The Hill City-University runner marked his first winter race in more than 12 months with a convincing victory in the 8km Edmond Cup at the Otakou Golf Club on Saturday.
Fresh off recording the first sub-16min performance in Dunedin Parkrun history three weeks ago, Chignell displayed commanding control to pull away from defending champion Oliver O’Sullivan over the second half of the race.
Initially engaged in a cagey battle with the 37-year-old father of two, Chignell let loose just after the 4km mark to claim his sixth men’s title in an impressive 26min 22sec.
Only late greats Pat Sidon (11) and Harold Nelson (eight) have won more Edmond Cup titles.
Promising junior George Hamilton returned to the club scene, fending off an early challenge from Leith runner Dan Hayman to pip O’Sullivan at the line and claim second place in 27min 40sec.
O’Sullivan completed the Hill City-University clean sweep with third in 27min 44sec.
The sweep meant Chignell, Hamilton and O’Sullivan formed a strong quartet with team-mate Luke Geddes to hold off Leith’s challenge and win the prestigious Edmond Cup, possibly the oldest trophy on the Athletics Otago calendar.
The most thrilling event of the day was the open women’s 8km race.
Hill City-University’s fast-finishing Taryn McLean held off Kristy Eyles (Leith) to claim victory by less than 1sec.
Within touching distance of each other for the entire race, the pair navigated the undulating fairways of the Peninsula-based course with relative ease.
Just over 300m out, McLean tested her competition with a powerful surge, slowly pulling away from a defiant Eyles to finish in 33min 22sec. Her run continues a fine 12 months for the Hill City-University athlete, quickly re-emerging as an imposing force in the Otago distance running scene.
Eyles had the consolation of combining with third-placed team-mate Agnetha Korevaar, Florence Reynolds and Claudia Sole to win the open women’s team event.
Catherine Lund (Ariki) and Lucas Huia (HCU) won the open 6km titles, and Josh Siloy (Taieri) and Georgy Pakeho (HCU) were the open 4km champions.
Thomas Weatherall (HCU) and Lola Saunders (Ariki) were the under-16 champions, Caleb Dobier (Taieri) and Eva McLean (HCU) the under-14 winners, Perry Saker (Caversham) and Gria Crossan (Taieri) the under-12 winners, and Walter Howard-Smith (Caversham) and Genevieve Hodgson (HCU) the under-10 winners.
Most of Otago’s distance athletes will take three weeks off racing to fine-tune preparations for the Otago cross-country championships at Chisholm Links on July 14.
Given the Edmond Cup’s Otakau course is seen as good preparation on similar terrain, Saturday’s performances by Otago athletes will be fascinating indicators as to what may unfold at Chisholm in three weeks.
Chignell, meanwhile, seems set on fine-tuning his preparations for the Gold Coast half-marathon in two weeks, looking to better his personal best of 1hr 5min 50sec, set in Auckland nearly five years ago.
— Luke Geddes
