Classy Calder wins senior title

Athletic Whangarei's Ian Calder out-classed the combined senior and masters' runners in the Northland cross-country championships, taking the senior title over the 7.5km course on Saturday.
Sprinting strongly down the final straight, Calder finished the Barge Park course over short, steep hills in 27 minutes and 18 seconds, well clear of clubmates Tim Goodwin - the winner of last week's two-day marathon - who finished second in 27m 50s, Mark Turner who finished third in 28m, 18s and Tom Andrews, who came home fourth in 29m, 06s.
Calder, 52, said he decided to contest the senior men's title, rather than the 50-54 year masters' title on Friday, "when I read the preview of the championships in the Northern Advocate and it said that the rules allow masters to run up a grade, but we can only qualify for one title". Hatea's Greg Morris led the masters' men home in 30m, 30s, with 60-year-old Fred Needham of Whangarei, in second place in 31m, 12s and Chris Seeley, also of Whangarei, third in 31m, 52s.
In the combined 5km race - including senior and masters' women, under-20 men, and under-17 women and men - Hatea's recent under-17 recruit, Harry Linford, gave a stand-out performance, taking first place overall in 19m, 16s and heading off Northland's top woman, Whangarei's Ady Ngawati by seven seconds and under-17 runners Travis Connelly of Whangarei - who had 17 Weet-bix for breakfast - by 39 seconds and Sam Bridge of Wellsford, by 1m, 53s.
Fourteen-year-old Linford has just started competing in running events, but participates in a variety of sports.
Linford said: "I've always liked running ever since I was little, but I've only recently started competitive running this year with Hatea Harriers, about three months ago. My coach is Lindsay [McKendrick] who trains me on Thursdays. Recently we've been doing speed work."
His fitness comes from other sports, too. "I'm doing kick-boxing on Mondays, on Tuesday I do a pack run with Hatea, Wednesday I'm playing soccer for my school, Thursday I do coaching with Lindsay and Saturday I run races."
The under-17 road championship later in the season promises to be an exciting, closely fought competition for Linford, with the inclusion of Whangarei's James Edwards and Cam Shelley, who were competing in the New Zealand Secondary School Cross Country Championships on Saturday, rather than the Northland event. Also expected to be included will be a fully-fit Ethan Carter - who suffered an injury early in Saturday's race.
In the 2.5km combined girls and boys under-12 years and under-14 field, Imogen Hull demonstrated her running prowess once again, confidently taking the overall win in 10m, 7s, ahead of under-14 runners Amanda Still, second in 10m, 23s, Megan de Klerk, third in 10m, 25s, Ashlee Greenhalgh, fourth in 10m, 40s Lewis Miller, boys under-12, fifth in 10m, 41s, and Rachel Edge, girls under-12, sixth in 11m, 7s - all from Whangarei.