After yesterday’s heat, the change to rain today felt almost pleasant when running, although maybe not so much in the arena. Thanks for putting up with it and sticking around for prize-giving!
Knottingly offered steeper, softer terrain with a fair bit of fallen timber to hop over, but at least it was largely free of blackberry! The tiring, physical courses and subtle contour detail made for challenging races, and planner Yvette Baker set long legs such that it was almost impossible to make use of the forestry track network for a burst of speed.
Lizzie and Zefa continued to dominate the forest today with first places in W21E and M21E. Kaia Jorgensen started a little slow but picked up speed, gradually eroding Lizzie’s lead but not quite able to catch up. She ended up in second by about a minute and a half, and Renee Beveridge was third by roughly the same time. In M21E, Matt Ogden led the first half of the race but was overtaken by Zefa Fa’avae in the second half, ending up second by 90 seconds. Joseph Lynch was under a minute behind that in third.
In the individual ANZ Challenge, the Kiwis made the most of their home turf advantage, winning 49-17 and taking home the Challenge Cup. The fate of the Brown Memorial Trophy will be decided at the Parewanui relay tomorrow. Where Lizzie is most definitely out of contention, as she’s the planner!
Find out how everyone got on. Note that these are the complete results, so they include all competitors including international competitors who are not eligible for Oceania awards.