This month’s blog is a nod to neighbouring Cambridge and their longstanding athletic club. Next time you zoom through the outskirts of town, cast a glimpse toward the little old clubrooms overlooking Nikki Hamlin’s grass track. It all looks pretty quiet much of the time, but let the ladies in with their voluminous aluminium tea pot and the place will soon come alive with mallow puffs, saveloys and runners from as far away as Glen Eden. This was the scene recently after the long standing Sanatorium Hill race, a good old fashioned ha...

As we slog along through the NZ winter many of our top young athletes are living the dream in Europe. I can’t complain having had a good dose of challenging racing over there earlier this year including the World Cross Country Champs (Spain). For now I will make do with nzrun coverage and hope that the Van Dalens keep the culinary reports flowing out of Belgium and beyond ! Such cultural experiences tend to spark a cooking phase of some sort. Last year a Japanese phase (post Nagano marathon) ended abruptly with a tempura oil fire, house f...

The NZrun forum has often been a venue for debate over why we lose so many young athletes from our sport.  Usually the topic of American Scholarships comes up, with those for and those against. Various risk factors are postulated, such as booze, finances, girls (boys), not enough butter, study, work, children, injuries etc... The other day I was clearing out my wardrobe. If I was a public hospital middle manager I would call this activity “Lean Thinking”, but alas, I only treat patients, so call it throwing out stuff and am pa...

A central cafe boasts "views of the city library". I think that sums up Canberra quite well. Very clean, neat as a pin, big wide roads without congestion, everyone has a job to go to, not a rusty car or bohemian in sight. Canberra's soul dresses in a sterile work suit and goes home to Sydney in the weekends. Apart from an impressive war memorial museum, there is however, one very good reason to go wild and book a fare to Canberra....the marathon.   The Canberra Marathon has been a happy hun...

  Yes, I know. We are all over the Liza Hunter-Galvan saga, as Kath and Kim would say, “over, O-V-A-H”. So, why did I fork out on a North and South, just to read Lorraine Moller’s article ? Because I remain puzzled by the unrelenting support Liza has had from the legends of our sport. I have a huge amount of respect for Moller as an athlete and a person. Her autobiography is one of the best books I have ever read, so thought, damn it, if her writing does not convince me, nothing will ! I sat down with the magazine, an Ams...