Australian men dominated in soggy conditions today, but the kiwi women were on top
in a Middle Distance event at Stillwater today which was a World Ranking event as well
as event 4 of the Superseries.
This was in spite of winner Dave Shepherd starting 40sec late. In a break from tradition the assembly clock showed race time instead of reporting time and the start official wasn't calling missing people; which resulted in a number of runners who were ready nearby missing their starts. Shepherd took off only a little late, but another runner missed out entirely and had to wait 20min for a vacant slot.
Shepherd was followed by fellow-Australian Eric Morris and Scandinavian Anders Axenborg, with the top kiwi man Chris Forne in 4th. Then came three more Australians and Dane Carsten Jorgensen, sporting a neat patch on his forehead covering stitches from yesterday's injury at Carrington. Two more kiwis filled out the top 10 of the quality field of 40, 24 of whom were within 10min of the winner.
On the other hand Tania Robinson won the womens race, albeit by a single second from Canberra's Jo Allison. But then followed twins Rachel and Rebecca Smith, and also in the top 10 were three more kiwi women and temporary kiwi Piret Klade, from Estonia. The field of 26 was the best seen in NZ for a while, with half running within 10min of Robinson.
Tania Robinson now has a lead of 17 points over Rachel Smith, while Chris Forne has overtaken Karl Dravitzki and is 5 points ahead. MacNut Northerners gained the highest team score of 34 and is still in the lead, but Bivouac Southerly Storm (32) gained some ground on Central Magic (15). Results have been loaded. The series continues with a multiday-distance race (winning time 70-90min) next Saturday at Waioneke in Woodhill Forest.