Hopper's special effort a memorable one

Paul Hopper dug deeper than ever before to take handicap honours in the prestigious Harrison Shield on Saturday.

With the memory of his recently departed mother Audrey fresh in his mind, Hopper found that little bit extra to hold off the fast-closing field to claim the 12km handicap road race at the Wanganui Harriers event.

Hopper ran himself into the ground to beat Kevin McQuillan by just under a minute, but the importance of dedicating the victory to the memory of his mother was enough to ensure his named would be etched on the 74-year-old trophy.

McQuillan, in turn, had to stay focused until the finishing line as third-placed Mike Sutherland was bearing down on him with only eight seconds between them at the finish.

Aaron White produced the fastest time for the trip to Fordell, running the 12km in 44m 01s. Josh Payne was next quickest on 45m 10s ahead of Neil Mayo in 45m 49s.

The O'Donnell Trophy for the women's event saw Kim Whyte claim handicap honours by over a minute from Melina Holmes who had a comfortable buffer over third-placed Elly Young.

Georgia Black ran the quickest time of 54m 54s for the 12km ahead of Holmes in 57m 17s and Kylie Whittaker's 57m 19s.

The 12km walks for the Wanganui Vet Services trophies saw some tight finishes although the winners in both categories - Margaret Stratford and Les Purdy - had reasonable cushions.

Sharon Bennett roared through the field to claim second in the women's race ahead of Diane Hay, while Brian Grinstead was runner-up in the men's field ahead of Bill Charnock.

Gai Mari Smart was again the quickest walker, stopping the clock at 1h 14m 08s with Bennett next best in 1h 20m 47s. Barry Ross was quickest of the men in 1h 21m 23s.

In other grades, Paula Conder finally wore down Tracey Prince to take victory by eight seconds in the vet women's Harrison Family Trophy. Conder produced a tidy 21m 52s for the 5km journey.

In the combined men's and women's under-20 and under-18 grades, Kymberley Le Lievre was too strong for her sister Danielle and Amber Walker in taking the Horsley Trophy, and Sam Hopper took the Hutchins Trophy for fastest time of 18m 07s for the 5km.

In the boys 16/14 Weller Cup, Timothy Reardon held the field at arm's length to take the trophy from Angus Dinwiddie and Christian Conder, while Jordan Reardon was impressive in clocking 15m 52s for the 4km.

Alyssa Le Lievre took the O'Donnell Cup for the girls 16/14 4km race.