once to collect clues we missed in the dark, till eventually all the looping and doubling back took us back to Teretonga Park where I was very grateful to get off my bike and back on my feet.
The next trek was a tough one for us, as we struggled to find the clues and became disorientated, falling behind others and becoming disheartened. However we worked together, got back on track and kept going. A paint ball challenge along the way offered extra points for hitting targets, but the man running it said we could have full points if we took a direct hit. My reaction was “no way!” but Karen is made of braver stuff and put her body on the line. There was also a short kayak on the Oreti River thrown in, before we made it back to home base for a chance for more points on an archery challenge – our tired cold hands weren’t up to hitting any targets so we were sent on a short run before the home stretch – one last lap of Teretonga Park on our bikes. Our early navigation problems meant we crossed the line with just 30 seconds to spare before cut off at 1pm – getting our money’s worth! Once again our team of 4 were proud to make it a finish line. I am very grateful for the endless positivity and stickability of Lucy, Karen and Maggie and for being included on their team of adventurers. Many thanks to Southland Triathlon & Multisport Club for putting on an action packed, amazing event with fantastic volunteers and making it happen despite COVID times. We’re still wondering where some of those elusive clues on Day 2 were!

2022 Oceania Triathlon Cup Taupo Race 3, Sunday 10 April 2022

For full results of this event >> 2022 Oceania Triathlon Taupo 10 April 2022 Results

Once again Janus and Olivia excelled.  Check the results link above for full results

2022 Oceania Triathlon Cup Mt Maunganui Race 2, Sunday 3 April 2022

For full results of this event >> 2022 Oceania Triathlon Mt Maunganui 3 April 2022 Results

Mark O’Neill texted a YouTube link of the live Oceania Triathlon Cup NZ Selection Race 2 at Mt Maunganui to Chris Sole on Sunday. Mark was excited, and so was Chris, when they watched Leith’s Janus Staufenberg exit the water first. He controlled the bike and powered to a final 5km in 14:43, only beaten by Hayden Wilde’s blistering 14:13. Yes, those 5km times after swimming and biking. Olivia Thornbury, not to be outdone by her partner, pounced at the finish, pulling off a fine win, recording a 17:23 5km, the same as Andrea Hansen (Hewitt) in 2nd.