Last week for membership discount!

Our membership portal is live and taking your subscriptions. Take advantage of the early-bird special discount on the standard membership types. For adults, if you join before May, it is $150 instead of $185.

Join now

A special welcome to our new club members Ewan Sinclair, Daniel Goldsworthy and Alex Woods.

This week

  • Tuesday 6.00 pm, speed session with Rowan and Andy, Outside Freyberg Pool.
  • Friday 12.27 pm, Kupe Run, a chatty pre-weekend run from the Kupe statue on the waterfront.
  • Saturday 1:00 pm, Shaw Baton Relays, Battle Hill Farm Park, Paekakariki Hill Rd, Details below.
  • Sunday 7:30 am, 3 Peaks Event 1. Start from the Wellington Scottish clubrooms. The three peaks are in the eastern suburbs — Ataturk, Mt Crawford and Mt Victoria. As per previous years, registration is from 7.30am, leave when you want to and ‘follow’ route in any order. Entry by donation to Wellington City Mission.

Results

Centennial Cup

72 runners took part in the 5km race (plus Gemma, makes 73) and 13 J team runners. Janine Sharma ran a big 5km PB to win the Centennial Cup for the year. She was followed by Jack Shaw, who was also first over the line and Emma Perron in 3rd. Others to beat the handicapper were Liam Jones, Dion Gamperle, Genevieve Coffey, Floor Kaars Sijpesteijn and Ben Bielski.

Full results and photos below

Peter Tearle Trophy

Nigel Roberts won the Peter Tearle Trophy by a comfortable margin, beating his handicap by over 5 minutes. 13 walkers took part.

Full results below

Xterra McKerrow’s Revenge

  • Long course: Ruby Muir 1:32:03 (1st place and course record), Ben Twyman 1:39:07, Kristian Day 1:40:54, Dion Gamperle 1:46:29, Floor Kaars Sijpesteijn 2:31:23
  • Medium Course: James Parsons 1:50:38, Megan Ferry 2:59:47
  • Short course: Loretta Desourdy 44:30

Results

The Canyons 100km Endurance Race,

Daniel Jones was 10th in 9:55:10.

Results and race report

Coming up

Shaw Baton Relays, 30 April

The Shaw Baton Relays are the first inter-club event of the season. Teams of 4 people run around a 2km loop that traverses grass, gravel tracks, log jumps and a water jump. It is mostly flat to undulating with one sharp uphill and downhill.

Contact your section captain by Wednesday to let them know you want to be in a team.

If you are new to the club, or have not yet joined, you should definitely try this event. It is a great way to meet others in the club and also to experience cross country running for the first time on a classic cross country course.

Timetable:

  • 1:00 pm – all women’s grads and M60+
  • 1:50 pm boys and girls under 10
  • 2:00 pm boys and girls under 14 and under 12
  • 2:50 pm Boys U16 and U18, senior men and masters men 35+ and 50+

Race details

Tuesday Sessions

We are now back at Freyberg every Tuesday at 6pm for our Tuesday night winter sessions. Sessions are based around 5km to half marathon training, so should suit everyone and typically involve reps between 500m and 2km.

As per last year, we will break into different pace groups so that everyone has company. And of course, all speeds welcome — the more the merrier.

We will post the session every Monday evening on Facebook (and explain it pre-session) and if you have any questions just ask Rowan Hooper, Andy Ford or Alice Sowry. Additionally, every 2nd week or so we will also have a hill session breakaway group led by Karen Jenkinson.

University Relay and Chocolate Walk, 14 May

The Victoria University Athletic Club invites us to the Victoria University Relay events being held at Queen Elizabeth II Park, Paekakariki, on Saturday 14 May. 10 grades with 4 runners per team, compete over a sandy farmland 3.5 km lap. All grades start together. Walkers compete in the Chocolate Walk earlier in the day over a 6km walk on nearby roads. And juniors under 16 have a series of cross country scratch races.

Contact your section captain to let them know you want to be in a team.

Race details

Vosseler Shield, 28 May

This is NZ’s toughest and hilliest cross country race. This year there is a new course — but don’t worry, all your favourite climbs are still there.

Details to come.

Notices

Strength and Injury Prevention — 10-week block — for any runner

From Sierra Ryland: Hands up if you do any form of cross-training or strength work? And no, running doesn’t count. If you do great, you can stop reading. If you don’t then read on.

No matter your speed or ability, if you want to keep running long term then you will benefit from adding some strength work into your week.

We all lead very busy lives and we don’t have time to waste on things that are not actually going to help us with our end goals. With running, I like to train smarter and not harder. I have a family and a job so I need to be efficient with my time and know that whatever extra stuff I do is going to help with my running goals.

So that’s why these classes are designed around running and will form part of your running schedule (think about cross-training!) that is tailored towards building strength in your running muscles and stabilization muscles. These muscles are so important as they help you maintain good form and posture when you get tired near the end of the run/race.

The details for the 10-week block are:

  • Monday 2 May start: 11:30am-12:15am at Anderson Park Cricket Club Rooms (perfect for those who work in the CBD)
  • Wednesday 4 May start: 6pm-6:45pm at Club K Gym on Salamanca Rd
  • Special price: $125 for 10 weeks for Scottish Club members (normally $150)
  • Bring a mat, drink bottle or towel (spare mats are available at Cricket Club Rooms).

Spaces are limited in each class so email me at sparklefitnz@gmail.com to book your spot.

Who wants to be a referee?

Do you record the times at club cross-country events, do you set up the entry system, do you hand out the placing tags, or record laps during a race or names at the end of a race?  Do you go out early and help set up a cross-country course, or stay behind and help pack up? If so, then you are already volunteering, and it is time to take your volunteering to the next level and become a graded official. If you are not volunteering and want to, then you too can become a graded official.

Across New Zealand at clubs and centres, Athletics New Zealand wants to make sure that officials are recruited, trained and given the necessary structure and support to perform their duties.  The help and support are great, and what you get out of officiating is rewarding.

So, how do you get involved and what training is available?  Training is held countrywide across NZ.  In Wellington, the official contact is Eddie Soria. 

Clubhouse working group

The management committee has appointed a working group to explore options for future use of the clubhouse. The working group will look at the costs and benefits of the present clubhouse arrangement and various alternatives. The group is made up of Simon Keller (stkeller30@gmail.com), Lucy Fauth (lucyfauth@gmail.com), and Andy Ford (andrew.james.ford79@gmail.com). The process is likely to take several months. At some point, the working group will make a call for submissions from club members. In the meantime, you are welcome to contact any of the working group members by email if you have comments or suggestions.

Membership levies for 2022-2023

Athletics Wellington and Athletics NZ have set their fees at the same as 2021/22. Therefore, the management committee will set our club subscriptions at the same level too. But as we missed the membership drive we normally do at Round The Bays it has decided to offer a special subscription open until the end of April:

  • Seniors — $150
  • Under 20 — $70
  • Under 7 — $30

Join now

For those who have already paid directly into our bank account, we will process your memberships over the next day or two.

Join us for a Taupō Road Trip

Please fill out this registration form to let us know if you would like to join us in Taupō for the NZ Cross Country Champs. The cross country championships bring together the best distance runners in NZ — but they are also a great opportunity for a club weekend away with runners or all speeds and ambitions. Spa Park, with its rolling hills, geothermal scenery, hotpools and fast-draining volcanic soil, is one of the best cross country courses in NZ. And Taupō is a great venue for a club weekend away.

Register

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