A father-and-son combination from Masterton did themselves proud in the Gold Coast half-marathon in Australia last weekend.
Dave and Nick Smith were among 10,342 starters in an event which doubled as the Australian and Oceania half-marathon championships.
Both novice runners, they had been training together for five months, fatherDave having last run over the distance in 1992 and Nick last year.
The goal on this occasion was to record times around the 1hr 30min mark and they achieved their objectives, both finishing in the first 10 in their age groups and placing in the top 5 per cent of the field as a consequence.
Nick Smith was second in the 15-17yrs age group in 1:28.02, a personal best by over 6min, while Dave was just 59s behind him in 1:29.01, which placed him 10th in the 50-54yrs age group.
