Hawkes Bay Marathon and Half 2022 Results
Well, it was also a busy weekend with lots of Hawks out and about at events around the country – First up, the Hawkes Bay Marathon where over 5000 athletes took park across all distances! The marathon was won by local Rotorua boy Michael Voss in a course record 2:24:02, followed by Hiro Tanimoto (2nd) and Sam McCutcheon (3rd)…with Ingrid Cree taking out first woman in 2:49:34 just ahead of Hannah Oldroyd in second, and Karen Donaldson-Barron in third.
There were 3 Hawks in action in the marathon that I could see and they each did amazingly well…!
Garit Read 2:29:40 4th Overall 3rd M30-39
Peter Moorfield 2:56:47 26th Overall 3rd M40-49
Yasmin Campbell 3:37:15 109th Overall 5th F20-29
In the half marathon, Liam Dooley won the men’s in 1:10:56 ahead of Darian Sorouri in second and Mike Robinson in third. In the women’s race Genevieve Coffey took the win in 1:23:16, ahead of Sophie Dickson (2nd) and Abbey Macfie (3rd)
Also, 3 Hawks in action in the half were:
Harry Coles 1:20:16 19th Overall 9th M30-39
Rhys Mildon 1:27:36 48th Overall 17th M30-39
Chloe McDaniel 1:41:39 224th Overall 17th F30-39
Awesome results all round….! And we are very spoiled this week with Yasmin also providing a race report of her day out!
And for those interested, the full results are available <<here>>
Hawkes Bay Marathon: Feel the fear and do it anyway!
By Yasmin Campbell
I am a serious culprit of the Patagonia logo-esque mileage weeks on Strava. (Link to said graph) I’m either trying to push big weeks or I’ve got a niggle that’s stripped back my kms.
Due to these undulating blue bars, I’ve had some commitment issues about signing up for a marathon, it seems as soon as I’ve clicked ‘register’ in the past, my ITB thinks it’s a sign to flare up, or my calf muscles to seize. So this year I waited, I did some occasional 30k+ runs over lockdown and a small number of speed work sessions thanks to Graham and the Hawks, but didn’t want to temp fate by actually committing to a marathon training plan.
However, a few weeks ago before a Tuesday speed session outside the club, I overhead a discussion about upcoming races. The Hawkes Bay marathon came up, so I piped up…
“I’ve been thinking of doing that…”
“The half?”
“No, the full!” (At this point the race was three weeks away)
Anxious looks were exchanged across the group. Graham gives me some words of wisdom “You can bull^%#t a half, but you can’t bull^%#t a marathon”.
Later that night I’m reading stories about people ticking off ultra-marathons and other huge challenges. I also get thinking about people like Kerry Suter who are facing real challenges. And suddenly the marathon seems like a walk in the park.
So as soon as I see a post from someone selling their ticket due to a bout of illness, I buy it. No turning back now.
I wouldn’t quite say this was a marathon with no training, I am (probably like everyone that reads this newsletter) mildly obsessed with running and seeing how far I can push myself. It’s more the fact I hadn’t completed a training plan or refined my nutrition.
C goal: Finish strong and be able to fathom entering another
B goal: Under 4 hours
A Goal: As close to 3.30 as possible
After two weeks of furiously googling tips and tricks to make race day go well, and a touch of the taper crazies, I arrived in my hometown of Hawkes Bay for one of the most memorable weekends I’ve ever had.
The gun goes off, and I’m focused on ‘relaxing and rolling’ and a multitude of other race mantras I’ve read to ensure I start slow, so the last half of the race is manageable. No less than 5kms in, a fellow runner runs up to me and hands me a gel I dropped a few minutes before. Excellent start. But also how good is our community of runners.
Until half way I’m enjoying having chats with other runners and high-fiving the kids that are standing in the cold with some very cute signs “I can’t believe you’d run all this way for a free banana!” (Try a glass of wine at the Elephant Hill finish line).
My partner Matt meets me multiple times which gives me bursts of energy, I even got to face-time my dad just after the halfway point for a quick bout of encouragement.
I stop looking at my watch at the halfway point and just decide to enjoy it as much as possible, the incredible scenery of Napier, Clive and then into Haumoana was one of the highlights of the race and made every corner worth it. The race was by far one of the most memorable ones I’ve ever had, every quick chat with a runner and every volunteer handing out drinks made me feel so grateful to be able to do an event like this and I know I’m hooked.
Eventually I was on the final stretch past the Haumoana shops and crossed the finish line in 3.37 (Garmin telling me 3.36 so I know what I’ll be claiming). I finished strong and so happy that everything had gone to plan. Without a doubt it was hard and pretty painful, but I’ll always be grateful to be able to run and to have my little support crew to help.
If anyone reading this has been contemplating a marathon, just book it – it’s not as scary as you might think, just plan your nutrition well, be as conservative as possible in the first half and enjoy it! (And try not to drop your gels in the first 5k).
‘Till next time…
Happy running and stay safe!
