Gaya Gnanalingam heads to the finish line during the Port
Chalmers to Dunedin road race on Saturday. Photo by Peter
McIntosh.
Gaya Gnanalingam (Leith) joined a select group when she
became just the fourth woman to take line honours in the
109-year-old Port Chalmers to Dunedin road race on Saturday.
The annual handicapped race was opened to women for the first
time in 1982. Sue O'Sullivan (Hill City, 1983), Ros Dowland
(Caversham, 1985) and Kerry Rowley (Caversham, 2010) have won
outright since then.
Gnanalingam, an age-group representative in hockey for
Wellington, attended the University of Otago between 2004 and
2007 and played hockey for University before returning to
Wellington.
She returned to Dunedin earlier this year for her master's
degree, and put hockey aside to pursue her love of Dunedin's
scenic tracks and trails, joining the Leith Harrier Club.
New to the local harrier scene, she was not sure what to
expect in Saturday's Port Chalmers to Dunedin event.
"I thought it was all run along the main road," she said
after the race.
"It wasn't until yesterday I found out it was mostly on the
old road."
She was unsure how she would perform in the event, although
one or two of her clubmates had voiced their enthusiasm at
her 7min handicap.
From the start, Gnanalingham appeared comfortable and to be
running within herself, handling the hill sections with
apparent ease.
She first became a prospect on the run down from Roseneath,
having reduced her handicap by 5min to be just 2min behind
the front markers. By St Leonard's, she was just 40sec away
from the lead.
Hitting the front at Burkes, she felt "a little lost", but
rather than let it play on her mind, she decided to keep
going and see what happened. All she hoped for was "no more
hills".
By Maia, she had opened up a lead of 1min 33sec, which in the
end was enough to hold out the fast-finishing Shauna Pali and
Gene Sanderson, as she crossed the finish line in Butts Rd in
an actual time of 57min 19sec.
Pali was second, recording an impressive 50min 1sec, while
Sanderson clinched his first open men's title, finishing
third on the line and recording an actual time of 51min
58sec.
Despite a number of masters age-group titles, Sanderson (57)
was pleased to have finally achieved his first open title,
given the high number of top results he has achieved since
taking up running as a sport 15 years ago.
"Guess that's not a bad result for a broken-down old jockey,"
he joked at the finish.
Sanderson was forced to retire as a jockey after falling from
his mount in 1978 and fracturing his skull.
Fastest-time honours were achieved by Daniel Balchin, who
clocked 43min 33sec. Pali was the fastest open woman.
A name, residential address, and (preferably residential) telephone number is required from readers who comment on ODT Online. These details will not be visible to site visitors.