This week
- Tuesday 5:50pm: Club Session Drills, Newtown Park
- Tuesday 6:15pm: Speed session, Newtown Park.
- Saturday 8:00am: Parkruns at Waitangi, Lower Hutt, Ara Harakeke, Trentham, Kapiti, Ōtaki River and Greytown.
- Saturday 2:00pm: Friendly pack runs and walks, Scottish Clubrooms, Salisbury Terrace.
- Saturday 4:00pm: John Heap’s Memorial, The Realm back bar, Hataitai. See below for obituary.
- Sunday 6:00am onward: Wellington Marathon, Half, 10km, Kids Mile (incl NZ & WLG Marathon Half Champs), Sky Stadium.
Results
Midnight Sun Marathon, Norway
Sarah Lee ran the Midnight Sun Marathon in Norway this solstice weekend. She finished in 3:47:06 according to Strava.
III^ Meeting Stadio Comunale, Italy
James Preston 800m 1:47.98.
Shaw Baton Relays
12 Scottish teams took part in the postponed Shaw Baton Relay at the new course at Paekākāriki. And two J teams took part in the U10 1km race: Heath Cartwright 6:56 and Zelda Cart 6:58.
The J Team relay team of Rowan Richardson, Nicholas Cottingham, Abby Cleland and Lorenzo Luna-Tellechea finished in 47:55. The M60 Black team was second, just 24 seconds behind WHAC, with Michael Cummins running a strong 3rd lap to create a tense finish. The M60 Gold team was 4th. Emily Solsberg passed 3 people on the last lap to bring the W35 team through to 2nd. The W50 team, led by Karyn McLean, picked up 3rd. The SW Red team ran consistently to pick up 2nd and the SW Pink team were even more consistent in 5th pace, with only 20 seconds separating all four runners. Hamish Carson survived a lot of ribbing from the commentator to run fastest lap and lead his M35 Green team to victory. James Richardson made a strong return to racing after injury to help the M35 Blue team to 5th place. Todd Stevens captained his M50 Silver team to victory with a swift anchor lap. Team Willie, rustled together literally 3 minutes before the relay started, was 2nd mixed team. And Murendeni Netshituka made much better progress this XC, by wearing spikes, to pass three runners and help his SM Indigo team to 5th place.
Barefoot X Trail Series – Starlight Makara
Short course: Bex Hutchinson 1st place in 38:28.
Long course: Tom Callan 1st place in 52:10. Kath Littler 1:31:37, Marketa Langova 1:32:07.
Apologies to anyone I missed – I’m struggling to pick names out of the results list today.
Vaoga Cup XC Race, Whanganui
Stephen Day was 2nd at the Vaoga Cup in 22:07. The race was celebrating Wanganui Harriers’ 100 anniversary.
New Zealand Secondary Schools Cross Country Championships, Barge Park
Scottish U20 runner Joe Martin, delivered a standout performance last week, securing an impressive 3rd place in the Senior Boys 6k race at the 2025 NZ Secondary Schools Cross Country Championship in Whangārei.
Parkruns
Check out all the results here.
Notices
Farewell John Heap, 26 Dec 1941 – 24 May 2025
John was born in Manchester, England. He did his schooling and printing apprenticeship there. He emigrated to New Zealand in the early 1970s and worked as a printer for The Dominion and Evening Post until he was made redundant in 2004.
John joined Kapiti Harriers and ran with them for many years until he and longtime partner Delphine Gore joined Scottish when they moved into Wellington. At age 58 he was the Wellington Scottish Masters Men 50+ Club Champion for the year 2000.
John had a best half marathon time of about 1hr 21 and in 2001 he did the City of Wellington (Evans Bay) half marathon in 1.28.39 for 1st in the M55 grade. He gained many top three placings in several age groups over the years. At a 2003 race, Masters Men 50+ he was the 4th Scottish runner in 36.34 behind Richard Brent, Bob Stephens, Richard Sweetman – but ahead of Ken Howell and Paul Rodway!
He was a keen and active member of the Wellington Masters Cycling Club. A bad crash in a race in the Wairarapa put him in Masterton Hospital for a time with cracked ribs, punctured lung and other injuries. He took up golf and played for Hutt.
In 2016 he had a stroke that paralyzed him down his left side such that he was unable to get himself in or out of bed. He had been in a rest home since then.
Friends of John are invited to The Realm, Hataitai (back bar) from 4pm to 5pm Saturday 28 June. Bring any photos, race results and memories. We will raise a glass in his memory.
Wellington Half Marathon pacers: Sun 29 June
Meg is still looking for some pacers for the Half Marathon this weekend. If you can volunteer for one of the following paces, please email meg@ferry.nz asap. 2:20 or 2:30.
Interview with Dan Jones
Trail Running NZ has a interview with Dan Jones as he gets ready for Western States Trail Race in the USA.
Road Relay volunteers
We are looking for people to help organise the club trip to Road Relays in Feilding. This might include helping with transport, accommodation, team logistics, teaching morale enhancing chants, or baking. If this sounds like you please contact President Andy.
Te Ahumairangi 10000m Festival
And talking of volunteers, we are beginning to plan this year’s Te Ahumairangi 10000m event. If you want to be part of the organising team, please contact Andy.
Kāpiti Half Marathon discount
The Kāpiti Half Marathon isn’t until 9 November, but we have a secured a deal: We have set up a Wellington Scottish team which comes with a 20% discount. Each participant enters and pays for themselves and will automatically receive 20% off thanks to Dark Horse Coffee. You must use this link to get the discount when entering.
WUU2K volunteers
We will host an awesome Scottish aid station at WUU2K again this year (12 July). Kath Littler has kindly volunteered to lead this project. All volunteers are offered a half price WUU2K t-shirt, discounted merchandise, discounted WUU/WAI race entries, and are welcome to come along for some drinks at the Volunteers Party.
Contact Kath if you want to be involved.
Can you house the Scottish tent?
We need someone to look after our gorgeous tent and take it to races (or help get it to races). If you can give the tent a loving home, please let us know.
Scottish apparel for sale
We are selling club singlets and Early racing singlets that club member John Plimmer manufactures locally. Crop tops, socks, puffer vests, rampant lion caps, technical “Wellington Scottish” short-sleeves, technical “Unleash your inner lion” short-sleeves, long-sleeves and white cotton short-sleeve t-shirts – all in a range of sizes.
Check our clothing for sale on our website
Coming up
29 June: Wellington Marathon
The Wellington Marathon returns on 29 June 2025 including a Half Marathon, 10km fun run and Kids’ Magic Mile. All races consist of flat out and back courses starting on the Sky Stadium Walkway, and heading south on Waterloo Quay toward the Railway Station. In 2025 the Half Marathon also doubles as the New Zealand Championship and Wellington Championship.
12 July: WUU2K
The WUU2K (Wellington Urban Ultramarathon) includes a 21km half trail marathon, 45km Trail marathon, or 65km Ultra Trail marathon. The courses explore some of the most picturesque trails surrounding Wellington city, with hills that will challenge even the most seasoned runners.
20 July: Wellington Cross Country Championships
The finale of the local cross-country season takes place at Harcourt Park in Upper Hutt. Each lap has a mixture of flat and undulating cross-country running.
27 July: Johnsonville Masters Road Race
Wellington Masters are running the Johnsonville Road Race with the race headquarters the Olympic Harriers Clubrooms, Alex Moore Park, Bannister Avenue, Johnsonville. There is an 8km road race and a 6.4km race walk. The race walk starts at 9.30am and the road race at 9.45am.
23 August: Wellington 5km Road Championships
The Wellington 5km and 10km Road Champs are the last of the big interclub races for the season. They are an excellent opportunity to run a fast 5km or 10km time with a large pack of runners to pull you along. They are 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.
13 September: Wellington 10km Road Championships
The Wellington 5km and 10km Road Champs are the last of the big interclub races for the season. They are an excellent opportunity to run a fast 5km or 10km time with a large pack of runners to pull you along. They are 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.
4 October: NZ Road Relays, Feilding
17 January: M*A*S*H Backyard Ultra
The mission is simple: run 6.71km every hour, on the hour, until you can’t go on. The second edition of the M*A*S*H Backyard Ultra takes place over Wellington Anniversary Weekend – kicking off 9am, Saturday 17 January. Directed by General Fiona Hayvice, it’s a battle of endurance packed with camaraderie, chaos, and the kind of challenge you’ll never forget.
Keep in touch:
- If there is anything you want to be added to the Scottish Newsletter or if your results have been missed, please email us at wellingtonscottish@proton.me
- If you want to contact anyone about anything, your first port of call is our club captains, Meg and Joel and our club president, Andy Ford.
- Public Facebook page and join the Scottish member Facebook group here.
- Website
Notes about results and upcoming events
- If you want your event added to this newsletter, contact us by Sunday evening.
- We’ll publish an event or a result and what makes it special if we’re told about it. So let us know what you, your friends, family members and teammates are up to. It is especially important for coaches to let us know when your athletes are attempting and achieving their goals.
- If you don’t want your name published in the newsletter or on the website, please let us know so we can omit you from the results.
| Lifestyle Sports is a long-term supporter of Wellington Scottish, providing us with sponsorship in various forms and offering our members a 10% discount. Their store is located in Outlet City in Tawa, near the exit from SH1. They sell discounted running shoes for adults and kids, along with other running gear, and will make special orders – all with our 10% discount added on. If you shop at Lifestyle, please mention that you are a Wellington Scottish member. Let them know that we’re good customers! Lifestyle Sports on Facebook |
| Wellington Scottish have partnered with physical therapy practice Rehab Co., to help keep our runners on the roads and trails, doing what we love to do. More information about this new partnership, including how to book appointments is on our Scottish website. |