OCTOBER UPDATE

The Annual Meeting of the Otago Masters Athletics Association was held in the Athletics Otago Rooms Logan Park Drive on Wednesday September 18th. Among those attending were newly elected Athletics New Zealand President Joan Merrilees and Athletics New Zealand and New Zealand Masters Life Member and also Patron of Oceania Athletics Jim Blair. Jim was in Dunedin for a Throwing Competition to be held over the upcoming Weekend.

During the Meeting Joan Merrilees gave an interesting report on the recent operations of the Oceania Council and the 2019 Oceania Track and Field Championships held in Mackay Queensland. The Championships overall went very well although problems were encountered with providing a sufficient number of Officials for all events due to the extremely hot conditions. Otago Athletes who competed in Mackay were highly satisfied with their performances. Dalise Sanderson was 1st in the W60 800m and 2nd in both the 400 and 1500m while Husband Gene Sanderson was 3rd in the M65 5000m and 4th in the 8k Cross- Country. Another extremely pleased with her efforts in Mackay after only recently recovering from knee surgery was Noni Callander. Competing in a wide range of throwing events Noni placed 2nd in the Women 70 Shot Put, 3rd in the Discus and Javelin 5th in the Weight Throw and Throws Pentathlon and 6th in the Hammer Throw. Congratulations on your great series of results Noni. The other Otago competitors in Mackay were Jim Kerse who was 2nd in the M70 3000m, 3rd in the 5000m Race Walk and 4th in the  10000m Race Walk,while Malcolm Hammond was 6th in the M70 6K Cross Country. Everyone enjoyed their competition and soon adjusted to the expected high temperatures so different from those experienced in Otago. The brand new track in use for the Championships also attracted favourable comment.

The opening of the 2019/20 Athletics Otago Track and Field Season will be held at the Caledonian Ground on Saturday October 5th. The first Masters Event for the Season will be the Peggy Calder Memorial Interclub Meeting to be held at the Caledonian Ground on Sunday October 21st. Two other early season events with dates yet to be confirmed are the Bill Kenny Memorial Steeplechase Relay and the annual Pre Christmas 5K Beach Run. A number of Otago Athletes will be competing at the South Island Masters Games held in Christchurch in Mid November.

A few hardy souls got together on Sunday the 22nd September for the Australasian postal throws pentathlon. Ably organised by Fiona Harvey and Claire Giles with help from some spouses, they chanced on a beautiful day to gets the joints mobile again and foster enthusiasm for the coming season. We appreciated those from out of town, Jim from Wellington, Mark from Invercargill and Lester from Te Anau, and are very grateful that they could join us to make the competition better despite the diverse ages. From left - Noni Calendar (W 70 3,076), Jim Blair (M85 2,915), Claire Giles (W60 2,106), Mark Flaus (M60 3,125), Fiona Harvey (W55 2,568), Lester Laughton (M65 2,802) and Winifred Harding (W60 2,573).