WHAC Newsletter August 31st

In this week’s newsletter:

First Up
Needle Relay Results
Needle Relay Thanks
Scarlett Wins Tough Gal Challenge

Kiwis Finish Strong at World Champs
Hutt Marathon Details
New Zealand Road Champs
Hatuma Half Marathon
Upcoming Events

First Up

There were some great results last weekend from the Needle Relay, with WHAC teams winning the Senior Men’s and Senior Women’s divisions, as well as the MM60s, and finishing among the medals across 10 of the 13 grades.

Paul Hewitson is organising a Father’s Day group run leaving from the Botanic Gardens on Sunday at 8:30 a.m. Meet at the rose gardens to do a hill loop. If there is enough interest, a second group will do a road loop. The aim is to be back at 10 a.m. for coffee at the Goods Cafe on Tinakori Rd. Let Hewi know if you are interested: kiwiquaker@xtra.co.nz

Congrats to John O’Driscoll for finishing the Hawke’s Bay half marathon last weekend after what looked like a tough last few kilometres.

A reminder that the U14 Henderson Relay is on this Saturday. Please meet at the clubrooms just before 2 p.m.

Athletics New Zealand has released their annual report, you can find a copy here.

For future newsletter items or suggestions, please email Nick Perry: nickgbperry@gmail.com

Needle Relay Results

WHAC teams won three grades. Congratulations to the team members.

Senior Women – Sarah Drought, Poppy Healy, Eliza Squire, Laura Clayton, Saskia Cosgrove-Drayton.

Senior Men – Callum Stewart, Max Karamanolis, Liam Chesney, Julian Baker, Nathan Tse.

Open Masters 60 – Paul Hewitson, Ian Macfarlane, Dave Creamer, Tim Murchland, Todd Krieble.

WHAC teams finished 2nd in Children 10-13 Mixed, Junior Women, MM35, MM50.

WHAC teams finished 3rd in Children 10-13 Boys, MW35, Senior Men B team.

So that makes a total of 10 top-three teams in the 13 grades.

The SM team winning time of 1:05:27 set a new relay record, 53 seconds inside the previous record. The MM60 team also set a new relay record of 1:24:40, 6 minutes 50 seconds quicker than the previous time.

Congratulations to Sarah Drought who set a new SW relay record of 16:47 for the 5km lap. And to Paul Hewitson who set a new MM60 relay record of 18:11 for the 5km lap.

Other club teams setting new club team records were Children 10-13 Mixed and MM35. Other individuals setting new club lap records were MW50 5km Vickie Humphries, Boys 10-13 1.6km Xavier James, Junior Men 3km Connor Chesney, MM60 3km Ian Macfarlane, whilst MM35 5km Dan Clendon equalled his existing club record.

Full results, including tables of fastest laps by grade, will soon be loaded on the WHAC website.

Needle Relay Thanks

From Georgina Wedge

I’d like to say a huge thank you to all the people who stepped up & marshalled at the Needle Relay last weekend. The race can’t run without your support, dedication & hard work. Here’s to 2024!!

Scarlett Wins Tough Gal Challenge

Scarlett Anderson took part in the Tough Guy and Gal Challenge invitation championship event in Rotorua on Saturday, following her win at the 6km Wellington Secondary Schools event in May. The Rotorua event was double the distance at 12km.

The day was perfect conditions, a crisp clear day, no wind but cold. Scarlett was 1st woman home overall in 1:14.00 & 7th person home. All in all a great day’s racing with plenty of mud, water, obstacles and hills.

Kiwis Finish Strong at World Champs

From Athletics New Zealand

New Zealand claimed six top finishes at the 2023 World Athletics Championships – a record number in the history of the 40-year event – to suggest the country is on track for a positive performance at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

While there were some individual disappointments during the nine-day competition in the Hungarian capital, the rising strength and depth of New Zealand athletics was illustrated by the number of top ten finishes which surpassed the previous best of four achieved at both the 2015 and 2017 World Championships.

Possibly the most exciting development in Budapest was the successful conversion of George Beamish into a top-class steeplechase talent with the belief that he could threaten the podium in Paris next year.

In his first season as a senior steeplechaser, the 26-year-old set a national record in Monaco in July and in Budapest finished strongly to place fifth in the final – a best-ever New Zealand placing in a men’s track race in World Championships history.

Full story here

Hutt Marathon Details

From Ken Howell, race director

The Hutt marathon is on Sunday 17 September. Register before 5 September to avoid the late fee. Incorporating the Wellington Centre marathon championships.

Cash prizes for placegetters in the marathon run, and half marathon, 10km runners and walkers.

And a 5km fun run and Cool kids Kilometre.

huttmarathon.co.nz

New Zealand Road Champs

The 2023 New Zealand Road Championships is scheduled for 10 September and will be held in the vicinity of University Ave on the Massey University campus, Palmerston North.

Enter the 2023 New Zealand Road Championships here:

www.webscorer.com/register?raceid=319711

View event timetable:

athletics.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/NZRC-Timetable-v.2-2023.pdf

View event map here:

athletics.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/NZ-Roads-Map-v2.pdf

View elevation profile here:

athletics.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/course-elevation-map-v2-scaled.jpg

Hatuma Half Marathon

Sept. 17, Central Hawke’s Bay

Into its 4th decade and still going strong, the Hatuma Half Marathon is very much a highlight on the local sporting calendar.

From humble beginnings back in 1980, a group of running enthusiast friends got together and took on the challenge to create a running event here in Central Hawke’s Bay. Since then the event has continued to grow and has built up a reputation for being a well organised event to be shared with family & friends event in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere.

The Hatuma Half Marathon starts and finishes at the Waipukurau Racecourse. This picturesque venue is able to accommodate ample off-street parking and has picnic areas and facilities.

For more information, click here

Upcoming Events

SEPTEMBER

2nd Henderson Relay (U14), clubrooms

10th (Sun) New Zealand Road Championships, Palmerston North

16th Old Boys Memorial Race, clubrooms

17th (Sun) Honest 10K, Whale Tail sculpture near Freyberg Pool

17th (Sun) Hutt Marathon Events (Wellington Marathon Champs), Petone

School holidays – September 23- October 8th

23rd Club runs/walks, clubrooms

30th New Zealand Road Relays, Christchurch

OCTOBER

7th Prizegiving followed by afternoon tea TBC, clubrooms

14th Bernie Potenski Memorial Handicap TBC, Titahi Bay

15th (Sun) Honest 10K, Whale Tail sculpture near Freyberg Pool

NOVEMBER

19th (Sun) Honest 10K, Whale Tail sculpture near Freyberg Pool

DECEMBER