Southland Harriers eNewsletter

Kart Sport 5km Championship

86 Runners took part in the 3rd annual Kart Sport 5km Championship on Saturday.

Runners supporters and volunteers gathered together on the grass verge of the track under the winter sun. Families lined the the final straight cheering on their runners, lap by lap, and trust us those cheers really count!! It was always the vision for Kart Sport to not only be a fast personal best course but also a great spectator venue, and this year with the sun shinning (to start with), that is exactly what it was.

There was plenty of banter about the fantastic weather, in comparison to the rain and wind of the previous two years. The organizers were a little more cautious, with heavy rain and wind predict to make its appearance at 3pm, and unfortunately our final three runners finished in typical Kart Sport style (in the wind and rain).

To all non-club members who attended, thank you, we loved having you there and wish the weather had held on a bit longer for more post-event shenanigans, but you cant argue with mother nature, and that weather turned quick. We hope to see you all again this season and maybe even wearing a club singlet in the future.

Thank you to all the club runners who stayed around for trophy and certificate ceremony, it means a lot to the volunteers, who set up and support the day to have you all there. I am sure the finish line doughnuts and hot milo helped.

The Under 12's and 10's started the day off with 3 laps of the Kart Track, completing 2kms. These junior runners are made of tough stuff, and everyone of them left everything out on the track. The Ah Kuoi siblings Mahli and Kye were the first male and female to cross the finish line to the cheers of the supporters, both will be strong contenders for the 5km trophies in the a few years!!

The finish of the day over 2kms was Archie Davies and Rylan Griffiths in there yellow St. Paul singlets. Archie put the pressure on towards the end of the last straight, rounding the corner hot on Rylan's heels, however Rylan dug deep crossing the finish line a second before Archie. It was great to see so many new runners join us, and hopefully we get you all in a club singlet before next years event.

The 5km Championship start line was stacked!! A sea of club singlets, and strong un-registered runners. Most well-known and part of the larger Southland running community. With 68 runners taking part, self seeding was essential, with the young and not so young guns, setting themselves up for trophies and placings from the start.

Cayden, Hunter, Dwight, Sagar, and Hudson led all runners into the first straight, after 3 tight corners. Kart Sport may be a PB course but it is not a simple course. With plenty of tight corners and such a large field of runners, it also needs to be run strategically. Tough race strategy choices would have had to be made by the top runners, male and female vying for the trophy.

As the kilometers ticked by, and the sea of runners spread out around the course, it became obvious the it was going to be Hunter, Dwight and Hudson battling it out to finish line.

Congratulations Hunter 5km Male Southland Athletics Champ!!

The female race was also one to watch, with Charlotte taking the lead early and holding on to that spot over the 5km distance. With strong running seen this year from other contenders, Lilly, Kimberly and Freya, the next top placings were hard to predict, with Kimberly (Leith) coming in 5 seconds after Charlotte, then Lily in third.

Congratulations to Charlotte 5km Female Southland Athletics Champ!!

SOUTHLAND ATHLETICS AGE GROUP PLACINGS

Under 14 Female- 1st Frey Gilmour, 2nd Holly Hall, 3rd Laykn Ah Kuoi

Under 14 Male-1st Sean Iversen

Under 16 Female- 1st Charlotte Hawkes, 2nd Lilly Wiegersma

Under 16 Male- 1st Hunter Flowers, 2nd Craig Jnr Iversen, 3rd Brodie Mcilwrick

Under 18 Female-1st Charlotte McVicar

Under 18 Male- 1st Hudson Roy, 2nd Cayden Sanginit, 3rd Logan Jordaan

Under 20 Male- 1st Floyd Keach-Lowe

Senior 20-39 Female- 1st Paige Grieve

Senior 20-34 Male- 1st Hunter Gough, 2ndSagar Khemani, 3rd David Perry

Masters 35-49 Female- 1st Debbie Landreth, 2nd Aimee Hall, 3rd Nicole Jackson

Masters 35-49 Male-1st Dwight Grieve, 2nd Bobby Douglas, 3rd Kelvin Meade

Masters 60-79 Female- 1st Debbie Telfer

Master 50-69 Male- 1st John Wallace, 2nd Bruce Thomson

Masters 70+ Male- 1st Gary Kirkman, 2nd Evan McIntosh

Masters 70+ Female- 1st Linda Te Au

Thank you to every volunteer who made the event possible. An extra big shout out to the finishing line team. Lillian and Henry are amazing timers, Issac, Kate and Grant who managed the finish line chute, Joe and Noelle for recording names against numbers, and Carla for Webscorer recording.

We look forward to seeing everyone again next weekend at Miller Farm, until then stay cozy, but then again a training run in the rain never hurt anyone.