2021 Scottish Centennial Cup Island Bay Wellington Sat 20 Mar

 

Sierra Ryland, winner of the Centennial Cup for 2021 

Results

The first Scottish Wellington club race of the start of the 2021/2022 season usually brings out reasonable numbers, and while I didn’t notice it somebody suggested that attendance was light.

But as we know some may be focusing on other events, as it is normal to pick and choose what running races to participate in and there doesn’t seem to be any lack of choice.

So back to the event which is basically an out and back 5km race starting on the Island Bay Esplanade with the turnaround somewhere close to Lyall Bay. But starters should be grateful the course for this race was not on the old Le Gaye course which included one extremely steep and long hill to climb.

The Centennial is a sealed handicap race meaning that to win the trophy a person would need to complete the race in a time better than what the handicapper predicted. 

This year the winner of the Centennial Cup was Sierra Ryland who did better than the next contender, Brett Hawthorne by some seconds. These two were the only ones to do better than Mr Turner foreshadowed.

The stiff south-easterly wind coming off the ocean may have had some impact on times but a more likely explanation is that Mr Turner did not have enough up-to-date info about recent performances by participants to make the best judgment about likely times. 

But what the hell, it doesn’t really matter when Sharon has baked a special cake for the occasion.

But to conclude, the overall fastest time was recorded by Ben Twyman as the first male home with Amanda Broughton grabbing the fastest time for the women.