Welcome to new members Felicity Melia and Laura Bond.

This week

  • Tuesday 6.00 pm, speed session with Alice and Rowan, outside Freyberg Pool. This week’s session is 1km reps of various speeds — more details on Facebook.
  • Friday 12.27 pm, Kupe Run, a chatty pre-weekend run from the Kupe statue on the waterfront.
  • Saturday 8.00 am, Karori Park speed workout — contact our club captains Emma and Bert, or check Facebook for details. 8.00 am warm-up for an 8.30 am start. All speeds and interests are welcome.
  • Saturday 8.00 am, Newtown Park, track workout with Richard Brent, open to runners from all clubs (and non-club members).
  • Saturday 2.00 pm, our friendly club pack runs, leaving from our clubhouse at Prince of Wales Park, Mt Cook.
  • Sunday long pack runs — usually, these leave 8.30 am from outside Freyberg Pool and some alternative locations around Wellington. Contact our club captains, Emma and Bert, or check Facebook for details.

Results

NZ Cross Country Championships

Hannah Miller was 3rd senior woman, while Mel Aitken (W45), Heather Walker (W50) and John Skinnon (M75) became national champions in their respective grades. Numerous others also had excellent runs — highlighted by six Scottish runners in the senior women’s grade, Hiro Tanimoto overtaking several of the favourites to break into the top 10 for the senior men, Jorge Murcia running his first ever cross country race and Alistair Collow running his best ever Spa Park race. Taupō turned on the good weather and great atmosphere for the weekend. NZ Cross Country Champs will be back at the same venue next year, so lock it in.

  • Masters Women 6000m: Megan Ferry 37:19 for 4th W35, Mel Aitken 24:51 for 1st W45, Heather Walker 24:41 for 1st W50, Fiona Macmaster 41:45 for 6th W55.
  • Senior Women 10000m: Hannah Miller 37:39 for 3rd, Emma Perron 39:43 for 11th, Genevieve Coffey 43:04 for 17th, Ayesha Shafi 44:01 for 18th, Alice Sowry 50:40 for 23rd and Dani Stevens 55:08 for 24th.
  • Masters Men 8000m: Stephen Day 28:34 for 3rd M45, Grant McLean 31:31 for 4th M50, Peter Stevens 30:59 for 3rd M55, Jim Jones 32:07 for 4th M55.
  • Junior Men 6000m: Ben Brunner 20:41 for 11th U18.
  • Masters Men 6000m: Ross Lake 35:31 for 6th M70, John Skinnon 32:14 for 1st M75.
  • Senior Men 10000m: Hiro Tanimoto 32:49 for 9th, Jack Shaw 35:16 for 21st, Harry McLean 39:18 for 35th, Jorge Murcia 42:33 for 36th and Alistair Collow 46:43 for 37th.

Results

Hiro’s photos: masters men, senior men, relays

Rowan’s photos

NZ Club Cross Country Relays

In the first race of the day, the 35+s (Stephen Day, Bev Hodge, Mel Aitken and Grant McLean) and 50+s (Jim Jones, Heather Walker, Anne Hare and Peter Stevens) won their respective grades. In the second race, our two senior teams performed strongly, with Hiro Tanimoto, Emma Perron, Ayesha Shafi and Harry McLean finishing 6th while Jorge Murcia, Alice Sowry, Danielle Stevens and Alistair Collow were 7th.

Results

Coming up  

Needle Relay, Kilbirnie, 13 August

There are three distinct events, open to both registered and social members of clubs: the Walker’s Turkey Trot, the Children’s Needle Relay, and the Needle Relay. Let your section captain know if you want to be in a relay team.

Also, Wellington Harriers needs a few volunteers to help marshal the event. If you can help, please email Georgina

Details

Wellington Road Champs, Wainuiomata, 20 August

The Wellington Road Champs is the last of the four big interclub races for the year. It is a great opportunity to run a fast 5km or 10km time with a large pack of runners to pull you along. It is held in the scenic Wainuiomata Recreation Area. The course is an out-and-back road race using a 1.25km stretch of road that is closed to public traffic. The course is largely sheltered from the wind. 

Details to come.

NZ Road Running Champs, Trentham 4 September

Entries for the NZ Road Champs, which we are hosting at Heretaunga on 4 September, are now open.

The entry fee for members of Athletics Wellington clubs is reduced to $20. When entering, members are asked to “Enter a Pin Code”. Here are the codes which members need to enter:

  • U14 = $10 off pin code WGTC1
  • U16,18, 20 = $20 off pin code WGTC2
  • U23 = $25 off pin code WGTC3
  • Seniors + Masters 35-64 = $35 off pin code WGTC4
  • Masters 65+ = $20 off pin code WGTC5

The discounted entry fee is only available to members of AW clubs.

Notices

Scottish Supporters Trust

The Wellington Scottish Supporters Trust provides financial support to assist some of our most promising athletes to achieve their goals. The Trust’s main priority is to help high-performing Senior Men and Women athletes compete in major national and selected overseas events, without finance being a constraint. Assistance to compete at New Zealand championship events is usually provided by way of performance incentives, with top placings usually resulting in the full cost of travel being met. The Trust also offers Athletic Scholarships to emerging athletes, as the Trustees believe that this will help sustain senior ranks with top-performing athletes in the future.

All donations to the Trust are gratefully received, and make a substantial contribution to the ability of our top athletes to achieve their goals and reach their athletic potential. Donations are eligible for an IRD tax credit and a receipt will be provided for this purpose. You can donate by direct bank payment to 38-9006-0470186-00.

We are also looking for expressions of interest for anyone who would like to join Sharon, JT or Glen as a Trustee. If you have a real interest in assisting our athletes, and/or are keen to help with fundraising please contact any of us.

NZ Road Relays

The registration form for this year’s Road Relay trip is now active. So time to sign up and spread the word ($160 for runners, $120 for supporters – Date: 30 September to 2 October 2022).

SIGNUP: https://forms.gle/hHMvFcdmzdYevR46A
Register before: 
Midnight 31 August 2022

For those that have not been before, this is by far the largest club away trip of the year (with upwards of 100+ club members going). There is a mixture of competitive and social relay teams, with distances of approx. 6.5km or 10km. And as always, there will be a big celebration dinner/drinks on Saturday night.

All the information you need at this stage is in the registration form.

Any questions, please email Alistair Collow.

Clubhouse survey

Please remember to complete the survey about the clubhouse project. We need as much feedback as we can get, from those who use the clubhouse and those who don’t. Also, you might win a Shoe Clinic voucher.

Survey

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