Race Report: Honolulu

Greetings all,

Today saw the squad assemble on yet another dry and dusty "cross country" track 40 minutes outside of Honolulu for their second American invitational. After a tough week's training with a rest day on the north shore yesterday the team was focused and ready for the challenge. A strong breeze brought some relief from the day's heat but the start times of 3 and 4 pm were not ideal. Coach Skeen managed to dissuade the boys from running the course and warming up two hours before the start time despite the actions of the local teams. A rest under some shade was reckoned to be a much more sensible approach.

The junior varsity boys started strong with R Martin setting a fast pace and opening a 20m lead on the chasing pack of S Baek, R Lockhart and M Pogson in the first lap. The pack closed the gap over the next 2 laps and entered the last lap with Grammar in the top 4 places. A big push from the boys saw them widen the gap on their nearest rival and the battle for placings began. A big push by S Baek just before the finishing straight was not quite enough to hold off R Lockhart who kicked just before the line to take first place. He was followed closely by S Baek, M Pogson and R Martin. J Pallister finished strongly take 5th place with O Clarke in 7th (narrowly missing out on 5th place after a wrong turn on the final lap). H Barclay, T Lorimer, A Xie, P Carter, M Haycock, J Grieve, M Wallace and J Ellis (who ran despite substantial pain due to plantar fasciitis) completed the impressive performance from the juniors.

After a rousing haka the varsity runners were suitably fired up and the race started at a blistering pace. H Watt and K Madgwick started in the leading group but started to feel the pace and lost contact with the leading pack. Their training and commitment came through as they pushed thought the pain in the final lap and close a 30 m gap to take 3rd and 4th place respectively. T Batts followed closely after a very strong race (once again falling over the line but recovering quickly thanks to the attention of M Haycock) with captain A Meltzer, G Kilminster, A McDermott and F Boswell (stepping up to his first varsity race) completing the team. Although suffering from the heat and exertion the boys managed to recover quickly for photo opportunities with the Punahou Girl's squad.

We will have to wait for the final team results as a couple of Punahou runners requiring medical assistance (for heat exhaustion and an asthma attack) saw two fire trucks and three ambulances arrive to assist and all thoughts of results were forgotten. However, the coaches were very impressed with the overall performances and the boys should be incredibly proud of their performances.

For those of you despairing at the lack of scandal and tall tales in this blog, rest assured that Coach Skeen will blog tomorrow morning for a full update as only he can.

Coach Jordan