Record fields for half marathon
Phil Costley and Elina Ussher took out the feature titles as record fields converged on Saxton Stadium for Sunday’s 37th edition of the Nelson Half Festival of Running.
Over 600 runners and walkers lined up to take on a personal challenge ranging from 2.5km through to 21.1km with courses stretching from Saxton Stadium as far north as Monaco and to Headingly Lane to the south along the coastal path networks. A short shower of rain did little to dampen the festival atmosphere.
The Give Back to Schools initiative, where entrants nominated a school to receive a portion of the entry fee, resulted in over $5000 being raised for schools, kindergartens and playcentres throughout the Nelson-Tasman region. Richmond School, Waimea College, Henley School and St Joseph’s School proved to be the most popular amongst the nominations.
While the focus was on completing the event, there was still plenty of competition amongst those looking to be the first back to Saxton Stadium.
Costley set the pace in the half marathon clocking 1hr 13min 45sec in a solo run, while Ussher had to contend with some serious challengers before eventually breaking away to claim the women’s win in 1hr 32min 8sec. She finished 10th overall.
The 10km saw a real tussle between youngster, Luke Clatworthy and evergreen Paula Canning as they headed into the stadium neck and neck. Over the final lap in the stadium, Clatworthy mustered a sprint that Canning couldn’t match and he pulled away for the men’s title in 39min 36sec with Canning claiming the women’s victory 11sec later.
The 5km and 2.5km fun runs attracted entrants aged from three to 83 who began their journey with a lap of the stadium before looping around Saxton Field and completing another lap of the stadium to claim their medal from local Nelson Giants players, Sam Dempster, Riley Benseman and Ali Granger and multisport legends Richard and Elina Ussher.
Matt Bowen took out the men’s 5km event in 18min 14sec, with Emily Dalton the first woman home, finishing fourth overall in 21min 27sec. Flynn Mackie won the 2.5km fun run in 14min 1sec, 51sec clear of the leading female runner, Mia Cain-Townley, who finished sixth overall.
Dave Leahy and Terri Grimmett were both credited with the same time of 2hr 32min 4sec in winning the respective men’s and women’s half marathon walk titles. Barb Pauling won the 10km walk in 1hr 9min 21sec, 28sec clear of Bevan Cook.
Paige Cregeen (34min 34sec) led home the 5km fun walkers and Elliott English (21min 48sec) the 2.5km fun walkers.