Race #77

It is usual for the first race of the season in the Stroke & Stride Series for the water temperature to be the talking point. But for this season’s first race the water temperature was the least of the competitors’ concerns. With the weather man issuing a high wind warning of gale force plus a heavy rain alert as a low pressure system passed over New Zealand, Auckland’s Waitemata Harbour was far from its sparkling best as waves crashed and the spray flew throughout the day.

Fortunately for the hardy souls that fronted up to do battle with their competition and the elements on this stormy afternoon the wind direction was such that the cliffs overlooking St Heliers Bay provided enough shelter for a 500 metre swim course to be set that avoided the full wrath of the elements.

The prevailing conditions for the swim leg may even have been of assistance to the participants as some impressive times were recorded and the occasional swimmer was lucky enough to catch a small wave to body surf the final few metres into the shore. 500 metres is not really long enough to break up the field to any great extent but was still enough to allow Juliet Tompkins to gain a small break over the women’s field when she reached the beach. The men’s field started their race 10 minutes later and it was Chris Williams who lead a stream of men into the transition.

The 5 kilometre run to Mission Bay and return was to prove to be a game of two halves with the first half being lots of fun with a 40 knot wind pushing you towards the turnaround cone. The second half is perhaps not quite so enjoyable as your friendly tailwind just turned into a dastardly headwind and teams up with the salt spray crashing over the sea wall to ensure that the return journey to St Heliers bay is just a bit of a grind.

With a kilometre to go the women’s competition had come down to a three way race. Marisa Carter had been joined in the lead by Heidi Alexander while just behind Nicole Cope had just about erased her 60 second deficit after the swim. As they ran up the beach to the finish line it was Nicole who had got past to take the lead and first place just meters ahead of Heidi and Marisa. Third and fourth placings were also engaged in a ding dong battle over the final kilometre with Kirsty Whiting just out sprinting Debbie Tanner at the finish.

Clark Ellice had worked his way to the head of the men’s field by the run turnaround and showed his strength into the wind on the return extending his lead to start the season with a resounding victory. The win was especially satisfying as this was Clark’s first ever win in a Stroke & Stride. James Morgan and Chris Williams provided the excitement in the men’s race with James holding out Chris by just six seconds at the line. James Elvery is another to show a big improvement from last season getting up for fourth ahead of Steve Nicholls.

It’s not surprising to have lots of new faces on show at the start of the season. What is surprising is the young age of the majority of those faces dominating the season opener. The average age for the top 15 finishers in the women’s field was only 20 years while in the men’s field the average age for the first five across the line was just 18 years.