Tuesday 18th November

Apologies for such a huge gap in updates. Plenty has happened so a quick summary below.

On the 6th September was the Greta Valley relay - Richy ran lap 6 again taking nearly 30s off his own lap record.

Two weeks later was the most famous Road Relay in New Zealand - the Takahe-Akaroa. After 4 runner-up placings in the last 4 years and the UC club not having won it since 1985 the lads were pretty keen to rectify the situation and they did. After a close tussle with Toc H over the first few laps UC pulled away to win by just over 4 minutes. Gus ran lap 4 (2nd fastest), Ning lap 5 (fastest time), Matt lap 6 (fastest time) with Richy (fastest lap) anchoring the team home and, in fact, running through the rest of the field to take line honours. This set the team up superbly for the National road relay (NRR) 2 weeks later in Dunedin...

October 4th was the NRR on a new course around Mosgiel and 3 Mile Hill in Dunedin. UC were the defending Open and B grade champions with Ning, Richy and Matt selected for the A team and Gus and Dave K in the B team. Dave C ran the first lap for a composite UC team with Guns running for the Ariki A team. Ning ran a superb first lap establishing a big lead over closest rivals Pakuranga with Ariki's Luke Hurring just outsprinting him for line honours. Richy swept us into the lead on lap two taking fastest time honours on the way. Matt (who had been sick for two weeks) held the lead as Pakuranga started to make inroads. he handed over to Thijs Hubber who also maintained our place before Sam Wreford extended the lead up 3 Mile Hill and then Kim Hogarth put it beyond reach on the downhill handing over to Rowan Hooper with a 2m30s lead which he held to the finish for a repeat victory and some very happy team members!

In the B grade Gus and Dave K both had good runs but the team couldn't quite hold on to Ariki B finishing 2nd in the grade. Dave C led his team into first by over 2 minutes on the first lap for the composite grade and the team eventually finished 2nd. Guns' Ariki team were the surprise package on their 'home' course holding 3rd place until 1/2 way through the last lap before eventually finishing 5th.

Two weeks later Ning and Richy headed to Auckland for the Barry Curtis 10k race finishing 5th and 4th respectively.

Then on the 1st-2nd November Summer Camp Motley was held at Hanmer Springs - in attendance were Ning, Richy, Gus and Dave C along with Barry Ellis, Taryn Beattie and Johanna Ottosen and of course the full Motley whanau.

On the 7th November some of the Crew attended the Sport Canterbury Winter Sports Awards as the UC NRR winning team were nominated for team of the season with team member Rowan Hooper up for Sportsperson of the season and Craig up for Coach of the season. Unfortunately the Crusaders rugby team and their coach and star player took out each of these categories but the team and Coach Craig both made the finalists in their respective categories.

Now it is mid November and all are fully into build-up for the upcoming track and field season with racing set to commence in mid December. keep checking for more updates.

Wednesday 27th August

The UC A team successfully defended the Round the Gorges title (3rd year in a row) with Dave K, Ning, Richy and Matt all taking fastest lap times. Dave C and Gus also ended up running tempo efforts for their teams. In Alexandra, Guns ran a huge PB over 10k in the annual Clyde to Alex road race. He recorded 32m28s - a great result.

Monday 18th August

Good results at the National XC with Ning finishing 6th and Dave C 29th. Both were members of the winning Canterbury Senior men's team. Matt finished 2nd in the Governor's Bay 10km race in a time of 31m13s.

Last Saturday was the Canterbury 10km Road championships. Matt finished 3rd in 31m30s with Dave C 7th in 33m36s just outside his PB.

This weekend is the Timaru Round the Gorges Relay where the UC A team won the National title last year. This time around it is a local relay only but will be used by several of the squad as a decent workout. Matt, Ning, Dave K, and Richy are all competing.

Monday 28th July

This coming weekend is the National XC champs in Waikanae, Wellington. Ning and Dave C will be both be representing Canterbury after finishing 2nd and 6th respectively at the Canterbury XC Champs. Also this Saturday Matt will return to racing in a local 10km event.

Tuesday 1st July

Dave C finished 12th at the South Island XC held at QEII, Christchurch at the weekend in very very wet and cold conditions. Ning has been enjoying a few weeks at altitude in Gunnison, Colorado and returns this week to run the North Island XC in Taupo. Gus is also in the US on a family holiday.

Monday 16th June - Big gaps again!

In the interim - a UC team featuring Ning and Gus won the Lovelock relays trophy for the 3rd year in a row. Guns ran a leg for the Ariki B team and later that night we all celebrated his 21st.

On the weekend of May 9-11th Camp Motley was held at Hanmer with Dave C, Dave K, and Gus in attendance along with a few others.

The New Brighton 5k was held late May - Matt was 3rd in 14m57s, Dave C 9th in 15m37s and the Coach even managed a 18m15s result.

On the 1st June the Christchurch full and 1/2 marathons and 10km races were held. Ning won the 10km in 30m30s despite a wrong turn which cost him several seconds and Matt was 8th in the 1/2 in just over 69 minutes.

VICTORY

A gold medal in the National Road Relay at Timaru on Saturday 6th October. The UC Senior Men's team won by nearly 4 minutes in the end as Ning and Richy took fastest laps while Gus broke the M19 record on his lap. Matt also put in a great effort finishing 3rd fastest on his lap. The overall time also broke the course record. Dave K ran 9th fastest overall on his lap helping the B team to B grade victory. This event is one of the hardest to win on the NZ distance calendar and the crew are all justifiably proud of the achievement.

Tuesday 2nd October - another gap sorry to my loyal readers for the long time between information. Ning and Richy took fastest laps as the UC team finished second to Papanui Toc H in the T2A relay. Since then there has been a minor relay and the club 5k champs which were selection races for the National Road Relay (NRR) in Timaru this Saturday. Matt, Ning, Richy and Gus have all been selected for the UC A team which should contest the title while Dave K is in the UC B team which will contest the B grade title. Should be a good weekend away and then the build-up for track season begins.

Friday 14th September - long time between updates. In the interim Rowan won the Canterbury 10k in an outstanding PB of 30m02s which was also a course record. Ning finished 3rd. The pair went on to finish 4th and 5th respectively at the National 10k road champs. Last weekend Rowan won the Dunedin marathon in 2h25m27s (PB) with a negative split and will be now looking forward to the summer.

Tomorrow sees the first of the road relays with the famous Takahe-Akaroa race here in Christchurch. Ning, Gus, Richy, Dave C and Dave K (in his first race and slowly recovering from injury) are all running for various teams as we build towards the National Road Relay in Timaru in 3 weeks.

Monday 6th August - a fantastic day for the Crew at the National XC in Dunedin. In the senior men's 12km event, Rowan finished a brilliant 2nd after breaking the field apart at 5km and leading for the next 5, before succumbing to the slightly stronger finish of new champion Edwin Henshaw. Ning finished 4th just a few seconds from a medal with Richy 10th, another minute back. Gus finished 11th in the M19 race. All won silver medals in the teams' events.

Tuesday 31st July - Matt took the 2nd fastest time of 31m31s in the Governor's bay 10km race. Craig was elected as a NZ Cross-country and Road selector at the Athletics NZ AGM in Wellington.

Friday 27th July - Richy is now part of Team NBx - fully sponsored by New Balance while Rowan and Craig are also now sponsored by NB. All look forward to continuing racing in NB shoes but also training and racing in the latest NB clothing.

This coming weekend Matt is racing in the Governor's Bay to Lyttleton 10k event as he continues his build-up to the National road champs. The rest of the squad who are aiming for XC success (Rowan, Ning, Richy, Gus) have various sessions planned as they look toward the Nationals the following weekend.

Thursday 26th July - Richy took 2nd fastest time (14m57s) and Matt 3rd fastest (15m13s) in a local event - the Riverside Relay where teams of 5 run 5km each. UC also took out the overall fastest time.

Monday 16th July - Rowan won the Canterbury Senior Men's XC Championship with a powerful display of front running leading the field from the gun and winning by 20 odd seconds from club mate and former British World XC rep Matt Smith. Ning was just a few seconds behind in 3rd with Richy finishing 5th - less than 60s behind Rowan - an impressive display for an 800m/1500m runner. Gus did not start due to being under the weather for the last few days. All four have been selected for the Canterbury team for the NZXC race in 3 weeks time. Dave C withdrew from his race in Europe due to injuring a calf muscle a few days beforehand and not recovering in time.

Monday 9th July - Dave C dipped under 2 minutes for 800m with a 1m59.23s clocking in Belgium and races again in the Netherlands this Sunday before returning to NZ. Matt, Ning and Rowan all competed in a low key handicapped short course club XC race, treating it as a tempo run but all finishing well up on overall times. This coming weekend is the Canterbury XC Champs at Halswell Quarry with the Ning, Rowan, Richy and Gus all competing for titles and places in the Canterbury team for the New Zealand Championships in Dunedin 3 weeks later.

Wednesday 4th July - Results from the weekend - Rowan finished 2nd in the Senior mens SIXC race while Gus won the M19 race easily. Richy and Ning ran 30.55 and 31.08 respectively at the Gold Coast, finding the warmer conditions a little tougher than expected. Matt ran 71m04s as the effects of a couple of weeks off with a minor injury made themselves felt in the second half of the race. Dave C ended up not running in Watford due to an entry mix-up and so next competes this Saturday in Oordegem, Belgium over 800m.

Wednesday 27th June - members of the Crew are racing all around the globe this weekend. Dave C is racing over 800m in the British Milers Club (BMC) meeting at Watford, England on Saturday. Ning and Richy are looking for sub 30 minute 10kms in the Gold Coast on Sunday morning while Matt is looking for a fast 1/2 marathon time at the same event. Closer to home Rowan and Gus are racing the South Island XC champs at QEII Park.

Last weekend Ning travelled South to compete in the 100th running of the Edmond Cup. Unfortunately heavy snow forced the postponement of the race. Ning and a few other Dunedites didn't let this stop them completeing a 'race' in blizzard like conditions. A link to photos can be found on NZrun.com 

Monday 18th June - Fantastic results over the weekend. Gus finished 2nd in the Senior boys race in the New Zealand Secondary Schools Cross-Country Championships - one of the hardest races to win in NZ. Rowan finished 2nd in the Jane Paterson XC, merely 9s behind NZ Champion Phil Costley. Richy was a further 20s back in 3rd and both were part of the winning mens team.

Wednesday 13th June - this weekend is the National Secondary Schools Cross-Country championship here in Christchurch on the Halswell Quarry course. Also in conjunction with this will be the Jane Paterson Memorial XC for senior runners. Gus is competing in the NZSSXC in the Senior Boys grade and Rowan is looking to defend his Jane Paterson title from 2006.

Wednesday 6th June - sorry for such a delay - have been home sick then away on holiday. Lots of updates from the last couple of weeks below.

Sunday 3rd June - Richy won the 10km in a massive PB and excellent time of 30m11s, Matt I was 4th in the 1/2 in a big PB of 65m20s with Ning 6th in 68m06s - also a PB.

Tuesday 29th May - Gus won the Canterbury Secondary Schools senior boys XC by 41s with a 12m59s time for 4k.

Saturday 26th May - several competed in the New Brighton 5k as a final blowout before the Christchurch 1/2 marathon and 10km races. Richy was 2nd in a PB 14m33s with Matt I 3rd in 14m43s. Dave C ran 16m12s and Rob ran 16m48s.

Friday 18th May - a great weekend in Hanmer Springs for Camp Motley. The decision to go a few weeks earlier this year paid off with some superb weather. See the event reports page for Ning's description of the weekend. Apologies for caps - a glitch i am trying to sort. Photo's to come.

Friday 11th May - Yesterday Gus won the Canterbury Secondary Schools Road Race championship in an outstanding PB of 15m03s for 5km. He is shaping up as one of the favourites for the National Secondary Schools Senior Boys Cross-country title to be held in Christchurch mid-June. Today most of the Crew plus some other Canterbury athletes and 3 from Nelson head to Hanmer Springs for 'Camp Motley' - our annual winter camp where we will do some serious training and also goal-setting and planning for the upcoming winter season and beyond.

Tuesday 8th May - A very successful weekend for the Crew - Gus, Ning and Richy were all in the University team which repeated it's title-winning feat from last year, retaining the historic Lovelock relays trophy over 6 x 1500m in Dunedin. Richy took fastest time while Ning was 2nd= fastest and Gus was fastest schoolboy. Back in Christchurch Matt I finished 2nd in the Rossendale 15k road race in a huge PB of 45m42s which augurs well for 1/2 marathon racing later in the season. He went through 10k in 29m55s - also a PB and his first time under 30 minutes. Dave C was 8th in 51m50s.

Wednesday 2nd May - Matt I 12m36s, Gus 12m46s, Ning 12m15s (3rd fastest time) and Richy 12m27s (5th fastest) were part of the University 'A' team which finished 2nd to Papanui Toc H by 20s in a very close race. Ben, Rob and Matt K raced for the "B" team while Dave C raced the first lap for Christchurch Avon. Craig and last minute call-up Dave K ran for the C team. Conditions were wet and muddy for the first time in years which led to the times being slightly slower than usual.

Tuesday 24th April - Rowan ran the London Marathon on Sunday finishing 188th in 2h43m03s. Unfortunately a leg injury flared up after 6 miles which significantly affected his race. On Saturday 14th April several of the Crew ran in the Hagley relay trials with the University club filling the first 6 places and Matt, Gus and Ning making up the top 3 in good times. this Saturday sees the actual running of the Hagley Memorial relays with Matt, Gus, Ning, Richy, Ben, Rob, Matt K, Dave C and Craig all running for various teams. The University 'A' team should challenge Papanui Toc H for overall honours.

Friday 13th April - sorry about delay in updates. On the 31st March a group of athletes from the University club including several of the Crew travelled up to Hanmer Springs for the annual 1/2 marathon and 10km events. The courses are undulating and mainly offroad through forest tracks. Matt took out the 10km in 34 minutes with Ning winning the 1/2 marathon in 1h17m and both displayed their 2XU apparel and New Balance racing shoes. Club members took 1st and 2nd in the men's and women's 10k and 1/2 marathon events. On Sunday 12 or so athletes enjoyed a long run on the forest tracks including Matt, Ning, Gus and Craig. A great training weekend was enjoyed by all. We next head up to Hanmer for 'Camp Motley' on the 11-13th May for a high volume training camp. Over Easter Gus ran his St Andrews school team into 3rd place in the New Zealand Secondary Schools team triathlon championships at Lake Karapiro while taking the days fastest time by over a minute. Rowan has left for London where he will run the marathon on Sunday 22nd April.

Friday 27th October - Most of the squad are fully into their build-up to track season now with volume of training gradually increasing. Ning has 3 weeks in Invercargill left before he shifts to Christchurch permanently and he is looking forward to it. He and Matt are going to do a couple of sessions together next week with Matt visiting Invergiggle for 4 days for work. In the bad news category Chris has broken his ankle, thumb and a couple of fingers after being knocked off his scooter and will be taking a compulsory rest from training. We wish him all the best and a quick recovery.

Tuesday 17th October - Great results for Matt I and Ning as they both ran PB's in the BC 10k. Matt finished 3rd in 30m23s - 36s behind Dale Warrander and a mere 3s after National 10k champ Scott Winton. Ning finished 8th in 30m46s slicing another 10s off his PB. Rowan, Chris and Dave K spent the weekend in Wanaka at club member Alice O'Connors family 'bach' doing some low key miles.

This Weekend - 15th October - Matt I and Ning are both racing in the Barry Curtis 10km road race in Auckland. Both are in great shape and looking for PB's. The rest of the squad have had an easy week and are then starting build-up for the track season (or marathon in Rowan's case). The exception is Gus who has National Secondary Schools in 9 weeks so is in to the hard work straight away.

Monday 9th October - a great weekend at the National Road relays in Feilding. Matt I won the first lap breaking the lap record by 40s, Rowan kept the UC team in front extending the lead to 47s and taking 3rd fastest time for the long lap in the process. Ning was only seconds slower than Rowan with 4th fastest on the same lap. Richard had a good run on lap 4 and Chris ran well on lap 5. Matt K showed he was on his way back from injury as he survived a last minute call up to the A team and Rob ran the equivalent of a 90s PB on the last lap. Gus took 5th fastest lap in the M19 grade and Ben 7th and Dave C was 1s slower on the same lap as Gus in the Composite grade as he led his team to victory. Nathan took 2nd fastest lap in the M19 lap 6 as his Ariki team finished 5th.

Photo Gallery updated - finally managed to load some photos from our Hanmer Springs training camp. Note hard man Dave K is the only one in shorts!

Next big event - Saturday week (7th October) is the National Road Relay championship, this year being held in Fielding near Palmerston North. Most of the Crew will be participating with the UC team looking to improve on the 9th placing of last year (as Garden City). This coming week will be a low key 5km time-trial to sort out the final team make-up and designation of laps. Dave C heads South for the weekend and will join in the Ariki 3 mile road race along with Nathan and Ning.

Monday 25th September - In Dunedin Ning ran a huge PB at the Otago 10k road champs running 30m55s for 3rd. Nathan ran a PB 27m50s for 8k in the M19 race. In Christchurch this last weekend saw the 67th running of the Takahe-Akaroa relay. Chris, Matt, Gus, Rowan, Rob and Richard all raced for the UC A team with Matt K captaining the B team. Dave C ran for his CHA team and Dave K was a late withdrawal as his knee injury is only slowly improving. The UC team finished 2nd with CHA finishing 5th.

Monday 11th September - a few of the lads raced in a small local road relay in Christchurch on Saturday. Conditions were windy and not conducive to fast times. Matt, Richard and Chris raced in the UC A team, Dave C raced in a CHA team and Gus and Ben raced for the UC B team. Matt took fastest time on lap 2 with 21m41s for 7.0km with Gus first M19 and 3rd overall on the same lap in a time of 24m33s. Richard was 4th fastest on the tough lap 3 which goes up to the top of Gebbies Pass and then on a bit further (similar to lap 2 of T2A without the downhill) in a time of 30m19s with Dave C running the same lap in 30m46s. Chris raced the 4.1k straight uphill leg in 3rd fastest time of 18m49s. Ben ran 21m33s for an undulating lap 5 and fastest M19, 4th overall.

Monday 4th September - Great results over the weekend. At the National Road champs Rowan finished 5th (in a PB 31m04s), Ning 9th, Matt a dissappointed 15th after being affected by stomach cramps when in the leading bunch, Richard 23rd and Chris 33rd. Rowan, Matt and Richard were part of the Canterbury team which finished 3rd in the teams event after a countback with Auckland while Ning's Otago team finished 2nd. In Lausanne, Switzerland Rob finished 14th in the 25-29 age group at the world triathlon championships. Earlier in the week Rob finished 3rd in his age group in the World Aquathlon (1000m swim, 5km run) Championships.

Tuesday 29th August - 4 days until the National Road Champs here in Christchurch. Matt, Rowan and Chris will be competing for Canterbury in the Senior men's 10km race along with training partner Richard Swan. Gus is down to compete in the M19 8km race for Canterbury also. Ning will be competing for Otago in the SM 10km. Matt and Rowan will both be contending for individual medals and the Canterbury team will have a strong chance at the teams title. All will be looking for PB's on the fast flat course with good competition to push them along.

Thursday 24th August - Rowan's report on the Round the Gorge relay has finally arrived on the event reports page - humourous reading! A number of the Crew will be doing a 3km 'sharpener' on Saturday morning (10.30am) at North Hagley Park. A couple of photos added to the Gallery from the recent Canterbury 10km Road Champs. We wish Rob all the best as he leaves for Switzerland on Sunday to compete in the World Age Group Triathlon Champs the following weekend. The cycle course is hilly and the run course flat which will suit Rob.

Monday 21st August - a successful weekend at the Canterbury Road Champs - Matt finished 2nd to Phil Costley in a PB 30m37s, Rowan was 3rd in a PB 31m08s, Dave C was 8th in 33m20s - fastest time for 5 years, Chris was 9th in 34m11s. Gus was injured on friday and did not race.

Wednesday 16th August - the Canterbury Road champs are being held this Sunday on the same course as will be used for the National Championships 2 weeks later. Matt is the defending Senior Men's titleholder over 10km but will be facing some stiff competition from National XC winner Phil Costley and Rowan. Chris and Dave C are also running the 10k with Gus running the M19 8km race. Dave K is still being troubled by a back injury and will be watching from the sidelines along with Craig. Should be some good racing on a flat course with several runners looking for PB's.

Wednesday 9th August - News from Ning - he ran a pleasing 8m42s in a 3000m race in Glasgow. This weekend - a low key weekend for the crew with some doing a 4 or 5km effort on Saturday, 8 days out from the Canterbury Road Championships on 20th August.

Monday 7th August - Rowan finished 17th and Chris 37th at the National cross-country in Taranaki.

"Website of the Week" - we have been awarded this prestigious honour by www.nzrun.com the leading NZ running news site which has a forum that most of us read and some contribute to. Hopefully those linking from there will realise we are still working on several areas of this site.

This Weekend - Saturday 5th August. Rowan and Chris will be representing Canterbury in the Senior Mens race over 12km at the National Cross-country Championships in Stratford, Taranaki. On recent form Rowan will be a definite contender for a medal and the Canterbury team will be strong contenders for team honours. Dave K will be racing a local 10km here in Christchurch as he builds towards the National 10km Championship in September.

In other news Ning is apparently "NZ-running sick" in Glasgow and can't wait to return and start some hard-out training. Ning has a 3000m race on Tuesday night which will give an indication of his current fitness. Apparently he has also been suffering in the heat as Glasgow has enjoyed several days in the high 20's.

Tuesday 1st August - Timaru results - Gus took fastest time on lap 1(8.5k) with 28m15s - only 63s off the M19 lap record, Dave K was 2nd fastest on lap 2 (8.2k) with 27m58s, Chris was fastest overall on lap 3 (7.3k over the Gorge) with 26m14s, Matt I was fastest overall on lap 4 (10.8k) with 34m06s less than a minute off the lap record. Ben was fastest M19 and 3rd overall on lap 6 (7.6k downhill) with 27m14s, Rowan broke the lap 8 (9.4k) record by 5s with a 28m12s time while Dave C ran 29m51s for 2nd fastest on the same lap. Matt K ran 23m35s on lap 5 (5.9k) for 5th fastest overall and Craig ran 29m36s for 8th fastest overall on lap 6. Overall some great results for the whole squad.

Timaru 'Round the Gorge' Relay - a fantastically successful weekend for the Crew and the UC club. The UC men's A team ran through from scratch to take fastest overall time and line honours with Rowan just passing the B team 2km from the finish as they went on to win the C grade and finish 2nd across the line. Final individual times are not yet available but it would appear that Rowan broke the lap record and Matt and Gus were less than a minute from the lap records on their laps. More details on times and fastest laps when they come to hand.

Tuesday 25th July - This weekend is the Timaru 'Round the Gorge' Road Relay where Matt, Rowan, Gus, Dave K, Chris and Ben will compete for the University of Canterbury A team, Dave C will compete for Christchurch-Avon and Matt K and Craig will compete for the UC B team. This a great relay heading inland from Timaru and has been awarded the National Road Relay championships for 2007 so the 'Crew' will be having a close look at the course with half an eye on next year. Look for an event report from a designated runner early next week.

Riverside Relay - Matt took fastest individual lap with a 14m42s time (26s faster than last year) and Rowan wasn't far behind with 3rd fastest overall in 14m58s both very good times on a twisting course with plenty of other runners and pedestrians to negotiate around. Dave C ran a very good 15m44s for 8th overall and Gus ran 16m20s for 2nd fastest M19. Chris finished with a 17m0s after having a heavy cold most of the week. Rob and Ben both withdrew during the week with injury and heavy cold respectively. Coach Craig managed an 18m51s but is still struggling with injury. The UC 'A' team finished 2nd overall on net time.

In other news Dave K won a 3k race in Ashburton in 9m08s a PB by 14s on that particular course and Ning went for a long run up Ben Nevis (Scotland's highest mountain) and his quads are now paying for the downhill.

Monday 17th July - this coming weekend is the Riverside Relays - a 5 x 5 km road relay which we use as an informal 'field test' of fitness. Matt, Rowan, Chris, Ben and Gus make up the University 'A' team with Rob and Craig racing in the 'B' team. Dave will be racing for his clubs 'A' team (ChristchurchAvon). This event also doubles as a selection trial for the Timaru Round the Gorge Relay on the 29th July where the University club will be looking to improve on last years 3rd placing (and loss to rival Otago University).

Canterbury XC Champs - Rowan finished 2nd in the Senior Mens 12km race, 90s behind reigning National Champion Phil Costley. Chris finished 11th in the same race. Gus finished 2nd in the M19 8k event 30s back from the winner. He still has two more years in this age grade. Rowan and Chris were both selected for the Canterbury Senior mens team for the NZ championships in Stratford, Taranaki on August 5th.

News from Ning - he has arrived safely in Glasgow for his elective as part of his Medical studies. Managed to get lost on his first long run and so do 2 1/2 hours! His cut knee suffered while on elective in Fiji appears fully recovered and he is back into full training

Training Camp report - now entered on discussion page courtesy of Richard Swan

Monday 10th July - quite a few races coming up. This weekend is the Canterbury XC Champs and Rowan, Chris, Rob and Gus will all be racing. The following weekend is the Riverside Relays - a 5 x 5km road relay over a twisting but flat course which is always a good indicator of where everyone's training is at and should see about 8 of us having a run.

South Island XC Champs - Matt finished 2nd with Rowan 3rd in the Senior Men's 9k event. Dave and Chris finished 14th and 26th respectively, Chris limping in after rolling his ankle. Gus finished 5th in the M19 event.

This Weekend 1st July - the South Island XC Champs will be held at QEII park on Saturday - competing are Matt I, Rowan, Dave C, Chris (over 9k)and Gus (over 6k).

Wednesday 28th June - Camp Motley went off extremely well - despite rain on Friday and snow on the ground restricting some training areas we actually had two days of clear sunshine and consequently got some serious training done. Watch for a report from some of the participants later this week.

This Weekend 23-25th June - Camp Motley at Hanmer Springs - a 3 day camp with some hard and long sessions. In attendance will be Matt, Rowan, Dave C, Dave K, Rob as well as Richard Swan, James Appleby, Rosa Scott, Rob's brother Warwick and myself and family. Nathan may also be there, injury permitting. Weather forecast is average. Watch this space for report on camp and photos in the photo gallery.

Wednesday 21st June - Gus finished 16th at the NZ Secondary Schools Cross-country. Rowan took fastest time and Rob 19th fastest at the Anglican Block with the team finishing 3rd on Handicap and 6th fastest overall.

This Weekend, 17th June - Gus competes at the NZ Secondary Schools cross-country champs in Tauranga where he will look to improve on last year's 10th place. Rowan and Rob will compete in a low-key 5km XC relay - the Anglican Block at Spencer Park.

Monday 12th June - Great results on Saturday - Rowan won the Jane Paterson 9km XC (closer to 10km I think - 33mins odd) by 60s from Richard Bennett. None of the other top Christchurch runners doubled up from the half marathon but a decisive victory nevertheless which will make his rivals take notice. Dave C finished 3rd only 28s behind 'Benno' and closing on him in the final couple of laps and Chris was 5th - also a great result in his first senior XC race. Today it is snowing heavily in Christchurch with many schools and institutions closed - I am sure everyone will be out doing their training though!

This Weekend - Saturday is the Jane Paterson memorial XC races at Halswell Quarry. Rowan, Chris and Dave C are all competing in the Senior men's 9km race.

Friday 9th June - great news for the Crew and the club which most belong to (University of Canterbury Athletic Club) - unbeknown to most there was a club championship race as part of the National 1/2 marathon championship and we won both the senior men's and senior women's sections - the first National senior title for all involved. Winning teams were - Men's - Matt, Richard Swan (1h16m PB) (a sometimes training partner of ours), Rob and promising junior Sam Murphy (1h21m) (although Club President Dan Reese ran 1h20m and finished 3rd in the M50 age group but strangely wasn't counted in the teams event - Women's - Julia Averill (1h19m) (still a junior but took 3rd in NZ championship), Rachel Harrison (1h36m) and Alicia Evans (1h40m) (although two other club members Alex Williams (1h37m) and Janine O'Dea (1h32m) should have counted).

Monday 5th June - Matt finished 6th in the half marathon in a personal best time of 1h6m29s (nearly 4 minutes off last years time). This event also doubled as the New Zealand National 1/2 marathon championships so a great result. Rob also did a great PB breaking 1h20m for the first time with a 1h17m25s time. Craig was a DNF after pulling up lame at the 8k mark. Rowan won the 10k event (or was that 10.5km?) in 32m40s with Chris taking a wrong turn and ending up being DQ'd/DNF'd.

Saturday 27th May - New Brighton 5k Road Race Results - Matt wins this event with a great run of 14m20s (PB) beating Phil Costley (2nd - 14m28s) and Hayden McLaren (4th - 14m41s) for the first time. Rowan finishes 6th in 14m47s showing he is coming into shape right in time for the cross-country season. Dave C also has a great run with a 41s PB of 15m19s. Chris Honiss misses the start after scooter problems but runs just over 16 minutes net.

Tuesday 17th March

Can't believe it has been such a long time between updates. since the 7th January there have been three National championship events, several Grand Prix events, the Canterbury Champs and just last weekend the inaugral 'International Track meet'. results have been as follows:

Ning finished 2nd in the National 10000m champs at Inglewood on 24th January. He lead for 9km but just couldn't get rid of the eventual winner Rowan Hooper. His time was 30m43.59s.

At the Capital Classic in Wellington on 13th February Dave C (b) and Guns (a) ran in separate 800m races recording 1m58.84s and 1m58.09s respectively. Richy finished 3rd in the a race in 1m53s. Ning won a tactical 3000m in 8m29s.

Two nights later was the Porritt Classic in Hamilton and Richy finished 3rd in a PB 3m46.87s starting to come into form at the right time.

On the 20th February the Black Singlet meeting at Waitakere in Auckland also had the NZ 3000m championship. Ning finished 2nd (again!), this time to Kim Hogarth after a desperate sprint down the home straight with only .35s separating them at the finish.

At the Canterbury champs over the 5-7th of March Richy won the 800m in 1m53s after a tactical race with a first lap of 57s. Dave C finished 8th in close to his PB with a 1m56.77s and then finished 3rd in the 1500m in a an agonising PB of 4m00.16s! Gus finished 4th in the senior race 1s behind Dave after taking out the junior race easily 2 days earlier. Ning won the 5000m in hot conditions in 14m34s from Kim Hogarth.

Richy, Ning and Gus all raced in the International Track meet on the 13th March. Gus finished 16th in the NZ champs M19 3000m in a SB of 8m48s. Ning ran a huge PB of 8m5.17s finishing 4th in the open 3000m while Richy came extremely close to being the 34th New Zealander to break 4 minutes for the Mile. He finished 6th in 4m00.26s - a PB by over 3s. in the earlier interclub event Dave C ran a 1m57s 800m and Dave K broke 9mins for 3000m for the first time with an 8m57s result.

It is now just 2 weeks to the NZ National championships where Richy, Ning, Dave C and Gus will all contend for titles over various distances.

Wednesday 7th January 2009

The business end of the track season nears... Some great racing on the 27th December with Ning winning the 5000m in 14m23s - easily his fastest season opener. Richy finished 4th in a PB of 14m34s with Gus finishing 7th in a huge PB of 15m07s. Coverage of the races are available on youtube - search under NBx Christmas Classic

Dave C ran his season opener at the Lovelock Mile in Timaru finishing 2nd in 4m38s and a 58s last lap after a slow early pace.

In the next few weeks Richy will run a couple of races in Australia, Ning will contest the National 10000m champs in Inglewood with Dave C and Guns starting their track campaigns with some low key local interclub events. Matt will run a couple of local 5k road races as he begins his summer season.

Tuesday 23rd December

4 days away from the New Balance Christmas Classic meet. Richy and Ning each ran in a 3000m on the 13th December as a prelude. Richy finished 2nd by 1/100th of a second in a 20s PB of 8m13.90s with Ning finishing 3rd in his 2nd fastest ever time and easily his fastest season opener of 8m14.47s.

On the 27th Richy and Ning are running 5000m along with Gus. Guns will be pacing the men's Mile event.

Monday 28th April - once again apologies for the long gap between updates. Lots has been going on since late February as follows:

Guns ran a massive PB and finally broke the 2 min barrier for 800m with a 1m56.63s result on 12th March.

Ning won bronze medals at the national championships over 5000m and 1500m in the last weekend in March.

Matt finished 2nd in the Hanmer 1/2 marathon in early April.

The UC 'A' team (featuring Matt, Ning and Gus) won the Hagley relay race for the first time in 27 years last Saturday 26th April. Dave K ran in the UC 'B' team which finished 3rd while Dave C ran for 4th placed CHA.

Thursday 28th February - there have been a few people racing over the last couple of weeks with the following results: Guns finished 4th in the Otago 800m champs on the 17th in 2m02.91s after a slow first lap and followed this performance up with a 2m01.03s on the 23rd - again with a negative split after a slow first lap. At the Canterbury champs over the last weekend Ning finished 2nd in the 5000m (in a PB 14m17.71s) and the 1500m (but won the Canterbury title). Matt finished 7th in the 5000m in 15m13s and Dave K 13th in a PB 15m51s. Dave C finished 5th in the 800m and 9th in the 1500m and Gus finished 11th in the SM 1500m.

Thursday 14th February - Last Wednesday Ning finished 4th in the Capital Classic 3000m in 8m16.55s while Dave C finished 5th in his heat of the 800m in 1m56.7s (his fastest for the last 2 seasons). On Saturday Guns finished 5th in an interclub 1500m recording 4m03.22s - an outstanding PB by 9s!

Tuesday 5th February - Ning finished 8th in the National 10,000m championships in 30m45s on 26th January. Last weekend Richy finished 5th in the Australian Athletics Cup 1500m in a season's best 3m48.64s. Dave C ran a 1m59s 800m in Timaru with a big negative split, winning the race by 3 seconds.

Tomorrow Ning is running in the Capital classic 3000m where he finished 3rd in a PB 8m12s last year, with Dave C running an 800m where he will be looking for a fast time.

Monday 21st January - Ning finished 3rd in a fast 3000m at QEII on Saturday recording his second fastest time ever of 8m16s. This was his final blow-out before the National 10,000m this coming Saturday.

In other news Richy has been selected to represent NEW ZEALAND in the Australian inter-state match on February 2nd in Queensland over 1500m. A great achievement and the first in the squad to wear the silver fern.

Friday 4th January 2008 - Happy New Year all. The NB Christmas Classic went extremely well with several PB's recorded. Ning was 4th in a 6s PB of 14m20.36s and Matt was 8th in 14m51.56s. Guns did a superb job of pacing the Mile in which Dave C was 8th in a PB 4m26.02s.

Thursday 27th December - last Friday Dave C ran 1m58s for 800m with Guns finishing just behind him in a PB 1m59.31s - his first time under 2 minutes! On Tuesday 18th Matt ran a local road 5k as a fitness test winning in 14m47s for a pleasing result.

Tomorrow is the New Balance Christmas Classic at QEII with Ning, Matt and Gus running the 5000m and Dave running the Mile. Guns is pacing the Mile. Unfortunately Richy has had to withdraw from the Mile after suffering from a virus for the last week.

Friday 14th December - Ning ran a huge PB by nearly a minute finishing 6th in 29m54.19s a time he was "bloody over the moon" about. Gus was 2s off his PB with an 8m48s clocking.

Thursday 13th December - tonight is the annual Zatopek meeting in Melbourne with Ning running the open 10,000m and Gus the junior 3000m. Both of them will be looking for substantial PB's.

Results from last weekend - Gus finished 9th in the NZSS 1500m after battling a virus for the last couple of weeks. Dave C debuted over 800m with a 1m58.4s in windy conditions, with Guns pacing the field to 600m in 1m27s - great early season efforts from both of them.

Thursday 29th November - Ning finished 3rd in the Energizer 5000m race in Timaru last Saturday, running a 7s PB of 14m26.4s. His next big race is the Zatopek 10000m in Melbourne on December 13th. Guns just missed a PB and breaking the 2 minute barrier as he finished 2nd over 800m in 2.00.69s at the same meeting. A good opening for him and looking promising for some big PB's later in the season.

Wednesday 21st November - Matt competed in the New Balance Round the Bridges race on November 11th in Hamilton, finishing 3rd in 37m38s (12k course). Gus has run 2 more track races with a 2 minute flat 800 and a 4m04s 1500m.

Tuesday 6th November - Long time between updates I know! Last weekend saw the summer Camp Motley at Hanmer - Ning did a great job of organising in my absence. Also there were Matt, Gus and Dave C. A big weekend of training was enjoyed by all with a car load from Dunedin also coming up for the trip.

Richy didn't attend as he was racing at the Guy Fawkes Mile - an early season big money event in Waitakere, Auckland where he outkicked World Champs rep Gareth Hyett to win in a PB 4m03.5s! Gareth ran 3.38 a couple of times last year so this augurs well for Richy's upcoming track season. Gus debuted on the track the previous weekend with an excellent 8m46s PB 3k, solo in cold windy conditions as he looks to peak for his final NZ Secondary Schools Champs in 5 weeks time.

Upcoming events - this Sunday 11th November Matt will run the New Balance 12km Round the Bridges event in Hamilton and Gus will be running 800m at a local inter-club event. On November 24th there is a track meeting in Timaru where Richy and Gus will run a 3k while also pacing a fast 5k for Ning.

Monday 26th March - On the last competitive weekend of the track season Gus won the South Island Secondary Schools Senior Boys 1500m and 800m double in Dunedin. His 3m58.73s in the 1500m was a record and a PB by over 4s. He also recorded 1m59s to win the 800m. Guns ran an interclub 800m in the lunch break and also recorded a 4s PB narrowly missing out on breaking the 2 minute barrier with 2m00.26s.

Monday 19th March - On Saturday Gus won the Christchurch secondary Schools Senior Boys 800 and 1500m titles in 1m59s and 4m17s respectively. Richard competed in the Mayoral Mile in Wanganui finishing 9th in 4m09s. Ben paced the junior mens race.

Monday 5th March - Ning qualified for the 1500m final on Saturday and proceeded to run 5th (3m55s) in a tactical final as Richie pulled off an awesome win (3m52s) with an outstanding last 120m. Ben picked up a silver in the 4 x 400m relay.

GREAT RESULTS - In a great 24 hours for the Motley Crew there were some fantastic results. Firstly on Thursday night Nathan took out the infamous Gardens Tavern Mile in Dunedin. On Friday at the National Track and Field Champs in Inglewood we attained our first individual national medals. Ben took 3rd in the M19 800m in 1m56.00s after a pedestrian first lap and Rowan took 3rd in the SM 10000m in a PB 30m30.15s. Richard Olsen who will join the squad at the end of the summer was 3rd in the SM 800m (2nd NZer) in 1m51s.

Tuesday 27th February - No racing for the Crew as everyone completed final workouts before Nationals this coming weekend.

Tuesday 20th February - Some good results from the Canterbury Champs at the weekend. Firstly, on Friday night, Gus finished 3rd in the M19 1500m in 4m06.84s just 2 days after getting his arm out of a cast. Then in the SM 800m Ben finished 5th in a season best (SB) of 1m55.67s off a slow first lap (59s) and Ning ran 1m57.01s for 7th. the race was run by a sometimes training partner of ours, Richard Olsen in 1m53.62s.

On Saturday Dave C made a return to the track to retain his Canterbury 400m title in 53.21s and Rowan made his first track appearance of the season finishing 3rd in the SM 5000m in a PB 14m37.69s after a very fast start.

On Sunday Ben finished 3rd in the M19 800m in 1m55.04s (SB) but took the Canterbury title as the two ahead of him were from Tasman. Ning finished 4th in the SM 1500m in a PB 3m53.42s after a slowish 1st lap of 64 seconds. Later Ben and Gus combined with Richard Olsen and a club junior to take out the Canterbury SM 4 x 400m relay in 3m37s.

Ben (M19 800 and 1500m) and Rowan (SM 10,000m) will race for Canterbury and Ning (SM 1500m) will race for Otago at the National championships on March 2nd-4th in Inglewood.

Thursday 15th February - Canterbury championships start tomorrow with several of the squad entered in various events (see left). On the 10th of February Ning raced in the Capital Classic meeting in Wellington placing a close 3rd with a 7s PB of 8m12.38s over 3000m. Then on Monday 2XU announced they would be the apparel sponsors for Ning and Matt I for the next year with the rest of the Motley Crew also able to access some wholesale deals for apparel. This, combined with the New Balance sponsorship will see the team fully kitted out in some upcoming events.

Monday 5th February - sorry about delay in reports - have been busy starting new job. Recent results - on 27th january - Ning ran an 800m in 1m57.8s for 3rd and Ben finished 6th in the Cooks Classic M19 1500m in 4m01s. Rowan and Matt ran in a local 10k race over an undulating course near Halswell Quarry and finished 1st and 2nd in 31m30s and 31m50s respectively. On 3rd February Ben won the junior 800m at the Potts Classic in 1m57.2s but was very dissappointed to not be in the senior Race. Ning raced the Canterbury 3000m Champs and finished 3rd in 8m21.25s.

Thursday 25th January - Celebrations - Happy Birthday to Ben who turned 19 today. Also cause for celebration is that New Balance have agreed to be footwear sponsors for Matt, Rowan and Ning as well as providing some wholesale deals for the rest of the Crew. All of the squad look forward to doing some fast times in their new shoes.

Last Saturday Ning paced a local interclub 1500m race to 800m in 2m01s which led to the first 5 runners getting PB's. On Tuesday Rowan finished 2nd in the Hagley 5k in 15m04s with Matt 3rd in 15m12s.

Tuesday 16th January - Happy Belated New Year. The track season proper is about to start and the Crew have mostly completed 2-3 weeks of hard training in preparation for the races to come. I say mostly, as Gus has broken a wing and will be in a cast for 6 weeks which will affect his season. Ben ran his opening race on Saturday finishing 2nd in 4m07s with a fast last lap. Tonight Ning, Matt and Rowan competed in a local 5km road series at various planned tempos with Ning finishing 2nd in 14m41s, Matt 3rd in 15m03s and Rowan 4th in 15m30s.

Saturday 30th December - Ning ran a PB of 14m33.47s for 5000m when finishing 7th in the Mizuno Frontrunner 5000m on Thursday night. He just fell off the main pack at 2400m so ran solo for the last half - a great effort which augurs well for the rest of the season. Matt withdrew at 1000m due to the foot injury which has been bothering him for the last few weeks.

Tuesday 19th December - Ning ran a PB of 8m20.12s for 3000m when finishing 2nd at the Timaru meeting, smashing his previous 8m31s time. Dave C finished 3rd in a very close 800m with less than .3s separating the top 3. His time was 1m57.25s - his 3rd fastest ever.

Tuesday 12th December - Gus finished 7th in the Senior Boys 1500m at the National Secondary Schools Track and Field Championships. His time was his second fastest - 4m05.67s. Ning ran a 2000m in 5m28s on Friday night before his graduation as a Doctor of Medicine. Rowan also graduated as a Doctor (of Chemistry) in Cambridge, England at the weekend. With Craig, Matt and Dave C all holding Masters degrees the Crew is doing quite well academically as well as on the running front!

Monday 4th December - Rowan's marathon debut went well with a 2h25m32s clocking despite an unscheduled pit stop at halfway. Dave C paced Matt and Ning through to 1000m superbly and they went on to finish in 3m56.98s and 3m57.28s (PB for Ning) respectively.

Monday 27th November - Another PB to Gus with a 1m58.39s 800m for 2nd place at an inter-club meeting, knocking 4s off his previous best. Dave C was 4th in 2m01.72s and Nathan ran within 1s of his PB with 2m05.00s. Dr. Ning spent his first full weekend back in Christchurch and was treated to a set of mile reps by Matt which he enjoyed? This week sees Ben jetting off to Perth for a month of hard-out warm weather training. Rowan is also jetting off, this time to Cambridge, England for his graduation, via California where he will make his marathon debut at the California International Marathon in Sacramento.

Monday 20th November - A start to the track season for Dave C, Ben and Nathan with each running a 400m. Dave ran a 52.04 - over a second better than his fastest last year and Nathan ran 55.27 in windy conditions in Christchurch. Ben ran 52.74 in Wellington. Ning arrived in Christchurch for good today and is looking forward to some hard training and racing with the rest of the Crew.

Tuesday 14th November - a big weekend of training which inluded a run in Bottle Lake Forest Park on Friday evening, hill reps on Saturday morning, a second run from QEII on Saturday afternoon, a long run in the Birdlings Flat/Little River area on Sunday and then a 7 x 700m reps session on Monday evening to finish. Some tired lads at the end but a great weekend completed. Gus finished second over 3000m on Saturday in blustery conditions - 9m06s.

Monday 6th November - Gus made his season track debut and finished 2nd in an interclub 1500m in 4m03.12s - a huge 12 seconds off his previous PB! 5 weeks until the National Secondary Schools championships here in Christchurch for him and it looks good so far. The rest of the squad are still in high volume phase with a few also doing some hills. This coming weekend is a huge weekend of training for most as we do a Christchurch based training camp similar to our June camp in Hanmer. Rowan is heading North for the Lake City Athletic Club 75th Anniversary. Nathan returns to Christchurch from his studies in Dunedin.