Point to Pinnacle: Cold weather rules out mountaintop finish
An Olympian and a local runner were the first man and woman to cross the Point to Pinnacle finish line, which was run on a different course this year because of ice and snow on top of kunanyi/Mt Wellington.
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RUNNER Ben St Lawrence has claimed his second consecutive Point to Pinnacle win, this time on a new course because weather conditions prevented a mountain top finish.
The 38-year-old from Kensington, NSW, finished the 21.1km race from Wrest Point to the Longley Hotel this morning in just under one hour and four minutes.
Launceston’s Karinna Fyfe was the first woman to finish, with a time 1hr 16min 31 sec.
St Lawrence, a two-time Olympian who hopes to qualify for the marathon at next year’s Tokyo Games, broke the Point to Pinnacle record last year.
He reached the top of kunanyi/Mt Wellington in 1hr 21min 50sec, cutting two and a half minutes of the previous best by Harry Summers.
A mountain-top finish was ruled out for this year’s Point to Pinnacle because of severe weather.
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Organisers said ice, snow and 70km/h winds forced the route to be changed with the finish being at Longley Hotel.
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The place getters were:
Male 21.1km Point to Pinnacle — Ben St Lawrence, Nick Earl and Thomas Murton.
Female 21.1km Point to Pinnacle — Karinna Fyfe, Katie Conlan, Erchana Murray.
Male 21.1km Point to Pinnacle walk — Pal Store, Patrick Harrison, Daniel Hanna.
Female 21.1km Point to Pinnacle walk — Tara Muller, Lauren Jauncey Gorringe, Sophie Burbury.
Male 10km Point to Pub run — Phil McConnon, Christopher Sullivan, Daniel Smee.
Female 10km Point to Pub run — Mikayla Ireland, Kristin Bjerregaard, Nat Fleming.
Male 10km Point to Pub walk — Unnamed racer (no. 5600), Shaun Lockwood, Pentelis Cleoudis.
Female 10km Point to Pub walk — Karen Cuzzucoli, Eleanor Kramer, Bryony Mason.
Tasmania Police closed Huon Rd from Summerleas Rd to Longley between 7am and noon so runners and walkers could use the alternate route to Longley.
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“Due to poor weather conditions, today’s Point to Pinnacle will take the alternative finish at the Longley Hotel,” police said in a statement.
The temperature on the top of kunanyi/Mt Wellingon at 7.50am was -1.9C with an apparent temperature of -12.4C. Winds were gusting to 46km/h.
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