Calder judges finish perfectly

Athletic Whangarei's Ian Calder ran a well-judged race on Sunday morning to wrest the Northland Marathon title from four-time winner and clubmate Richard Blogg.
The marathon championships were combined with Sport Northland's Amokura Whangarei Run/Walk Festival, which included a 10km and half-marathon (21.1km) as well as the marathon (42.2km), but the marathon was the only event to offer a Northland title to the winner.
This year, the start/finish area was moved away from the Town Basin to Pohe Island, where all three events started and finished at the same point. Almost 800 runners and walkers took part.
At the 8am start of the marathon, Brett Cornforth, from Takapuna, rushed to the lead, opening-up a gap over the first section. However, Calder - showing a master runner's wisdom - let Cornforth go and ran at his own pace
"I just felt I was running fast enough and if I keep that up I might catch him," Calder said.
Cornforth reached the 10km mark in 36min well ahead of Calder in 37min, with Blogg running strongly further back.
However, about the 18km mark, Cornforth paid the price for his fast start, succumbing to Calder who caught and passed him, quickly opening up a sizeable lead, which he was in no danger of relinquishing, despite slowing towards the finish.
"At the halfway I felt good, but I slowed right down in the last 5km but it was a good run, I was really pleased with that," he said.
Calder finished in two hours 49 minutes and 30 seconds, ahead of Cornforth in 2:58:11, with Blogg taking third overall and second place in the Northland Championship with a time of 3:08:43.
Athletics Whangarei's Leigh Ruddock ran well to win the Northland women's title and first place overall in the women's section, ahead of Hamilton's Eva Scheiwe.
While pleased to win the championship title, Ruddock struggled over the last part of her run.
"The first half was good, but I was pleased to finish because I felt quite sick out there - at the Waimahanga track - about 15km from the finish," she said.
Athletics Whangarei's Tim Goodwin, led the half-marathon unchallenged from the hooter to the finish line, in 1:22:47, but he found it "tough" on the Waimahanga track, particularly over the final 3kms. Gregg Morris, finished second, Fred Needham, third; Daniel Smith, fourth; Chris Seeley, fifth; and Shaun Cooper, sixth.
Kate Wood ran impressively to win the women's half-marathon in 1:38:17, with Claire Forrest second and Alice Mackay third in 1:48:57 and 1:48:58, respectively.
At 86, Colin Thorne was the oldest runner, completing the half-marathon in a remarkable 2:48:57.
Amongst the competitive walkers, Whangarei's Alan Connelly performed well - cutting out the half-marathon in 2:25 - with Kenny Whittaker in second place and John Vowless, third.
With around 600 entries, the 10km was the most popular event, with a fast-finishing Richard Exon leading the field home.