Owairaka Athletics

14/10/2026

11/10/2026

Owai Training and racing update 11 October 2026
First pre-season track was at the weekend plus The Muriwai Half and Melbourne Marathon. Summer Athletics starts up on Wednesday – Senior training continues on Tuesdays and Thursdays building up to the Auckland Marathon and Half. Also, on Tuesday, there’s a course for anyone who’s interested in becoming an Athletics Official.

Coming up
• Track and Field over the Summer: https://www.owairakaathletics.co.nz/events-1/athletics-auckland-events
• 13 October Officials Level 1 Course at Lovelock https://www.owairakaathletics.co.nz/events-1/officials-course-level-1
• 1 November 2026: Auckland Marathon https://aucklandmarathon.co.nz/
• 19 December 2026: Night of 5s https://athletics.org.nz/event/night-of-5s/
• 7 March 2027: ROUND THE BAYS Registration — Southern Cross Round the Bays Auckland — Race Roster — Registration, Marketing, Fundraising
• 18 April 2027: Christchurch Marathon. DISCOUNT CODE: ATHLETICSNZ2027 https://www.christchurchmarathon.co.nz/
• 2 October 2027. New Zealand Road Relays. Takahe to Akaroa.

SENIOR TRAINING THIS WEEK

Tuesday: Edinburgh pyramid
Meet at Lovelock Track at 5.55pm
5 mins x2; 4 mins x 2; 3 mins x 2; 2 mins x2; 1 min
2 mins recovery between each effort.
If you are feeling strong, try to drop down in pace as you go – maybe starting at around Marathon – Half marathon pace.

Thursday: Six sixes are 36
Meet at Lovelock Track at 5.55pm
6 x 6 mins with 1 min recovery between.
Aim for Marathon to Half Marathon pace / effort.

Results
Auckland 10,000m Champs
David Lockhart 48:07:33 1st M65; 3rd Overall

Melbourne Marathon
Keith Burrows 2:49:18
Henry Hills 2:52:39
Tharindu Jayasinghe 2:54:18
Adam Gallagher 3:00:00
Sarah Hall 3:05:55
Haoting Ma 3:55:21

Muriwai Half Marathon
Dion O’Neale 1:34:40
Michele Lazzari 1:40:41
Owen Mitchell 1:45:27
Emily Harvey 1:47:39 3rd
Maddy Hodgeman 1:52:58
Leah Hankey 1:59:57
Mike Smith 2:08 54
Amanda Summersby 2:16:19

Image of David Lockhart thanks to Action Snaps

05/10/2026

Owai Training and racing update 5 October 2026

Well done to our road relay teams at Halcombe. We are very proud of your efforts, camaraderie and team work. Full write up coming! Good luck to the marathon runners and 10,000m track runners for the weekend.

Coming up
• 10 October McKinnon Shield pre-season meet and Auckland 10,000m Championships (Entries close Wednesday night) https://athleticsauckland.co.nz/competition/events/
• 11 October Chicago Marathon
• 11 October Melbourne Marathon
• 13 October Officials Level 1 Course at Lovelock https://www.owairakaathletics.co.nz/events-1/officials-course-level-1
• 2 October 2027. New Zealand Road Relays. Takahe to Akaroa.

SENIOR TRAINING THIS WEEK

Tuesday: Owai goes to Michigan 🦌

Meet at Lovelock Track at 5.55pm
Up to 40 minutes. A lap of War Memorial Park (~2km), 1 lap of the track; lap of the park, 2 laps of the track, lap of the park, 3 laps of the track, etc. Do as many as you can in 40 minutes. Run the park laps at 4-5 out of 10 effort, run the laps of the track at 7 out of 10 effort. If you raced in the weekend, make these 3/10 and 5/10. Try to keep the pace on the park laps steady as you progress through the session.

Thursday: Spicy 36 minute sandwich 🥪.

Meet at Lovelock Track at 5.55pm

Similar to last Thursday but more polarized. 3x 5mins (60” recovery); 6x 1min (30” recovery); 3x 5mins (60”). Try to make the 1 minute efforts a bit faster/harder than last week (ideally 6 but no more than 8 out of 10 effort) and make the 5 minute efforts correspondingly easier (but no easier than 3 out of 10).

Results

New Zealand Road Relay Champs, Halcombe (7 Leg Relay)

Owai Senior Men: Haoting Ma, Ben Anderson, Adam Berry, Tom Grace, Rohan Kanagasundaram, Sam Ge**er, Peter Knight. 4:29:37

Owai Senior Women: Zoe Gowers, Leah Hankey, Maddy Hodgeman, Laura Smith, Emily Harvey, Jo Aleh, Leah Burson 05:05:02

Owai M35s: Nick Pannett, Simon Mace, Mark Morrissey, Johnathon Gee, Dion O’Neale, Mariano Piagentini, Karl Kalders 04:20:33 4th

Owai M50s: Keith Burrows, Dan Coates, Julian Ng, Andrew Harvey, Nick Moore, Ben Evans, Pete Kenny. 4:25:55 2nd M50

28/09/2026

Training and racing update 27/9/26

Well done to those who ran the Blue Lake Ultra, Devonport, Whangamata and Berlin! Good luck to the four Owai teams running at the NZRR in Halcombe next weekend. Coming up – a local 10,000m race and a chance to become an athletics official. Yay!

Coming up

• Saturday 3 October - New Zealand Road Relay Champs, Halcombe, Wanganui-Manawatu. See: https://www.owairakaathletics.co.nz/events-1/2026-nz-road-relays
• 10 October McKinnon Shield pre-season meet and Auckland 10,000m Championships
• 11 October Chicago Marathon
• 11 October Melbourne Marathon
• 13 October Officials Level 1 Course at Lovelock https://www.owairakaathletics.co.nz/events-1/officials-course-level-1

SENIOR TRAINING THIS WEEK

Tuesday – Double (or single) Mona Fartlek

Meet Lovelock Track at 5.55pm
90 secs with 90 secs recovery x2; 60 secs with 60 secs recovery x4; 30 secs with 30 secs recovery x 4; 15 secs with 15 secs recovery x 4
5 mins rest
REPEAT
If you are doing relays this weekend or you are an athlete focusing on shorter distances who runs lower volumes, just do a single Mona Fartlek

Thursday – 3 x 5 mins, 6x 1 min, 3 x 5 mins

Meet Lovelock Track at 5.55pm

3 x 5 mins, then 6 x 1 min then 3 x 5 mins (r 60 seconds between the 5 mins; 30 seconds between the 1 mins)

Ons around half marathon to marathon pace; For the recoveries, jog to nearest 200m mark on the track and start the next one from there.

If you are doing relays at the weekend, do the first 3 x 5 mins and then the 6 x 1 mins and stop there.

Results

Berlin Marathon
Andrew Harvey 2:58:11
Kit Bennett 3:02:08
Ketina Chivasa 4:30:03

Devonport
Half Marathon
Brigid Du Burgess 1:35:20 3rd Female
Liam Gaffney 1:44:32
Ella Pracy 1:52:19
10k
James Rimmer 40:49 3rd Male
5k
Liam Rimmer 19:37
Tommy Rimmer 19:37
Lisa Rimmer 25:38

Whangamata HM
Paul Booth 1:49:06

20/09/2026

Owai Training and racing update 20/9/26

Results from Race Tekapo and the Auckland 5km Road Champs at Mt Smart. The countdown to the Halcombe Road Relays is on and the progression continues in training.

Coming up
• Saturday 26 September Blue Lake Challenge, Rotorua
• Saturday 26 September Whangamata Half Marathon
• Saturday 3 October - New Zealand Road Relay Champs, Halcombe, Wanganui-Manawatu.
• 11 October Chicago and Melbourne Marathons

SENIOR TRAINING THIS WEEK

Tuesday -Up and down the pyramid
Meet Lovelock Track at 5.55pm
5 mins, 4 mins, 3 mins, 2 mins, 1 min , 2 mins, 3 mins, 4 mins, 5 mins
90 seconds recovery
HM- 10k pace

Thursday - Up to 9 x 4 mins (r 60 seconds)
Meet Lovelock Track at 5.55pm
Ons around half marathon to marathon pace; For the 60 second recoveries, jog to nearest 200m mark on the track and start the next one from there.

Results

Race Tekapo

50km Karl Kalders 5:00:58
32km Kathleen Hudson 2:47:20 (2nd)
21km Maddy Hodgeman 2:08:18

Auckland 5km Road Championships, Mt Smart

MU16
Joshua Parkinson 22:24

Senior Men
Tharindu Jayasinghe 18:24

Men 35
Michele Lazzari 19:46 (2nd)

Men 40
Mark Morrissey 18:28 (2nd)

Men 45
Simon Mace 16:54 (1st)

Men 60
Garth Cunningham 23:36

Women 70
Liz Hardley 31:07 (1st)

20/09/2026

Yesterday was the Auckland 5k Road Champs followed by senior prizegiving at Mt Smart. Thanks to Petro for the photos and well done everyone involved in the Winter Season. Here's a link to all the Owai winners. You are all awesome! What a cool season. https://www.owairakaathletics.co.nz/post/owai-at-the-2026-senior-aai-winter-prizegiving

16/09/2026

Something for the school holidays for our 10-14 athletes

Spring Aspire Academy for athletes aged 10 - 14 years old
7 & 8 October 2026
Mt Smart Stadium
Enter via the Athletics Auckland website

14/09/2026

Switchover season! Relays and summer plans, including lots of opportunities to learn more about coaching or becoming an official - read all the details in our September newsletter, and send us a message if you would like to know more - https://mailchi.mp/3e8419d56066/sep2026