Hills claims 2021 Ekiden Relay (Marathon) title

Published Mon 06 Sep 2021

Team Results: 1. Hills Districts (A) 2.11.57, 2. Flinders (1) 2.17.33, 3. Adelaide Harriers (A) 2.22.06, 4. Flinders (2) 2.23.52, 5. Adelaide Harriers (B) 2.28.59, 6. Adelaide Harriers (C) 2.30.09, 7. Flinders (3) 2.32.38, 8. Saints 2.32.49, 9. Flinders (5) 2.38.06, 10. Hill Districts (B) 2.40.35.

Event date: 4/09/2021

Course: 21 laps of a 2km loop up and back along the River Torrens at Bonython Park.

See all the photos from the event

The penultimate event of the 2021 winter premiership was the six-person (at least two athletes of each gender) Ekiden Relay, held on Sunday, September 4.

This year’s loop stayed on the paths/road which provided more secure footing, but it resulted in a couple of tight turns late in the loop.

Nineteen teams completed the marathon distance relay and 13 ran the half-marathon. Most of the teams hailed from Athletics SA clubs, but several community teams entered the event.

Hills Districts win the Ekiden Relay with dominant performance.

It was always a strong team on paper, and as it turned out, a strong team on the track.

The Hills Districts A winning team was a combination of 2020 Olympian Matt Clarke, 2021 XC State Champion Max Stevens, Caitlin Adams, Sarah Eckel, Daniel Canala and Max Spurling.

The Ekiden Relay can be a race of tactics, and the decision of where to position your runners can be crucial. Hills A opted for Adams (who ended up having best run of the day by a female athlete) to run the first leg (6.195km) and finished 74 seconds behind Saints lead runner Adam Goddard. After winning the Men's U20 2021 XC State Championship last month Goddard demonstrated that he can perform on all surfaces, and opened a 42-second lead over Adelaide Harriers A runnner Mitch Renihard and Tom Lancaster (FLN).

Zac Connell (Saints) held onto the lead during the second leg, but Eckel (Hills) reduced the deficit by 45 seconds and overtook Isobel Hume (FLN) to be second overall. Flinders B had Grace Deacon who ran well, getting her team into third.

The long 10km third leg is where some our best distance athletes have traditionally performed well. Not sure if Canala (Hills) drew the short straw, but it was great to see him complete the five laps and recording the best performance of the day. Canala put any doubt on which club was to win to rest establishing a two-minute lead. Lachlan Scott (FLN) was the second fastest on this leg but lost time to Canala. It was a great battle for third, with James Kay for Flinders 2 holding on in front of Adelaide Harriers A Ben Cartwright.

Hills A had the lead and knew their two female athletes had already run so the result wasn’t in doubt. Stevens (Hills) ran the fastest 8km of the day (24.08) and put Hills A in front by two and half-minutes. Bailey Dyer (FLN 1) was elevated to a longer leg and showed his improvement this season dropping only 37 seconds on Stevens. Thomas Dowd (AH A) put the Harriers back in third passing Lachlan Hennig (FLN 2).

Spurling not surprisingly extended the Hills A lead. Madeline Kelly justified her selection in the Flinders 1 team by going under 22 minutes for the 6km. Anna Plew (AH) was marginally faster than Sophie Hlipala (FLN) to keep the Harriers in third place ahead of Flinders 2 by one minute.

There was no pressure when recent Olympian Clarke (Hills A) started the final leg with a five-minute lead. The only decision was whether to keep his sunglasses on or off in the variable weather. Last year was the closest finish in the event's history and this year it was the biggest victory margin since 2012. Congratulations to Hills Districts for their win.

Marco Els (FLN) did well to keep the margin to five and half-minutes brining Flinders 1 into second place. Adrian Potter (AH A), coming back from injury, extended the Harriers lead over Flinders 2 to be safely in third.

Best Performances (Male) based on modelled data across distances:

1. Daniel Canala (Hills) (10km) 30.28, 2. Max Stevens (Hills) (8km) 24.08, 3. Matt Clarke (Hills) (8km) 24.39, 4. Bailey Dyer (FLN) (8km) 24.45, 5. Adam Goddard (Saints) (6.195km) 19.02, 6. Lachlan Scott (FLN) (10km) 31.55, 7. Marco Els (FLN) (8km) 25.11, 8. Adrian Potter (AH) (8km) 25.21, 9. Thomas Dowd (AH) (8km) 25.27, 10. Jack Hunter (8km) 25.44.

Best Performances (Female) based on modelled data across distances:

1. Caitlan Adams (Hills) (6.195km) 20.16, 2. Sarah Eckel (Hills) (4km) 13.05, 3. Brooke Hines (Saints) (8km) 28.52, 4. Madeline Kelly (FLN) (6km) 21.50, 5. Isobel Hume (FLN) (4km) 14.02, 6. Claire Hodgart (Saints) (8km) 30.43, 7. Anna Plew (AH) (6km) 22.23, 8. Coralie Duckworth (AH) (10km) 39.13, 9. Sophie Hlipala (FLN) (6km) 22.37, 10. Tash Jarrett (AH) (6km) 22.40.

Community Teams

This is an event where community teams can match themselves against established clubs. While some are more formal than others it was great to have the Strathalbyn Run Club and Adelaide Run Crew field two marathon teams with SRC 1 winning the battle of the community teams with a sub three-hour marathon. In the half marathon the Wooden Spoons were too good for the Scrambled Legs and another SRC team. The best performance by a community male was Hayden Hands (SRC1) with a 38.26 10km and Olivia (ARC) who ran 26.00 in the opening 6.195km opening marathon leg.

Some other notable performances

Some more great runs from our talented younger athletes headed by U14 Tessa Ebert (PA), U18 Jessica McManus (PA), U16 Zac Bald (PA) and U18 Torben Roberts (FLN). In the older age groups O35 Robert Killmier (FLN), O50 Colin Ambrose (FLN), O35s Lisa Davis (Hills) and Michelle Leydon (AH) were the stand-outs in their age groups.