Champ shows style in fun run

Northland road running champion Tim Goodwin showed his class when he took first place by a lengthy margin in this year's Chilltech Beach 2 Basin Whangarei 9km Fun Run.
Goodwin, who ran with a broken thumb in a cast extending up his wrist, finished well clear of Michael Bird in second place, heading off 556 runners in the 9km section of Sunday morning's run, from the Onerahi Yacht Club to the Town Basin.
"The cast is pretty light so it doesn't slow me down much, but it gets pretty hot under there," Goodwin said. "But it wasn't too bad."
Goodwin took the lead after about 500m - when some younger runners who "took off like they do" began to slow - and he didn't see anyone else after that.
"It was quite good for running actually, not too hot. The Waimahunga Track was a bit muddy and slippery in places, but it's a nice flat course," he said.
First woman Ady McKenzie (nee Ngawati) finished well up in the field ahead of most of the men and well clear of her sister, Leigh Ruddock, and Carolyn Younger.
"It was good - hard - I'm not race-fit, but I got pushed by Tim and Mike so that was good," McKenzie said. "But Sam Warriner inspired me yesterday [Saturday] by winning the Iron Man," she added.
Ruddock, an accomplished runner, knew she didn't have the speed to match her younger sister. "I tried to keep her in my sight and I could see her till the Waimahunga Track," she said.
But Ruddock fought on, holding her lead over Carolyn Younger.
In the 5.7km run from the Onerahi Tavern to the Town Basin, James Edwards ran a sound tactical race to take first place, just heading off Dave McDonald.
"I passed everybody and went into the lead about 500 metres from the start and then I heard footsteps behind me at the bottom of the hill and a guy came next to me, so I ran with him and sprinted him off at the end," Edwards said.
Amanda Still took major honours in the women's 5.7km, comfortably clear of Rachyl Edge in second place and Wynne Meyer, third.
The first five men and first five women in this year's Chilltech Beach 2 Basin qualify for points on the women's and men's Mizone Leader Boards - championships introduced to cater for the more competitive runners in Sport Northland's run/walk series, culminating in Fullers' GreatSights Kerikeri Half Marathon.
With 2004 entrants, the Chilltech Beach 2 Basin is a huge event. It was Whangarei's biggest annual sporting participation event, Sport Northland's chief executive Brent Eastwood said.
As well as 557 entries in the 9km run, Sunday's event attracted 798 in the 5.7km run, 624 in the walks and 25 in the pram walk.