John Earles runs through Macandrew Bay on his way to first
in the men's section the Dunedin marathon yesterday. Photo
by Stephen Jaquiery.
Patience paid off for Dunedin student John Earles as he
won the Dunedin marathon yesterday in just his second attempt
at the distance.
Earles' first attempt at the long distance was at the
off-road Motutapu event in Wanaka in March.
"I had a terrible race," he said of his Motutapu effort.
"I did three and a-half hours. It was sort of motivation for
this one to try and put a good time together as I knew I had
under-performed in that one."
Earles (26), a PhD chemistry student, won in a time of 2hr
48min 10sec.
He took a level-headed approach to the race around the Otago
Harbour and appeared content to settle into second place
behind Tom Hunt and not worry about the fact he was getting
away from the field.
At the 10km mark, Hunt held a 35sec lead over Earles which
blew out to 2min 18sec at the 20km mark.
"I just tried to set my own pace and not think about it too
much," Earles said.
"It was a beautiful morning to do it.
I just tried to soak it all up and let the legs do their own
thing and let the mind wander.
"That works until about the 30km and you really start to feel
it, and then the focus kicks in. And you actually have to
tell yourself to keep moving and count down the kilometres
and really push yourself."
Earles was aware that around the 35km mark Hunt began to
cramp up and, 1km from the finish, there was heartbreak for
Hunt when Earles cruised past him.
"With 2km to go, I saw his little red tag, so I went for it,"
Earles said.
Earles admitted to feeling slightly guilty at not wearing his
own red tag, signifying he was in the marathon and not the
half marathon.
"I thought it would be a bit stink if I just ran past him
[Hunt] and pretended to be a half-marathoner," Earles said.
"So I said, `Hi, how's it going?' to acknowledge him."
Hunt, who had held the lead from the start and was aiming for
a sub-2hr 40min time, said afterwards it just was not his
day.
Earles plans to take it easy for a while now and look towards
next year's Peninsula Challenge.
Meanwhile, it has been a long battle but Sarah Chisnall
appears to be over a stress fracture in her foot.
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.