Eric Speakman with his 16-month-old daughter crossing the line at the end of the Peak Trailblazer on Sunday. Photo / Paul Taylor
Eric Speakman with his 16-month-old daughter crossing the line at the end of the Peak Trailblazer on Sunday. Photo / Paul Taylor
It’s peak season for those aspiring to greater heights, in particular the young ones, with just six days between the Peak Trailblazer, held last Sunday, and the more arduous Triple Peaks this Saturday.
Fundraising event the Te Mata Peak run/walk Gourmeats trailblazer had possibly its youngest finisher, with run record-holderand new dad Eric Speakman carrying his 16-month-old daughter across the line in yet another win – his first start in the event in 10 years.
Meanwhile, 15-year-old Havelock North schoolboy Tom Gavinet will compete in this weekend’s Triple Peaks, where the prizes will include 15 trophies he’s made at wood technology class and in the garage at home.
Speakman’s win on Sunday was just the latest in a career on the road and on the track, including a national championships’ men’s 1500m title in Hamilton in 2016 and two sub-four miles at Whanganui’s Cook Gardens.
On Sunday, he won in 49m 26s. He won’t be contesting the Triple Peaks, with vague memories of maybe once doing one of the legs in the relay, and his next race is the national mountain running championships in Wellington’s Skyline Traverse on April 18.
With 498 finishers taking on the 12.6km Te Mata Peak Park Run or Walk and the 3.5km Tainui Trail for the youngsters, it was run by the Havelock North Primary Home and School Committee, with over 70 volunteers.
It has raised over $250,000 for local causes over the years, including the school and the Hawke’s Bay Helicopter Rescue Service.
Speakman, who beat New Zealand mountain running teammate Michael Sutton, of Tauranga, by over a minute, with triathlete Ben Wilson finishing in third place, said one of his favourite parts is running past the young athletes getting ready to start the Tainui Trail.
“That’s awesome, every year they’re all sitting there waiting to start, and they just rip up the crowd and sometimes you get a little too hyped and you feel like you’re already finishing,” he said.
The women’s race was won by 2024 winner Grace McConnochie, of Gisborne, by seven minutes from runner-up and Hawke’s Bay competitor Annika Johnson, with Iona College schoolmates Libby Pearce and Maddie Butler in third and fourth.
Tom Gavinet and the trophies he's produced for the Triple Peaks Challenge starting in Havelock North on Saturday.
The Harcourts Triple Peaks this Saturday takes in Te Mata Peak, Kahuranaki and Mt Erin, and proud mum Julie Gavinet says her son, who has competed in the event in a family team and this year competes with friends, said he talked to the organisers in January about the trophies, and made 15 for different categories.
“I’m very proud of him and thought that he could be recognised and maybe his story will inspire more teenagers to get off their device and do things,” she said.
During the week, he was competing in a national schools futsal tournament in Wellington and was set to return on Friday night, ready for racing the next morning.
Managed by Triathlon Hawke’s Bay, the Triple Peaks challenge comprises the Three Peaks starting at 7am followed and the Two Peaks at 8.30am, both from the Havelock North Village Green, with the One Peak starting at 9.30am from Rochfort Rd.
Doug Laing is a Hawke’s Bay Today reporter based in Napier, with more than 50 years in the news industry, including more than 40 covering news events and issues in Hawke’s Bay.
