Athletics: Weather great help for half marathon

Only 10 seconds could separate the top three female runners in the ACC ActiveSmart Whangarei Half Marathon, with Aucklander Helen Turner pipping Northlanders Carolyn Younger and Corinne Smith.

For the trio of runners, competing in what was largest ever Whangarei Half Marathon and 9km run/walk with 862 competitors, it was a sprint to the finish with Turner coming out trumps by four and 10 seconds over Whangarei's Younger and Kerikeri's Smith. Turner's victory came in one hour, 37 minutes, and 31 seconds.

Meanwhile, in the men's division, Whangarei doctor Tom Reynolds came out on top by nearly a minute and a half over his training partner, and fellow doctor, Matthew Morreau.

Reynolds', who comes from an adventure racing and multi-sport background, win came in one hour, 21 minutes, and 28 seconds in what was his first ever on-road half marathon.

After the race, Reynolds said he felt the wind was a big factor coming back in from Onerahi where he made his big move, with 5km to go, and managed to gain a minute on his training partner Morreau.

Sport Northland's Colleen Atchison said yesterday's half marathon was a huge success, adding she thought they had got lucky with the weather after Saturday night's thunder.

"It went really well," Atchison explained. "It would have been pretty hard for the runners because they would not have been able to train in heat. We were so lucky with the weather after the thunder overnight."

She said hopefully the runners were helped with the bits of entertainment along the half marathon track.

This year's marathon is the first time the event has featured so-called 'pace runners' who set the pace at selected times to assist runners wanting to complete the half marathon in a specific time.

Starting and finishing on the Canopy Bridge at the Town Basin, the 21.1km half marathon course featured a loop course to Onerahi which included the new Te Matau a Pohe bridge and the Waimahanga Track.

The 9km Run/Walk course took participants through Whangarei's stunning River Track at the base of Mount Parahaki before continuing along Whareora Road and then Paranui Valley Road via AH Reid Park.

Men's top 10 finishers:

1 THOMAS REYNOLDS 01:21:28

2 MATHEW MORREAU 01:22:53

3 SEBASTIAN FAHSOLD 01:25:19

4 ROGER STEVENSON 01:25:20

5 SIMON BAGGULEY 01:30:33

6 TIM BRYANT 01:31:30

7 ANDREW COOP 01:32:26

8 ANDREW MUIR 01:33:27

9 JAN DANILO 01:34:06

10 SIMON PAGE 01:35:09

Women's top 10:

1 HELEN TURNER 01:37:31

2 CAROLYN YOUNGER 01:37:35

3 CORINNE SMITH 01:37:41

4 RUTH HUTCHINSON 01:38:47

5 REBECCA MALLEY 01:40:03

6 DEBBIE SMALL 01:44:01

7 KIRSTY HAMLIN 01:45:06

8 SELENA WALLACE 01:46:32

9 LEIGH RUDDOCK 01:48:02

10 SHANNON FARGE 01:50:36