2018 North Island Masters T&F Champs Newtown Park 23-25 Nov

The Javelin Ladies

Results 

This event over 3 days was a relaxed affair, more social than competitive. But as you would expect records fell and personal bests were achieved. The weather was kind with little wind although there was rain on day 2 (Saturday) for a short period.

One noticeable thing was that older athletes are less likely to run than they are to jump or throw. Consequently track events seemed to have fewer entrants than the field events but of course there were some athletes who tried everything.  

In the throwing department there was an event not normally seen at garden variety T&F meetings, and this is the “weights throw”.  It seems to be a cross between the shot-put and hammer except the metal ball attached to a short wire is much heavier – up to 15.88kg for the 30-49 men which drops to 4kg for the 75 plus women.  

From a track performance perspective it was interesting to watch Levi Timar trounce Nick Horspool in the 3000m. Nick assured me it was not faked so there is no ball fixing scandal for the media to write about. 

In the same 3000m race Stephen Day and Andrew Wharton had their usual battle with Andrew getting the bragging rights. Stephen told me before the race he has never beaten Andrew on the track.  I thought he had.

On the Saturday, Mark Tinkle broke the high jump record for his age grade group. I think he got to 1.80m which is actually higher than any of his early season jumps. The story here is that you need to deliver your best possible performance when it counts.

Observations:

This meeting was well organised. The official printed programme was excellent and packed with a lot of useful information.

Wellington Mayor Justin Lester ran the 3000m and was lapped. Is this an omen for the outcome of the 2019 local body elections?  

Day 1 Photos

Day 2 Photos 

There are no Day 3 photos from me