Athletics: National favourites hit the ground running

The big guns had few troubles winning titles at the National Track and Field Championships at Christchurch yesterday.

Nick Willis in the 1500m, Beatrice Faumuina in the discus, Jason Stewart in the 800m and Chantal Brunner and James Dolphin in the 200m all won their events comfortably.

US-based Willis, back in training in the Hutt Valley before the Commonwealth Games, cruised into the lead at the bell, running a 53s final lap. That pleased Willis as he had no pace in his legs in the last 100m, the result of his heavy training workload.

"If that was a world-class field they would have gone past me on the straight," Willis explained.

He will get a better gauge of where he is at during the Mayoral Mile in Wanganui, up up against Australian Craig Mottram.

"He will be favourite for that race but that's not a bad spot for me to be in," Willis said.

The Wellingtonian has been clocking 145-150km each week for the last 13 weeks in what he has called a "flawless preparation", having not lost one day to injury.

"The larger the base, the taller the pyramid," said Willis. "I've been training like a marathon runner."

Those miles were evident in the 3m 50.77s time set in the final, a time that will not scare the best milers in the Commonwealth. Willis said he woke yesterday with visions of running a 3m 40s.

"As the day progressed I got a bit soft," he said of his decision to race to win rather than battling the clock. Paul Hamblyn, himself already qualified for the Games, finished second in 3m 52.05s.

Commonwealth Games-bound Stewart cruised to victory. The Hawke's Bay runner also eschewed the opportunity to run a fast time in favour of making sure he bagged a national title. He ran 1m 50.4s in beating Gareth Hyett by .28s.

"The time was actually quite good considering the way the race was run," Stewart said.

While he would have ideally liked a 1m 48s here, he will now throw his energies into a quick time at the Victorian Championships next month.

Faumuina's best throw was her first at 61.61m. That was more than seven metres further than Tonga's Melihifo Uhi (53.82) in second place.

Dolphin and Brunner bagged a sprint double in the 100m and 200m. Dolphin's 20.88s was too good for Matt Brown who finished second with 21.08s. Brunner ran 24.18s while second-placed Monique Williams ran 24.3s.

In the women's 1500m, Jessica Ruthe ran 4m 21.46s to hold off Wellington's Melissa Moon in 4m 22.49s. Moon was also second in Friday's 5000m behind a hobbling Kimberley Smith.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY