Runners race the Kingston Flyer during the second Race the
Train event. Photo by Christina McDonald.
Defending champion Oska Inkster-Baynes recorded a clear
win over both the Kingston Flyer vintage steam train and his
closest rival, Daniel Balchin, yesterday.
The 21-year-old Wanaka athlete finished the Race the Train
12km in 38min 9sec, well ahead of the train's time of nearly
an hour.
Despite the sizable lead, Insker-Baynes said this year was a
lot tougher because of the faster competitors.
An achilles tendon injury four months ago meant the week
immediately before Race the Train event was his first ''100km
week in a long time''.
Having matched Inkster-Baynes for 8km of the race, second
placegetter Daniel Balchin, originally from Dunedin, said
finishing within a minute of Inkster-Baynes
was ''not too bad''as he had raced the Lovelock Mile in
Timaru on Saturday, where he also finished second - by 0.06
seconds.
His legs were ''feeling it today'' but he just ''could not
resist'' giving Inkster-Baynes a bit of competition and
running the unusual race.
With clear skies and the mercury in the mid-20s, Balchin said
it was ''pretty hot out there''. Thijs Hubber was third man
home.
Olympic triathlete Nicky Samuels (Wanaka) surprised herself
when she won the women's ' 12km race, coming home ahead of
Joanne Saxton and Renee Saxton.
The race featured a 5km and 12km division in which
competitors raced parallel to the train in a bid to beat the
locomotive.
Organiser Adrian Bailey, of Active QT, said about 300
competitors raced, down a little on the inaugural race last
year due to the Kingston Flyer being out of action for almost
a month.
Inspiration for the event was drawn from the original Race
the Train in Wales, Mr Bailey's home country, and he expects
the race to grow in popularity.
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