A sleepless night was not on the cards for Albany St resident Callan Moody in his preparation for winning the half marathon title yesterday.
Moody (21), a physical education student, admitted he was tempted to join party-goers in his neighbourhood on Saturday night, but opted instead to stay focused on his race.
Moody was greeted with a hearty cheer from supporters who had gathered to witness him enter the finishing chute on Watson Park triumphant.
From the start, Moody became involved in a three-way battle for the lead with national masters mountain and road champion Glen Ferguson and national junior 10,000m champion Tony Payne.
The three remained deadlocked until 1500m from the finish when Payne drifted from the pace of the leading pair.
The sprint that Ferguson discovered in winning a national road title last weekend deserted him as he and Moody kicked into a sprint finish 400m out.
Moody crossed in 1hr 13min 39sec, with Ferguson second just 4sec behind, and Payne third in 1hr 14min 22sec.
"That was tough; that was so tough," Moody said of his victory.
The victory completed a mixed season for Moody, who won the Edmond Cup steeplechase in June before having "a shocker" in the Otago cross-country.
"I just wanted to redeem myself a wee bit," he said.
What made Moody's victory even more impressive was that it was his first half marathon.
He said he was using the event to build a base for his specialist 1500m.
Moody was full of praise for Payne, who he knew was carrying an injury.
Moody also admitted to being nervous with Ferguson snapping at his heels.
"Glen is always going to make it tough. I just had to focus and hope he didn't come shooting past me."
Kellie Palmer withstood a strong challenge from Louisa Andrew to win the open women's section of the half marathon.
A girls weekend attracted Palmer back to Dunedin and another opportunity to run the half marathon section of the event.
Palmer made a break on Andrew at the 15km mark and maintained her authority to finish 40sec clear in 1hr 23min 56sec, with Barbara Roy third in 1hr 29min 7sec.
Palmer (25) found the Back Beach section near the finish the toughest part of the course.
"You think you're at the finish, but you still have about 3km to go."
Palmer will now focus on her preparation for the national road relays at the beginning of October, before focusing on the 5000m for the track and field season.
