‘Mystery man’ wins 5000 m in track upset

Press, 17 November 1980, Page 21

‘Mystery man’ wins 5000 m in track upset

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ROD DEW

“I had a hard week of training, but I thought it was about time I found out what I could do,” said Allan Sinclair, of Timaru, after his upset win in the inter-club senior 5000 m at Queen Elizabeth II Park on Saturday.

Sinclair, virtually unknown among Canterbury athletes and officials before his run, had too much strength for such worthy opponents as Tom Birnie (New Brighton) and Tony Good (Olympic). He pulled away from Birnie over the final two laps for a comfortable win in 14min 33.25.

Birnie, a former New Zealand 1500 m champmn, was second in 14min 37.55, and Good, who is perhaps better suited to even longer distances, was third in 14min 51.65.

The race quickly developed into a three-man tactical battle between Good, Birnie, and Sinclair. However, nobody expected the Timaru visitor to last the distance. As the ISps rolled by and Sinclair was still with the leaders, spectators and officials started to become interested. But nobody could identify the “mystery man,” who further confused matters by wearing an Ashburton singlet. Good was the first to fall back, and then Birnie began to fade, leaving the newcomer to gain his first 5000 m win at the park. “I have waited for that for a long time,” said Sinclair afterwards. “I was hoping for about 14min 30s, and I am well satisfied with my time in these (windy) conditions.” Sinclair’s win was the climax to three years of injury and disappointment. Two years ago, just when he felt he was making progress, ' he fell out of a tree and; broke his back in two places. “It has been a long time coming right, but I still seem able to run okay.” i His aim now is to try and : convince the Canterbury se- i lectors that he deserves a : nomination for the Pacific Conference Games trials at Auckland on December 13 ; and 14. . He considers his main ' event to be the 1500 m , but accepts that at this stage his i only chance of selection is in the 5000 m. He realises ■ that he will have to run a lot faster yet to gain a trial, and expects to return to' Christchurch next Saturday to run in the inter-club 1500 m.

“The track here at Queen Elizabeth II Park is the best

in New Zealand. I don’t con- ' sider it to be a great hardi shin to drive 100 miles so i that I can run on it,” he • said. Formerly of Ashburton 1 but now 'living in Timaru, ' Sinclair continues to run as a member of the Ashburton qlub. The event billed as the fea- . ture of the meeting, the senior 800 m, developed into another fine struggle between the two arch-rivals, Richard . Goldstone (Old Boys), and Andrew Stark (University) Goldstone led practically the whole way, and had enough strength left to' hold off a late challenge from Stark. However, Goldstone was disappointed with his winning time of Imin 50.25. “I fount the first lap very hard, and the wind did not help at all. But 1 would rather run that time and win than run a faster time and get second.” Goldstone’s coach, Paul Davies, said later that he had expected a time of Imin 48.55. “On the basis of his 1500 m and 400 m times he is capable of faster than this. The wind was a factor; there is no doubt of this.” Stark, although suffering his first defeat at the hands of Goldstone in more than a year, was quite satisfied. “1 thought it was reasonably good in the conditions. The : times put Richard and myself first and second in the New Zealand rankings, and I find it hard to complain about i that.”

Stark's time for second was Imin 50.55. A former New Zealand 800 m champion, Bruce Hunter (University), was third in Imin 525. Stark will content himself with a 400 m run next Saturday. Goldstone has elected to race in the 1500 m, _ but does not expect great things. He will spend much of this week supervising 65 pupils from Linwood Intermediate School at a camp at Purau.

At least part of the limelight was stolen from 'the senior competitors on Saturday by junior athletes. Bill Boyd (Papanui-Red-wood) gained rather more than a murmur of appreciation from those who stayed to watch late in the day when he cleared 2.02 m in the under 18 high jump. This broke the New Zealand colts record, held jointly by Terry Lomax (Canterbury) and Chris Trab-

ing (Otago), by two centimetres.

> It was a splendid perfor- ; mance by a jumper of great promise. And ft was achieved after a small upset which 1 might well have halted a les- ’ ser athlete. Boyd originally J asked for the bar to be put at 2m so that he could equal . the record. He cleared this, but when it was re-measured ’it was found to be only ’ 1.99 m. ! Undaunted, he immediately [ requested a height of 2.02 m ( and cleared it at his first at- , tempt. j Another New Zealand jun- . ior record fell in the women’s ' 3000 m. The time of 9min . 45.7 s which Sue Bruce (New Brighton) set in finishing J third in the senior race was ■ 2.8 s faster ’than the New Zealand junior record she set in February. A 16-year-old student at Villa Maria College Miss Bruce is aiming for the 3000 m and road race at the New Zealand secondary school championships at Hastings next month. The race was won by Anne-Marie Keown (Univer sity) in the smart time of 9min 40.6 s from a clubmate, Wendy Molllson. In the senior high jump, Kieran McKee (Toe H) became the third to clear 2.04 m in the high jump in New Zealand this summer. He now shares top ranking with Lomax and Andy- Wells (Toe H). McKee was also in good form in the pole vault, winning this with a vault of 4.40 m. Several South Canterbury visitors featured prominently in the results. Among them was Tom iaird, who won the senior javelin with a solid throw of 55.60 m. ( However, once again it , was John Slapylton-Smith (Toe H) who took the main honours in this event. Competing in the junior contest, be recorded a best throw of 66.36 m. Guy Mayell (Old Boys) maintained his recent goou form with a comfortable win over Hamish Riach (Old Boys) in the demanding 3000 m walk. His time was a praiseworthy 14min 8.5 s Khalid Mohammed (University) was another to shine. His time of i5.4s in the 110 m hurdles was most/ impressive, earning him a'! nomination for the Pacific Games trials.’

Val Young (Technical) had her work cut out to stay ahead of her. young rival. Jan Bishop (Technical), in Loth the shot and the discus. Mrs Young recorded 44.4 m in the discus, but Miss Bishop was close behind with an excellent throw of 44m, In the shot Mrs Young’s winning effort was. 13.84 m. Miss Bishop was second with 13.78 m.

In the under-18 grade, Debbie Chase (Papanui-Red-wood) realised a little more of her considerable potential when she set a new Canterbury under 16 record of 37.54 m in the discus. The throw also won her the under-18 competition.