North Shore Times (New Zealand)
Race day ‘exuberant’: Round the Bays team
A celebratory icecream was a well-deserved treat for the three North Shore team mates who completed the 8.4 kilometre Ports of Auckland Round the Bays run, March 5.
The North Shore Times has been following Shepherds Park Squash Club’s Martin Kent, Paul Cornish, Brian Woodward and Dennis Waru through training.
The group combined personal training sessions at Glenfield Leisure gym, with squash-related fitness, walking and surfing in the lead-up to the event.
With the race now behind them, the group can enjoy some downtime.
Paul Cornish described the event day as ‘‘exuberant’’, and overall the event has helped the culture of the squash club team.
‘‘Gym training is so personal,’’ Cornish said. ‘‘We are backing each other to do well as opposed to squash when we are hoping each other will lose. Now, we even share books with each other.’’
Cornish said that while he prefers sports over the gym, the personal trainers at Glenfield’s leisure centre were really supportive.
‘‘It was the combination of sports and training that got me in really good shape,’’ he said.
Dennis Waru, 63, who set out to use the event as a way to lose weight, said the event has made him stronger and fitter.
‘‘I didn’t realise those muscles were in my body,’’ Waru said.
‘‘I’ve set my own goals and I am going to continue to pursue them, even now after the event is finished.’’
Martin Kent said the carnival atmosphere on the day was great and while he still hasn’t managed to beat either Dennis or Paul at squash, he thoroughly enjoyed the training aspect for the event.
Kent crossed the line third out of 276 competitors from his age group 60-69, with a time of 38 minutes 44 seconds.
His bronze placing was the best result for the group.
Cornish came 32 out of 878 in his age group 50-59, with a time of 39 minutes and 16 seconds.
However, he says that at age 59 he is at the back-end of the age group.
‘‘Next year, 60 could be my year,’’ he said.
The overall winner on the day was Jonathan Jackson, with a time of 26 minutes 5 seconds.
More than 30,000 took part in the event.