15th February 2003: Taranaki Twilight Classic - 10,000m - TET Stadium, Inglewood
1st Lee Troop 27:51.27 AUS
2nd Dean Cavuoto 27:54.82 AUS
3rd Jonathan Wyatt 27:56.79 Valleys
4th Blair Martin 28:08.18 Scottish
5th Phil Costley 28.31.71 Papanui
6th Brett Cartwright 28.34.16 AUS
7th Scott Winton 29.22.68 Counties
8th Matthew Holder 29.29.39 Hastings
9th Barry Keem 29.51.19 AUS
10th Matthew Dravitski 30.04.54 Scottish
11th Alistair Snowden 30.20.23 Hawera
12th Jefferey Spillane 30.37.70 Hill City
13th Russell Dztitchen 30.47.04 AUS
14th Seaton Meredith 30.57.12 Lyndale
15th Brent Pulley 31.44.96 N Canterbury
16th Jason Cressingham 32:25.83 Central
DNF Robbie Parsons Wanganui
DNF Simon Panckhurst Pacemaker Scottish
DNF Rees Buck Pacemaker Scottish
The Aussies were looking for a pace under the World Champs qualifying standard of 27:49, which equated to approximately 66.5 seconds per lap, or 2:47 per kilometre. Simon Panckhurst got things moving for the first couple of laps right on pace, coming through the first two kms in 2:47, and 2:46 (2000m = 5:33). I then took the lead and hit 2:47 (3000m = 8:20) and 2:47 (4000m = 11:07) before leaving them to it at 4400m. The front five consisting of Troop, Cavuoto, Cartwright, Wyatt and Martin went through 5000m on qualifying pace in approx 13:54. The bunch then started to thin with Cartwright dropping off and being passed by Phil Costley and Wyatt and Martin losing contact with the two remaining Aussies. Troop and Cavuoto shared the lead for the next couple of kms although they were slowing by 1-2 seconds every 2-3 laps. With two laps to go Troop made a spirited effort to hit his target, eventually only missing by two seconds. Wyatt managed to pull back a significant margin in the last four laps finishing in 27:56, only two seconds behind a disappointed Cavuoto in 27:54. Wyatt's time places him 4th on the NZ all-time performance list and one second ahead of the performance of John Henwood at this same meet two years ago. Martin and Costley finshed strong to record significant personal bests, along with Winton and Holder. I am very happy with how the pacing went for me as I was on track to run a significant PB over 5000m. This pacemaking has given me a lot of confidence as I prepare for the World Cross Country Championships over 4000m in six weeks.
