Molenberg Mile Series - 1983

The organisers of the Molenberg Mile, based on the success of the Queen Street Mile in 1982, decided to make a series of it in 1983 with different venues and different surfaces. The races were held on the trotting track at Addington in Christchurch, the flat road at Mount Maunganui, the beach at Paraparaumu and the classic downhill of Queen Street in Auckland.

Paraparumu Beach

I didn't get invited to either the Addington or Mount Maunganui events but, since I was a local, got the nod to race on the beach at Paraparaumu. It wasn't a particularly nice day but could've been much worse if it had been blowing a strong northerly.

Running on sand is not an easy task. It tends to sink under your feet and gives nothing back for any drive you do off the ankles. It's best to try and run with a good knee lift and flattish feet. I decided to run in my favourite footwear. Nothing. In bare feet you can get a feel of how the sand is slipping under your feet and adjust for it. In spikes you get none of this and probably run the same way as you would on the track. This is likely to cost you towards the end of the race.

Just after the start. From left to right are Russell Haswell, Ray Flynn, Mike Boit, Michael Hillardt, Steve Scott, Tony Rogers, B Crew, me and Liam Healy.

From the gun I took the pace, led through the quarter and was still with the top runners at half way. After that Mike Boit, Steve Scott, Ray Flynn and Tony Rogers ran away from me but Tony began to fade towards the end and only finished a second in front of me. No one else came past.

Mike Boit won in what was an excellent time of 3:57.46 for the conditions. Steve Scott was second in 3:58.80, Ray Flynn third in 4:01.60, Tony Rogers fourth in 4:08.33 and I was fifth in 4:09.69.

After the races were over we did a bit of socialising, part of which was a trip to Kapiti Island. Mike Boit was not a very happy sailor and I can remember him dressed up in yellow rain gear with the hood up, black face showing with white teeth gritted, gripping to the windscreen rail as if his life depended on it. If his hands hadn't been so dark I'm sure his knuckles would've been white. Once back to the beach he became more relaxed and we had a nice fire where we toasted weenies and marshmallows into the night.

Queen Street

It was much the same story as 1982 for the Queen Street mile. The only difference for me was that I ran the first part of the race a couple of seconds quicker and paid for it at the other end with my final time being a couple of seconds slower. I ran through the quarter in 52 seconds and was still with the leaders at halfway in 1:42. But then my condition gave out and I faded to finish last in 3:42.85. There's a YouTube video of the race and you can see my stride become a bit ragged as I really start to struggle after halfway.

Mike Boit's time of 3:28.36 was the fastest mile that had ever been run.

Full results

1	Mike Boit	3:28.36
2	Steve Scott	3:29.44
3	Ray Flynn	3:29.66
4	Michael Hillardt	3:32.33
5	Mike Malloy	3:32.48
6	B Crew	3:35.02
7	Tony Rogers	3:38.21
8	Russell Haswell	3:40.10
9	Mark Handley	3:42.48