Julian Oakley's sizeable kick has carried him to his first New Zealand road race title, although the teenage running sensation's post-race schedule might just have proved to be the most exhausting part of his weekend.
Oakley, 18, burned off his rivals with a withering last kilometre on a chilly Wellingtonwaterfront whipped by a decent southerly to win the 8km 19 men's title in 25m 42s, seven seconds ahead of Auckland's John Schreuder with Alex Gorrie (Canterbury) another five seconds back.
Hours after his race Oakley was on a plane back to Tauranga in time for the Boys' College ball on Saturday night, followed by a trek by car back down the island early yesterday morning to New Plymouth, where he's racing for Waikato-Bay of Plenty in today's North Island secondary schools crosscountry relay alongside Tauranga Boys' teammate Patrick Burrows.
"It's been a fairly hectic couple of days but pretty good to get my first national road title," Oakley, who won the Waikato-Bay of Plenty title two weeks ago at Tauriko, said.
National 10,000m track champion Stephen Lett added another title to his collection when he won the 10km senior men's road championships, with Auckland champion Lisa Robertson winning the women's title, with former Tauranga Girls' College runner Lydia O'Donnell third.
The slow pace of the men's 19 race played right into Oakley's hands, with the son of former world squash champion Dame Susan Devoy and her husband John Oakley calling on a withering late burst to street his rivals.
"We were pretty tightly bunched for about 6.5km but the pace was slow and Alex (Gorrie) made a move and it was all on from there. We all knew someone would kick at some stage with the slow pace, it was just a matter of who."
Oakley let Gorrie bolt but had reeled him in within 500m and controlled the final kilometre.
"The slow start really favoured me because I've got some good leg speed left from the track and always backed my chances if it came down to the last kilometre."
Katikati's Sally Gibbs (W45), fresh from three running golds at the world masters championships in the US, was in superb form in the masters women, winning the combined race with the junior women outright with an outstanding time of 17m 22s for 5000m.
Tauranga's Sid Pavett won the men's 75-79 by a massive 8 minutes, with Mt Maunganui's Fay Riley taking out the masters women 65-69 in 31m 56s.
