Tauranga athlete Angus Bell boosted his prospects of a return to international competition on Saturday with a podium finish at the New Zealand mountain running championships.
Battling slippery conditions at Porirua, the 2007 national champ came home third in the senior men's division, with his clubmate Ruby Muir keeping Tauranga Ramblers
to the fore with a win in the senior women's division.
Returning to the competition trail last year after a spinal fracture, Bell held second place during the early stages of the 13.3km event before being overtaken by Canadian representative and eventual runner-up James Richardson.
With '09 titleholder and consistent podium presence Glenn Hughes retiring during the race due to injury, Richardson pressed on to challenge Hawera's Dougan Butler for the lead, Butler ultimately pulling away for victory.
Eyeing selection for the world championships in Albania and the Commonwealth titles in Wales this September, Bell is hopeful Saturday's showing will earn him a start at one or both of the events.
"You always want to win but considering my relatively short build-up of five weeks, I was pretty happy. Top-three was the goal and my race panned out as I expected." Having returned to his hometown Tauranga at Christmas after some years in Auckland, 31-year-old Bell is buoyed by the welcome at his new club.
"That was my first run in a Tauranga Ramblers singlet and it's been really good to have them supporting me." A rising star of off-road running, Ruby Muir won the women's title over 8.8km in 42m 40s, beating Tina Harris of Wellington by 2m 37s.
"I probably could've gone a bit harder," the Whitianga-based teen said. "I actually stopped and walked for a bit ... I enjoy mountain running because it's the most technical you can get in athletic events."
With plenty obviously left in the tank, Muir kicked on to win the women's division at the Hastings half marathon yesterday.
