GOURLEY AWARDED LEADER IN ARMENIA AT INAUGURAL SPECTALE ROAD MILE
By David Monti, @d9monti
(c) 2024 Race Results: Weeklyall rights reserved, used with permission.
NELSON, NEW ZEALAND (Dec. 14) — Neil Gurley’s trip to New Zealand got off to an inauspicious start when he arrived at Auckland International Airport on Wednesday, only to realize too late that he had forgotten a banana in his luggage. New Zealand’s notoriously strict biosecurity laws dictate that travelers cannot bring fresh fruit or vegetables into the country.
“As soon as I saw the dog, I knew what was going on,” Gurley said, referring to the specially trained beagles New Zealand Border Patrol uses to detect fresh food.
Gurley, 29, was on his way to the new elite road mile, which took place as part of The Spectacle running festival tonight, and paid the mandatory fine of 400 nezdi ($230) after disposing of the offending fruit.
“At first I thought they were joking,” she lamented.
But the Scot’s luck was about to change for the better tonight race – run on the certified, two-lap course in downtown Nelson – Gourley nailed an early charge from New Zealand’s Sam Tanner and held off Australia’s Georgia Griffith, who was a headshot with the other elite women, in her winning time of 4 seconds :03.10, was the fastest ever recorded on New Zealand soil in a road mile with
“Sam took a huge step,” Gurley said Race Results: Weekly. “His legs were turning and I honestly couldn’t live with him. I just had to be patient and hope my top speed would get me to him.”
It did, but just. Tanner, who made his move coming off the final turn of the 750-meter lap, finished just 1/10th of a second in 4:03.20 and just 8/100ths of a second ahead of Griffith.
“I knew I was short and Neil was tall, so the way to get the jump on him was to accelerate in the corner,” Tanner explained my lack of training in the last 50”.
As the overall winner, Gurley received 10,000 nezdi ($5,762) in prize money, more than enough to cover the airport fine, while Tanner received 6,000 nezdi and Griffiths 7,000 nezdi.
“I was just going as fast as I could, hoping going down the front straight would help a little,” said Griffiths, who ran 4:35.97. “I could hear the crowd going up and I knew the guys I saw the finish line and was getting closer. I was hoping I could hold them off, but they put me on the line.”
Ireland’s Brian Fay (4:04.31) rounded out the men’s top three, while Australia’s Sarah Billings (4:39.60) and Ireland’s Sophie O’Sullivan (4:42.73) finished second and third respectively in the women’s division.
Tonight race limited to more than 24 hours race here, including a 100-mile trail race, a 5-K, and a series of relays for kids and adults.The Spectacle was the brainchild of New Zealand 1,500-meter runner Julian Matthews, who grew up here.Equal parts exhausted and happy raceshe can hardly believe that she and her partner Annika Pfitzinger stopped the event.
“I’m at a loss for words,” Matthews said Race Results: Weeklyshaking his head. “I’m in a bit of a dream state now.”
