‘‘It was all a blur’’, Dunedin man Glenn Sutton said after winning New Zealand’s longest running race at the weekend.
‘‘Just sort of unfolded. It went pretty quick to be honest. But it’s still hard. It’s always hard.’’
Sutton won the 200km section of the Great Naseby Water Race with a time of 22hr 10min 53sec, almost four hours ahead of the next competitor.
Sutton is no stranger to such distances, having competed in 13 ultramarathons and slogging a more-than-400km run from Haast to Dunedin in May.
With the help of good conditions, he performed better than he expected.
‘‘The weather was perfect. The track was great and it was quite warm during the night. I ate well and drank well.
‘‘My legs are shot, but that’s to be expected.’’
A total of 120 people ran the loop track outside of Naseby in sections including 200km, 160km, 100km, 80km and 50km.
The longest events began on Friday morning and all ended by Saturday evening.
Fifteen entrants did not finish their nominated distances.
Organiser Jamie Sinclair said a warm night and mild day made for perfect running conditions.
‘‘The track was really good and people didn’t overheat too much.’’
200km: Men: Glenn Sutton 22hr 10min 53sec, 1; John Bayne 27hr 23min 41sec, 2; Charlie McNally 28hr 39min 39sec, 3. Women: Heather Barnes 33hr 6min 25sec, 1; Sally Nicoll 36hr 3min, 2.
160km: Men: Robert Loveridge 17hr 0min 52sec, 1; Adam Keen 18hr 16min 48sec, 2; Steve Pemberton, 19hr 22min 32sec, 3. Women: Wendy Fallon 20hr 55min 13sec, 1; Ali Barbara 21hr 11min 35sec, 2; Cheryl Symons 26hr 1min 56sec, 3.
100km: Men: Ian Masterton 10hr 48min 35sec, 1; Jacob Smyth 13hr 12min 17sec, 2; Shane Tebbutt 13hr 21min 39sec, 3. Women: Miriam Beleski 13hr 56min 48sec 1.
80km: Men: Scott McRodden 9hr 41min 8sec, 1; Luke Smyth 10hr 16min 21sec, 2; John Simkiss 11hr 11min 45sec, 3. Women: Toni Smith 9hr 0min 3sec, 1; Trish Knox 10hr 27min 3sec, 2; Tania Fairburn 10hr 46min 10sec, 3.
50km: Men: Nathan Jones 3hr 52min 32sec, 1; Michael Puller 4hr 26min 46sec, 2; Micheal Beck 4hr 47min 13sec, 3. Women: Angela Hawke 4hr 42min 55sec, 1; Sarah Davidson 5hr 3min 31sec, 2; Abby Noone 5hr 44min 31sec, 3.
jono.edwards@odt.co.nz
