Athletics: Thompson conquers peaks for fourth time

Competitors in the Three Peaks race leave Chingford Park yesterday morning. Photo by Gerard O'Brien.
Competitors in the Three Peaks race leave Chingford Park yesterday morning. Photo by Gerard O'Brien.

Dunedin physiotherapist Stafford Thompson overcame a busy workload and family life to win his fourth consecutive Three Peaks title over the summits of Cargill, Swampy and Flagstaff yesterday.

The 33rd edition of the popular annual mountain run was held for the first time in the opposite direction, something keenly embraced by the 234-strong field.

The change appealed to Thomson, who, along with Jonah Smith, broke away from field on the run up from Chingford Park to Mt Cargill summit.

But Smith struggled on the run over to Swampy and Thompson had opened up a sizeable lead as the field crossed over Flagstaff for the run down to Woodhaugh, crossing to finish at the camping ground in 2hr 7min 42sec.

Chris Bisley and Jamie Gardner benefited as Smith battled cramps on the run down from Flagstaff, and finished second and third respectively.

Bisley clocked 2hr 18min 22sec and Gardner 2hr 18min 51sec.

Mel Aitken crossed to win the open women's title, still full of running, in 2hr 29min 23sec.

After recovering from an injury late last year, Aitken has notched up eight victories from eight races so far this year, and it appears there is no stopping her yet.

Her eyes are on the New Zealand marathon championships in Rotorua at the end of the month, followed two weeks later by the New Zealand mountain running championships in Queenstown.

Second in the open women's section was exchange student Erzsebet Nagy, from Maine, in the United States.

Getting to bed at 1am yesterday was no deterrent to Tecwyn Evans, who after a handful of hours' broken sleep, lined up to contest the event for the first time.

He was in town as guest conductor for the 50th anniversary concert of the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra at the Town Hall on Saturday night.

He completed the course in 3hr 53min 56sec.

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