Two-time Rotorua Marathon winner Scott Winton showed his class with a runaway win in the Wilkinson Trophy race. Winton, who won in Rotorua in 2006, also featured in a sensational finish at the 2009 Rotorua Marathon, taking the lead when Rotorua man Steven O'Callaghan - exhausted but running the race ofhis life - crashed to the ground just six strides short of the tape. In Saturday's 10km race over a deceptively easy-looking out-and-back course from Kaipara Flats, Pakuranga's Winton powered ahead, finishing in 32m 12s, well clear of second-placed Takapuna's Josh Rawlinson, who recorded 33m 42s. "It was a good hit-out for me - it's not a dead flat course - I was reasonably happy with the time," Winton said.
Whangarei's 52-year-old Ian Calder, fresh from the Oceania Championships in Tahiti, where he won the 800m, 1500m and half-marathon golds in the 50-54 age group, ran strongly for third. In the under-20 race, Whangarei's Travis Connelly, showing the benefit of Lindsay McKendrick's coaching, handled the 10km well, taking first place. Cam Shelley (Whangarei) outclassed the under-16 field on an out-and-back 3km hill course, finishing in 11m 14s, well clear
of Whangarei's Scott Still, in 14m 07s, and Wellsford's Liam Heaven, in 17m 16s. Running with her customary determination, Janice Powell scored a well deserved win in the women's 10km in 47m 39s, ahead of Judith Bradshaw and Annette Murray, in third. Whangarei's Amanda Still took out the under-16 women's race ahead of her sister Kelly Still, while in a closely contested under-12 race, Wellsford's Zoe Illingworth defeated Whangarei's Rachel Edge and Takapuna's Sarah Burkitt. Honours in the masters' age-groups went to - 35-44 years Women: Jeanette Meehan 1. 40-49 Men: Chris Weeks 1. Women: Powell 1. 50+ Men: Calder 1, Geoff Glass 2, John Kent 3. Women: Bradshaw 1, Murray 2. The 10km walk proved popular, with Darrin Heaven first, Michael Vicks second and Grant Connell third in the men's section, and Christine Heaven first, Jan Robertson second and Catherine Connell third in the women's section.
