Lia Bezett (nee Bacon) proved that absence certainly makes the heart fonder when she won the prestigious Ness Cup handicap mile race at the Caledonian Ground on Saturday.
A teenage running sensation in the early 1990s, the Dunedin occupational therapist has spent the past two decades in the athletics wilderness after winning numerous national age-group and secondary schools titles in middle-distance track and cross-country competition.
She returned to running competitively in early October to contest the 5km section of the Hill Free Half Marathon, where she came first in her age group, finishing second overall in 20min 19sec.
A great result, considering her previous 5km race was 22 years earlier.
''I did it as a play around, just to see if I could still run,'' she said.
''I thought, that was OK, so I decided to come and have a wee flirt with the track just to see what happens.''
But Saturday's race was a different beast altogether, calling on all her competitive nous from the early 1990s.
Bezett (40) submitted a mile time of 6min 15sec, which she thought to be ''a bit bold'', considering her time to be closer to 6min 30sec.
She was then handicapped to start from the 50sec mark.
Gym work and low-level jogging had been her only form of exercise over the past 20 years, a time of university studies and work intermingled with marriage and starting a family.
Saturday's warm-up involved a late-morning dash to buy a pair of running spikes.
Then, having thought the race was earlier than the 2.50pm start, she had plenty of time for contemplation after arriving at 12.20pm.
''I read the programme wrong. Story of my life,'' she quipped.
''I've been at uni, living my life, having kids, and I thought `right, let's see if I've still got it'.''
Her decision to return to running cross-country and track was not taken lightly.
''I've talked about it with my husband [Sam Bezett], because with three children [Olivia (7), Emma (4) and Eden (1)], it takes a bit of a family commitment. It's not just about me.''
Admitting to not being that skilled with her pacing, Bezett took the lead in the second lap after a brisk start.
She then held a steady pace over the remaining two laps to cross 3sec clear of second-placed Jenna Thorne (Hill City-University), with Andrew Smith (Caversham) third for the second consecutive year.
Bezett recorded an actual mile time of 5min 58.30sec, Thorne 5min 51.44sec and Smith 4min 51.96sec.
Sam Bremer (Hill City-University) clocked the fastest mile time, 4min 22.27sec.
''At the moment, I would like to join one of the clubs if there is one that will pin itself to me,'' Bezett said of making a serious return to track and cross-country.
Thorne (15) is a member of the Otago Girls' High School volleyball team that recently won the South Island secondary schools tournament, and is a specialist over 1500m and 3000m.
Other highlights from the meeting were:
• Taine Te Whata (Winton) won the junior men's javelin with 41.25m and recorded a personal best in the shot put to finish second with 12.06m, with strong performances also in discus and long jump. Te Whata also attended an under-17 Highlanders development camp yesterday.
• Mayce Ballantyne (Taieri) won the hammer throw with a personal-best 45.17m. Todd Bates was another in the hammer competition to show good early-season form, winning the men's competition with 53.79m.
• Rory O'Neill (Ariki) won the 100m and 200m double, clocking 11.35sec for the 100m and 22.65sec for the 200m.
• Andrew White (Hill City-University) showed no mercy in the open men's 400m, cruising through effortlessly to clock 47.18sec in his first race of the season. White will be in the thick of top competition early next year when he contests three ''track classic'' meetings in Australia in February and March, working these in with the New Zealand championships.
• The 5000m proved to be a battle of the Js, with Jonah Smith (Caversham) heading off the challenge from Jason Palmer (Leith) over the final 200m in a toe-to-toe battle, to stop the clock at 16min 4.08sec. Palmer recorded 16min 7.30sec in finishing second.
• The King's High School 4x100 relay team of Jack Addis, Josiah Lesa, Max Aitcheson and Sam Gouverneur proved they will be a force at next Saturday's national secondary schools championships in Timaru, winning interclub competition on Saturday in an impressive 46.42sec. Earlier in the programme, Gouverneur won the 400m in 51.97sec.
Ness Cup
What is it?
The Ness Cup comes complete with a large ornate cabinet and was originally presented to P. J. Ness in 1888 for winning a mile aggregate. He retained the trophy in 1889 and 1890, the three consecutive wins giving him ownership of it. It remained in the Ness family until it was presented to the Otago Centre in 1934 for a mile handicap race, contested originally on or around Anzac day during the halftime break of a football match at the old Caledonian Ground, South Dunedin. Due to its historical significance, Athletics Otago retains custody of the trophy.
