Easy marathon success for Wayne Gladstone

Press, 23 April 1984, Page 16

Easy marathon success for Wayne Gladstone

Wayne Gladstone, of New Brighton, easily won the annual Mount Hutt marathon which finished in Ashburton on Saturday afternoon. Be made a mid-race surge which took him steadily clear of lan Riley (N. 8. and a post entry, Kevin Craig. Riley, who had run with apparent ease up to the 30km mark, suffered from blisters and he was forced out of the event at the 33km point. Be and Gladstone had the previous best times for a marathon with Gladstone at 2hr 27min and Riley at 2hr 30min. Craig was the surprise packet. Be ran along comfortably with the other two until Gladstone split the bunch. That trio worked clear, almost from the gun, with R. Grant (Toe H) and G. L. Neill (Christchurch) also being prominent in the early stages. By Methven, however, the pattern of the race had emerged. Gladstone ran through the

10km mark with Riley on his shoulder and Craig parked in behind. There was a gap back to Grant and more gaps to Neill, P. A. Tutty (St Martins), Richard Rood (Ashburton), M. Bawes (Sumner), J. B. Souter (Timaru), P. D. Roulston (Waimate), and B. Ramsay, another post entry. They were the only runners in with a chance. The rest stuck to their pre-race plans with the aim of finishing the testing course, which features long straights and a drop of 300 m in altitude. It is a course which calls for good pace judgment, and Gladstone displayed the necessary skills. Be was always inside his personal best time. When Riley pulled out with blisters, Craig was always going to finish second. At 15km, the front three were nearly three minutes clear of Grant, with another 30 seconds back to Hawes and Neill. At the finish, Gladstone had

close to four minutes on Craig, and there were substantial gaps to the next individuals. Twelve runners bettered three hours for the distance. Results: W. L. Gladstone 2hr 27min 455, 1; K. Craig 2:31.18, 2; M. Hawes 2:37.27, 3; S. Watts (veteran, Nelson) 2:38.04, 4; G. Hughson 2:39.07, 5; J. B. Souter 2:44.07, 6; B. Ramsay 2:45.31, 7; D. Lygre (non-registered) 2:47.26, 8; J. Galavaz (N. 8. 2:48.20, 9; P. A. Tutty 2:55.26, 10; D. L. Fenn (veteran) 2:55.43, 11; P. D. Roulston, V. R. Johnson (Wigram), and M. J. Anthony (N.R.) also bettered three hours. The half marathon which was run in conjunction with the marathon, features Chris Tobin, of Timaru. He made a one-man race of it with a Ihr 4min 18s time. He confused many with the early burst which took him at least 1 kilometre clear of his nearest rivals with about 10km to run. Many thought the runner in

the distance was out on a short training run. All the other favourites were in the chasing bunch, but made no effort to pull him back. Tobin had an amazing seven minutes up his sleeve as he sped to the line. He looked fresh and full of running. Peter Crosby (Ariki), who won the marathon last year, led in John Gamblin (Ashburton) in the race for second. Judith Stewart, of Ashburton, was the first female home, and she too opened up a huge gap early to lead in Jeanette Holland (Ash) and A. E. Daniels (Olympic). Results: C. Tobin 1:4.18, 1; P. G. Crosby 1:11.4, 2; J. D. Gamblin 1:11.10, 3; G. J. Russell (Aorangi) 1:12.49, 4; V. G. Smith (Varsity) 1:13.09, 5; S. M. Taylor (Olympic) 1:13.49, 6; R. J. Van Rossen (V) 1:13.54. 7; R. L. Holland (Auckland University) 1:14.19, 8; G. T. Williams (Aor) 1:14.39, 9; B. A. Kilgour (Ash) 1:15.19, 10.