Eva Pringle & Will Little claim debut National Road titles in Timaru!

October 26, 2024
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Rain and racing were on the menu at the Timaru Ten as Whippets Running Project dominate senior grades at NZ Road 10km Championships.

Timaru’s Levels Raceway set the scene for an exciting day of racing at the 2024 National Road 10km Championships, where the Whippets Running Project took home both senior titles despite challenging wet conditions. With puddles scattered across the track, runners faced unrelenting rain but were spared the feared wind.

In the men’s race, Olympian Sam Tanner was the standout presence on the start line in his bright orange Puma suit, joined by a competitive lineup including Taonga Mbambo, William Little, Connor Melton, and Ronan Lee. Notably absent was Hill City University’s Oli Chignell, who withdrew due to illness. The race quickly took shape with Tanner, Little, Mbambo, Lee, and Melton pulling ahead. This lead pack held together until around the 24-minute mark, when Lee dropped off, and moments later, Little surged ahead leaving only Tanner alongside him.

With 1500m left, Tanner stepped off the track, opening the door for Little to claim an uncontested lead. He crossed the finish line in 29:32.54, securing his second national title of the year. Melton, this year’s National Cross Country Champion, took silver in 29:40.47, while Mbambo earned bronze with a time of 29:53.45, his first national medal since 2019. Reflecting on the conditions, Little said, “It’s an awesome race. Everyone was worried about the weather, but I just approached it like any other race. I just sat in and raced.”

Brigid Dennehy, Eva Pringle and Laura Nagel (Left to Right)

The women’s race proved just as competitive, with Brigid Dennehy, Laura Nagel (Bays Athletics) and Eva Pringle (Whippets) all taking turns at the front. Sticking with a pack of male runners, the trio maintained a steady low-34-minute pace for most of the race. Dennehy made an early move as the pack in front of her surged after one lap. But by the 17-minute mark, the group had reconvened. Approaching 28 minutes, Dennehy eased off, likely conserving energy for the upcoming Auckland Marathon. This left Nagel and Pringle to battle over the final stretch, with Pringle pulling ahead in the last 500m. Nagel closed in during the final 150m but couldn’t overtake, leaving Pringle to secure gold in 33:59.91. Nagel took silver in 34:01.95, and Dennehy finished with bronze in 34:16.12. Pringle shared her excitement, saying, “I love it here. I’ve never run this course, and it’s so fast—it just feels great.”

The Whippets Running Project also dominated the club team races, taking both men’s and women’s titles, with Run Timaru finishing second in the women’s event and Fielding Moa finishing second in the men’s events. Canterbury won the men’s centre team title, followed by Wellington and Otago, and also secured the women’s title as the sole competing team.

Cam Avery interviews Eva Pringle

Catherine Lund of Ariki Athletics won the U20 Women’s 10km in 35:20.48 from Kate Currie of Christchurch Avon in 35:29.81 and Kimberley Iversen of Leith Harriers in 38.11.43. Run Timaru took out the team’s title as the sole team. Canterbury took out the centre teams title as the sole team.

Pai Wynyard of Papanui Toc H claimed the gold in a tightly fought U20 Men’s 10km in 32.01.85 from Lorcan Rabbitte of Victoria University in 32.09.73 and Harry Witt of New Brighton in 32.13.38. Run Timaru took out the team’s title as the sole team. Canterbury took out the centre teams title as the sole team.

Pai Wynyard and Catherine Lund

Andy Good of University of Canterbury Athletics claimed the gold in the master’s 35-49 Men’s 10km with a time of 30:33.86, followed by Oliver O’Sullivan of Hill City University in 32:46.11 and Nick Moore of Owairaka Athletics in 33:17.85.

Laura Langley of North Canterbury was dominant as expected in the senior womens 10km walk. Finishing in a time of 47:14 well clear of her younger rival, Arnika Nelson of Palmerston North, who finished with a time of 52:22. Langley pulled away from Nelson early in the piece and was challenged only by her male counterparts over the later stages of the race.

Lucas Martin of Athletics Whanganui took the gold in the senior men’s 10km walk. His time of 47:09 had him over a minute and a half of space back to eventual silver medalist Alex Brown of Caversham. Brown clocked a finishing time of 48:50. Third place belonged to local walker, Xye Doyle of Run Timaru who rounds out the podium with a time of 1:13:56.

Jonah Cropp of Sumner Athletics had the fastest performance of the day in the U20 men’s 10km. The 2024 World U20 Championship representative showed once again why he is one of the countries’ leading walks exponents. Flying home in a time of 44:55. Toby O’Rorke of Egmont Athletics earned the silver behind Cropp with a time of 47:35.

Yandri Fourie of Pakuranga won the women’s U18 5km walk in 31:17.
Alysa Brown of Selwyn won the women’s U16 5km walk in 28:38.
Richie Trathan of Pakuranga won the men’s U18 5km walk in 25:16 from Ari Bennet of Ashhurst Athletics in 28:48. This adds to Trathan’s dominant string of walks titles this year.
Catherine McCarten of Egmont Athletics won the Masters Women’s 45-49 walk in 1:07.25

Masters Results
We are still confirming further masters results – these will be shared when officially confirmed and available.

Full Results
For a detailed breakdown of all available race results, times placings and team results, please visit Athletic Live.

Livestream Replay
You can relive all the action on the livestream replay!

Thank you to the team at the Timaru Ten for putting on a great event. Also for the photos included in this article.


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