Helen Chignell
Hill City runner Helen Chignell joined a select group of
women who have taken line honours in an Otago open handicap
road race when she won the Brighton to Green Island race on
Saturday.
Chignell decided to use the 10km event, which is run as an
open interclub race every five years by the Caversham club,
as part of her build-up for next month's 100km event in
Naseby.
She was also inspired by son Oliver's victories in age-group
races held around Brighton.
When handed what she thought was a generous handicap of 10min
30sec, her initial approach was to cruise and see what
happened, but the presence of Kylie Batten (Taieri) quickly
caused her to change her tactics.
Batten made her intentions clear with some aggressive running
over the unforgiving terrain, and she overtook front marker
Helen Collins (Hill City) on the rise through Waldronville.
Chignell tried to stay with Batten, who was surging away on
the uphill but falling back on the downhill.
As Chignell overtook Collins at the top of the rise at
Waldronville, she used her strength on the downhill to
overtake Batten and pull away, and crossed the finishing line
25 seconds clear of second-placed Batten in an actual running
time of 47min 22sec.
Chignell, a Dunedin doctor, is no stranger to road races,
having won the women's section of the Port Chalmers to
Dunedin race four years ago.
She also won the women's section of the 80km race associated
with the Naseby event last year.
Bill Houston (Ariki) overcame a disrupted start to finish
third overall and lead the men's field across the line.
Houston recorded an actual time of 45min 30sec from a
handicap of 44min.
Anna-Lisa Uttley (Hill City) gave the 1987 course record for
women of 35min 50sec a fright, when she finished just seven
seconds shy of the mark.
Uttley, who will compete in the 3000m at the Youth Olympics
in Singapore next month, recently returned to Dunedin to
further her education.
A nagging headwind perhaps put paid to any real threat to
Alan Thurlow's 1977 record of 29min 36sec, but Bevan Stevens
(Caversham) nevertheless backed up his Edmond Cup victory by
recording an impressive 30min 56sec, 23 seconds clear of
clubmates Daniel Balchin and Tony Payne.
There was an impressive performance from Rosie Robinson (Hill
City), who race-walked the course in 50min 28sec.
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