Race #29

Race #8 in the Aleeda Stroke & Stride Series with a 1500 metre swim and 10 kilometre run that doubles as the 1993 New Zealand Swimrun Championships

The final race in the Aleeda Stroke and Stride Series doubled as the New Zealand Swimrun Championships and attracted top athletes from both New Zealand and overseas.

Commonwealth Games swimmer and series leader Brent Foster soon set the pace in the 1500m swim and had a two minute lead as he headed out on the 10km run over a two lap course along Auckland’s waterfront.  Next to exit the water was a large pack of swimmers including Canadian Frank Clarke, Switzerland’s Chris Mauch, the USA’s David Turner and local speedsters Stuart Blake, Martyn Birch and Paul Amey.

Foster held onto his lead for the first 5 kilometre lap but Clarke and Mauch’s superior run speed enabled them to take the lead during the second lap.

The women’s field was a showdown between the sports two best swimmers, Megan Robertson and Marisa Pentecost, up against its two best runners, Heidi Alexander and Sue Clark.

Robertson and Pentecost made quick work of the 1500m swim and had a handy lead in the early stages of the run but again the runners come through over the final kilometres.  On the final hill Clark pulled ahead of Alexander to take the New Zealand Championship by only 11 seconds with Robertson holding onto third over Pentecost.

The Age Group competition was also hotly contested with in some cases less than 30 seconds between the first three finishers.

Multiple World Champion Tiare Lund (45-49 years) added another New Zealand title to her collection two weeks after finishing the ironman.

The Tri-Fit Sportswear Grand Prix was decided over the eight race series with double points awarded in the final race and the final standings are:
1   Brent Foster             124 points

2   Stuart Blake               90 points

3   Paul Amey                 88 points

4   Martyn Birch             86 points

5   James Morgan          81 points

1   Megan Robertson    127 points

2   Sue Clark                  125 points

3   Heidi Alexander       118 points

4   Leanne Service         82 points

5   Marisa Pentecost      71 points