Southland Harriers eNewsletter

Race 7 Shoe Clinic Series-Bluff Hill

18 Runners Participated In This Event

6 Volunteers Assisted In The Set Up And Running Of The Event

With many of our regulars away this weekend running the Dunedin Marathon, it was a small but hardy group that took on Bluff Hill on Saturday. The weather was stunning, and the runners stretching and warming up at Stirling Point attracted the eye of the odd tourist stopping for a quick photo.

The brief was simple, 18 runners starting out at 30 second intervals, straight to the top, chasing the runner in front of them, and trying to out run the one behind. For some the track is well known, and this was a definite advantage, but in the end it was Lachie Fraser who was the fastest to the top in 14 minutes 47 seconds. Congrats Lachie, this will now be the record to beat in the years to come. The rest of us sweated, skipped, and slogged our way the top, and were rewarded by fantastic views of Stewart Island and Foveaux Straight.

Thank you to all the volunteers who helped set up and running the timing, we couldn't do it with out you.

Spot Prize Winners: Tim Sutton and Ian Densie.

Annual General Meeting

Thursday, October 10th@7pm-St. Pauls Club Room

ALL WELCOME

We have had an amazing Harriers Season this year, and the committee have been an outstanding group to work with. As some may know, we struggled to feel some of the positions last year, and they will need to be filled this year. If you think you have a few hours a month to spare to help us run the Harrier Season, or just want to find out more about what happens behind the scenes, please come along to this years AGM. Feel free to contact Nicole at 02102938237 if you have any questions or email southlandharriers@gmail.com

Thank you Craig Iversen for a Dunedin Marathon Report

The Dunedin marathon featured quite a few Southlanders this year. Jason Rusell, Andrew Horton, Bryan Stout and his son Ethan. Queenstown Athletics Archie Ritchie, stalwart marathoner Bill Richardson, recent Southland Harriers runner Josefine Taube and myself all lined up for the biggest one, 42.2km The Marathon.

In the Half Marathon, there was Kimberley Iversen, Jackie Blay, Jude Deaker and Linda Te Au in a huge field. In the 10km there was Lewis Blay and CJ Iversen lining up for strong efforts. The 5km run had Hudson Roy, Sean Iversen and Fionn Fortune-Harris and his Dad Stuart in attendance. No doubt there were probably several others I've missed.

The weather and wind were as good as could be hoped for and the course was pretty harbour-centric and scenic. The courses were all mostly flat, except for the Marathon which had some good wee rises here and there throughout the first 27km. There's always tough opposition in these huge events with over 3,000 people across the combined fields.

The Southland crew of runners had some excellent results. n the
Marathon. I managed to beat all Otago runners home and take out the
Otago Championship, alongside being the incumbent Southland holder, not sure how often that might've happened. Jason Russell ran an excellent2hr 56 PB off some top training recently and Andrew Horton had a massive40+min PB with his 3hrs 20. Bryan Stout crossed the line with the exact same time as his son Ethan which was a good team effort.

In the Half Marathon, Kimberley Iversen ran a strong 1:22:42 PB and led most of the way until being overtaken by Megan McKay of Hill City
University with about 4km to go for 2nd senior woman home in the end. In the 10km, Lewis Blay and CJ Iversen had an epic battle for the first Jnr home with Lewis edging CJ out by 3s. In the 5km, Hudson Roy ran a nice sharp race for 3rd place overall, while Sean Iversen was first U12 runner.

Race 8 Shoe Clinic Series-Waihopai

Date: 28th September 2024

Where: Waihopai, end of Racecourse Road.

Time: 2pm start, please arrive early for sign in.

Registration: only if you have not already registered for the series https://www.webscorer.com/register?raceid=347741

With only the St. Pauls Half Marathon to come this event will be the final Harrier organised run for the 2024 season. The last hurrah, the grand finale, a fun, friendly event for everyone!!

Lets Celebrate: Dress up event, no theme, just something to make things a bit of fun, and our amazing course designer Ian Densie will have something special up his sleeve for us all to test our metal on.

Afterwards we will gather at the St Pauls club rooms for a shared tea (please bring a plate) and a final prize giving. Don't forget you need to be present to be in to win the bonus $50 shoe clinic voucher.