Club run:
On Saturday , the medium pack went down Butts Road and along Anzac Avenue, before crossing the railway line at St Andrew Street. We then continued along Thomas Burns Street and Wharf Street towards the harbour. Next, we pulled off at Kitchener Street to the outside of Watercooled sports and along the Kitchener Street reserve- where the upcoming Otago 10km Road championships will start and end. We followed this course, along Portsmouth Drive, until the Andersons bay inlet- at which point we turned around. The return leg was largely the same, however, we ran along Fryatt Street doing two-minute tempo bursts before crossing the water of Leith using the new bridge at the end of Magnet Street. We hugged the stadium before exiting back down Butts Road and back to the clubrooms. It was a beautiful (if perhaps a bit hot) day with really enjoyable company. It was particularly nice to have a newcomer to the club, Conal, joining us! We had a wonderful time and were unanimously glowing about the Otago 10km Road Championships course which promises to make for an exciting race.
Tom led the scenic pack and Bruce led the walkers pack.
NZ National Road Relays
In the weekend our senior men represented Hill City-University at the New Zealand Road Relay Championships. A big thank you for the support from Hill-City University and the committee.
The team consisted of Josh Baan, Oli Chignell, Jacob Priddy, Russell Green, Jared Monk, Ollie O’Sullivan, and Logan Slee.
The HCU team were lucky to be put up by Josh Baan’s parents in some pretty awesome accomodation (this was massively appreciated by the whole team). We travelled the course in the team vehicle to get an appreciation for all of the challengers to come. The team had a relaxed meal on the evening before the race and had some good discussions of logistics and tactics for race day.
Leg 1 – Josh Baan:
Josh Baan (still recovering from being sick) dug deep and had a great performance on leg one. He worked and commanded the leading pack behind Andy Good (Canterbury University), in a very well controlled performance. His leg contained a final hill section that was one of the toughest segments of the day.
Leg 2 – Oli Chignell
Oli Chignell demonstrated his pure class and composure on this relay leg. He was voted by the team as having the performance of the day (and received the HCU relay baton as a result). Oli ran the longest leg of the relay and was only 15 seconds outside the record. He also recorded fastest time on his leg. His performance was a demonstration of pure master class running, where he mowed down a number of athletes and put 50 seconds into Hamish Carson (Wellington Scottish). Oli Brought HCU into third place and a commanding position.
Leg 3 – Jacob Priddy
HCU used Jacobs strength on what we considered probably the hardest leg of the relay. Jacob continued our strong start to finish his leg with HCU still in 3rd place. He took time out of a number of teams and provided a great buffer for our final runners in the team. Jacob recorded one of the fastest lap times on his leg.
Leg 4 – Russell Green
Russell had a great run on leg 4. He demonstrated that he has a huge amount of strength to go with his raw speed. This was a longer race for Russell that he usually races, but that did not impact his performance at all. He recorded one of the fastest lap times and continued HCU through in 3rd place.
Leg 5 – Jared Monk
Jared returned to the racing scene in style. It has been 18months since Jared has raced after suffering a serious injury and surgery. However, his experience and speed were demonstrated on his leg. Jared also recorded one of the fastest leg times and showed his impressive speed out kicking a competitor in the final 200m before the finish line. A very impressive run and return to the racing scene.
Leg 6 – Ollie O’Sullivan
After I was lost during the warmup I eventually made it to the start line with a bit of worry for the team mates. My tactics were to start slightly easy and work hard from there. The leg was undulating and climbing, followed by a steep downhill in the last KM (this couldn’t have come sooner). Team support was a massive motivator and helped me continue my focus throughout the race. Was a really tough run and finished with noting left. This was where we were caught for 3rd place and moved into 4th position.
Leg 7 – Logan Slee
Logan had the final leg of the race and smashed home the final leg back into fielding. He was struck with some unfortunate luck when his shoe lace came undone, but this didn’t slow his determination over the final stages where he finished out the relay with a really strong performance to finish the relay with Hill City- University finishing 4th in a performance we can all be proud of.
Celebration team shot post finishing fourth
This week we have a morning club run with two options. The club room will open at 7:00am. We will leave the club rooms at 7:30am for a warmup and an 8am park run start. Runners can meet at the club rooms or at the start of the park run. Please bring your Hill City Singlet for the run. Option two is group runs from 7:30am at the club rooms. Breakfast and coffee will be served after the park run.
Next week 18/10/20 we have the Otago 10km road champs and Hill City 5km. Please see the attached links to the event.
