Price eyes swag of titles in 50th celebration

Turning 50 in late April has been celebrated in style by Masterton athlete Tony Price and if he has his way the celebrations are a long way from over yet.
Wins in the 50yrs plus age group at the Rotorua marathon, the New Zealand half-marathon championship and the Dorne Cup Wellington cross country event have been recorded by Price in the last six weeks or so, and there could be more to come.
Currently in his sights are the national cross- country, road running and marathon titles in the same age group as well.
For Price it's very much a case of taking full advantage of being at the "young end" of the 50yrs plus division.
"I've gone through a period where I've been pretty much the oldie so it's nice to be seen as the youngster again,"he said.
Success in long distance races is, of course, nothing unusual for Price who has won the DB Wairarapa marathon title on no fewer than 10 occasions.
And he showed that the 42kg event still holds no terrors for him by registering an impressive time of 2hrs 47mins 22secs at this year's Rotorua marathon, not only taking out his age group title but finishing in the first 10 overall.
Price had all of two minutes to spare from his nearest rival in the 50yrs plus grade at the New Zealand half-marathon championships held in Christchurch with his time of 1hr 15mins 9secs being right up to expectations and placing him 23 rd on the list of finishers.
"They went pretty quick early on and perhaps I should have conserved my energy a little bit more then ," Price said. "The last couple of kilometres were tough going, I probably dropped a few seconds there."
Victory in his age group also came comfortably for Price in the Dorne Cup cross country event held at Trentham. Confident that his fitness would stand him in good stead he was prepared to apply the pressure from the word go and his finishing time of 29mins 1secs won him his title by more than one minute.
That success earnt Price a place in the Wellington team to contest the North Island cross country championships in Taupo.He will compete in the 45yrs plus age group though and concedes that another medal-winning performance there might be too much to expect. ":Those young fellows might just be too slick", he quipped.
Meanwhile, Price was by no means the only Athletics Masterton representative to fare prominently at the Dorne Cup with many of the younger members, in particular, taking the limelight.
Stevie Paine repeated her 2005 effort by winning the girls under-11yrs title and Tom Quinn placed fifth in a highly competitive under-11yrs boys grade.
The tenacity of Molly Creagh enabled her to take third placing right on the finishing line in the girls under-13yrs event and Holly Travers was an impressive second in the girls under-9yrs race..
Athletics Masterton results:-
4km walk: Carol McDonald 32mins 44secs 9, John Eccles 34.49 13, Leanne Leighton 38.30 16.
Boys under-11 2km: Tom Quinn 7.26 5, Kurtis Paine 8.27 19, Conor Creagh 10.34 37.
Girls under-11 2km: Stevie Paine 7.35 1, Natasha Campbell 8.55 12, Melissa Hansen 11.09 25.
Girls under-16 4km: Corrina Paine 16.05 6, Vicky Paine 17.36 17, Katlyn Campbell 19.25 27.
Boys under-13 3km: Jamie Campbell 11.53 15.
Girls under-13 3km: Molly Creagh 11.54 3.
Girls under-9 1km: Holly Travers 5.31 2.
Open men 8km: Graeme Tindall 34.47 45.
Men 35-39yrs 8km: Mark Eagle 29.55 12, Gavin Graham 31.52 30, Malcolm McDonald 35.03 51, Roman Travers 35.58 59, Mike Wilkinson 36.16 61.
Men 50yrs plus: Tony Price 20.01 1, Brian Sanders 33.38 11.