Latest news with #Cantabrian
Scoop
3 days ago
- Sport
- Scoop
Record Racing In Wellington
Press Release – Gazley Volkswagen Wellington Marathon With perfect weather and entries from 26 countries, the 2025 Gazley Volkswagen Wellington Marathon was a record breaker before the gun even fired. But two record breaking winners had the last word. Wellington's own Toby Gualter had the first word. A year ago in Wellington he set a new course with his first major half marathon win in terrible conditions. This year he took advantage of perfect weather to carve almost a minute off that time and claim the national half marathon title as well. Gualter came into the race as the heavy favourite after a win in the Christchurch half marathon earlier this year. And he didn't disappoint, racing straight to the front and eventually winning by almost one kilometre in 1hr 04min 32secs. Behind him Lower Hutt's Eric Speakman held off Okitu's Mike Robinson by seven seconds in 1hr 08min 13secs. The women's half marathon was a closer affair, with Auckland's Lisa Cross and Christchurch's Katherine Camp sharing top billing. Both has won national titles, although at opposite ends of the spectrum, with Cross favoured mostly in cross country while Camp has national titles on the track over 800m. They didn't disappoint, both going out hard before Cross' strength over the longer distance prevailed for the national title by 63secs in a race record 1hr 13min 37secs. Defending champion Beth Garland from Wellington claimed third. Top cop, Mel Aitken from Otago, was a popular winner of the women's full marathon. Aitken has been a prolific performer on the national scene for more than a decade, but in the major marathons has usually settled for minor placings. In Wellington she came out on top, the 48-year-old clocking 2hrs 52min 52secs to finish eight minutes clear of a host of younger talent headed by Auckland's Anabella Maynard as just three minutes separated placings second to fifth. The women's half marathon had the least surprising winner, but the performance was arguably the best of the day. Wellington's Sarah Drought came into the race as defending champion and hot off some of her best ever results after being the leading New Zealander at the world cross country championship and then winning the Christchurch Half Marathon in a personal best time. In Wellington she was favourite to nab the national title, but she did so in fine fashion, clearing out from the gun to win by more than two minutes to break her own race record with a time of 1hr 15min 44secs. Behind her, Wellington's Esther George and Tauranga's Deb Fuller claimed silver and bronze. The men's race was billed as a close tussle between Cantabrian Andy Good, and locals Nic Sunseri and Hiro Tanimoto. All three have best times within three minutes, with Tanimoto a two-time winner of the Wellington event and like Good, has also won the Christchurch Marathon. But Good was just 'too good', eventually prevailing by more than five minutes in 2hrs 25min 25secs. Behind him, Tanimoto claimed second two minutes ahead of Sunseri, who managed to hold off Wellington's Josh Naisbitt by 13secs for third place. Exactly 4300 runners and walkers from 26 countries lined up for the 36th Gazley Volkswagen Wellington Marathon. Full results at
Scoop
3 days ago
- Sport
- Scoop
Record Racing In Wellington
With perfect weather and entries from 26 countries, the 2025 Gazley Volkswagen Wellington Marathon was a record breaker before the gun even fired. But two record breaking winners had the last word. Wellington's own Toby Gualter had the first word. A year ago in Wellington he set a new course with his first major half marathon win in terrible conditions. This year he took advantage of perfect weather to carve almost a minute off that time and claim the national half marathon title as well. Gualter came into the race as the heavy favourite after a win in the Christchurch half marathon earlier this year. And he didn't disappoint, racing straight to the front and eventually winning by almost one kilometre in 1hr 04min 32secs. Behind him Lower Hutt's Eric Speakman held off Okitu's Mike Robinson by seven seconds in 1hr 08min 13secs. The women's half marathon was a closer affair, with Auckland's Lisa Cross and Christchurch's Katherine Camp sharing top billing. Both has won national titles, although at opposite ends of the spectrum, with Cross favoured mostly in cross country while Camp has national titles on the track over 800m. They didn't disappoint, both going out hard before Cross' strength over the longer distance prevailed for the national title by 63secs in a race record 1hr 13min 37secs. Defending champion Beth Garland from Wellington claimed third. Top cop, Mel Aitken from Otago, was a popular winner of the women's full marathon. Aitken has been a prolific performer on the national scene for more than a decade, but in the major marathons has usually settled for minor placings. In Wellington she came out on top, the 48-year-old clocking 2hrs 52min 52secs to finish eight minutes clear of a host of younger talent headed by Auckland's Anabella Maynard as just three minutes separated placings second to fifth. The women's half marathon had the least surprising winner, but the performance was arguably the best of the day. Wellington's Sarah Drought came into the race as defending champion and hot off some of her best ever results after being the leading New Zealander at the world cross country championship and then winning the Christchurch Half Marathon in a personal best time. In Wellington she was favourite to nab the national title, but she did so in fine fashion, clearing out from the gun to win by more than two minutes to break her own race record with a time of 1hr 15min 44secs. Behind her, Wellington's Esther George and Tauranga's Deb Fuller claimed silver and bronze. The men's race was billed as a close tussle between Cantabrian Andy Good, and locals Nic Sunseri and Hiro Tanimoto. All three have best times within three minutes, with Tanimoto a two-time winner of the Wellington event and like Good, has also won the Christchurch Marathon. But Good was just 'too good', eventually prevailing by more than five minutes in 2hrs 25min 25secs. Behind him, Tanimoto claimed second two minutes ahead of Sunseri, who managed to hold off Wellington's Josh Naisbitt by 13secs for third place. Exactly 4300 runners and walkers from 26 countries lined up for the 36th Gazley Volkswagen Wellington Marathon. Full results at .
Otago Daily Times
24-06-2025
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
NZ keen to regain Wayleggo Cup
Winchmore farmer Mark Copland expects the New Zealand and Australian rivalry will be as strong as ever when the first whistle is blown in the transtasman sheep dog trials at Ashburton. The veteran dog triallist, who has captained New Zealand five of the nine times he has represented the team, has been named to lead the side again for the annual grudge match from the end of October to November 1. Mr Copland and heading dog Guy will be joined by fellow Cantabrian Ben Millar and King, Waikato's Leo Jecentho and Jake and North Otago's Lloyd Smith and Code. Southlander Brian Dickison and Dan are the travelling reserves. The Wayleggo Cup has been to-ing and fro-ing between the countries in the past few years, Australia winning last year. The Ashburton Showgrounds are a winning venue for New Zealand after they convincingly beat the visitors in 2023 when the late Neil Evans led the side. New Zealand triallists will have him in the back of their minds as well as Mr Smith whose wife Linda died earlier this year, when they step on to the course. Mr Copland said the team had a good blend of youthful enthusiasm and real experience. He said a lot was at stake. "That goes without saying that we will be trying to beat the Aussies. We are down parked in our part of the world and we are like-minded people, but like other sports we don't hold back, do we?" He said the team members possessed top dogs, Mr Jecentho's Jake achieving the uncommon feat of being in all four run-offs this year. Mr Smith had faced a tough year and it showed his character that he had so much strength within to perform well in competitions. "We will have Neil in mind and no doubt Lloyd's wife, Linda, of recent times so it's not been easy for people. You try and beat everyone else in normal times, but you also have a quiet thought for them too." Mr Copland said his own black and white heading dog Guy had just turned 5 and was a "hard case" after going though a tough run of problems thrown at him. "He's had a lot of adversity and has had a foot problem with his toenails, a broken tail and only two months ago he had a cut above his pupil in his eyeball. Christchurch vet Kirsten Wylie basically saved it by stitching the eye and grafting something over it to enhance the blood flow and then stitched the eyebrows together. I went back a week later she undid the stitching and said this looks promising and the eye looks very much normal." Mr Copland had a five-year stint from the mid-2000s as captain with a dog called Mary. He said the Australians liked competing in Ashburton because it was near Christchurch airport and they could be shown good dog country in the Rakaia Gorge area. They would also be able to "sink their teeth" if they wanted to enter a Tux yard dog competition also being held at the showgrounds. "We used to go there years ago when the manager was Tony Sheild, from Marlborough. Ironically, our team will be managed by one of his sons, David, who is now the new president of the NZ dog trial association. The acorn hasn't fallen far from the tree because he definitely looks very similar." He and wife Robyn have just moved off the family's Westmere farm in Dromore between Rakaia and Ashburton to make a new home on a 20ha block at upper Winchmore where, as well as running a few sheep and finishing cattle, he has bought a few stags and got his velveting licence. Their son, Hugh, and his wife, Kylie, have taken over the farm and the plan is to spend more time on dog trialling. Mr Copland was runner-up to winner Lindsay Wink from Weber in the national long head competition and also finished runner-up to Mr Jecentho in the South Island long head, at Lochiel Station. He was just outside of the main placegetters with fourth in the national short head and yard won by Mr Jecentho and was seventh overall in the South Island long short. Results NZ sheep dog trial championship results at Lochiel Station near Hanmer Springs: Long head: Lindsay Wink (Weber) Ghost, first round, 93.25 points, second round, 93.50pts, total 186.75pts, 1; Mark Copland (Methven) Don, 92.50pts, 94pts, 186.50pts, 2; Stuart Child (Te Anga) Carl 97.50pts, 88pts, 185.50pts, 3. Short head and yard: Leo Jecentho (Karioi) Jake 97.50pts, 98pts, 195.50pts, 1; Ben Millar (Glenroy) King 94.25pts, 93pts, 187.25pts, 2; Stuart Millar (Glenroy) Laddie 95.75pts, 87pts, 182.75pts, 3; Mark Copland (Methven) Guy 96pts, 84pts, 180pts, 4. Zig zag hunt: Samantha Shaw (Matawai) Rogue 96.75pts, 96pts, 192.75pts, 1; Andy McNab (Mt Nessing) Kahn 97.80pts, 91pts, 188.80pts, 2; Sam Jamieson (Mackenzie) Gary 95.75pts, 82pts, 177.75pts, 3. Straight hunt: Steve Murphy (Whangamomona) Bridge 98pts, 97pts, 19pts, 1 ; Grant Plaisted (Waikari) Coke 97.50pts, 96.50pts, 194pts, 2; Dan Jury (Petane) Ice 97.25pts, 95pts, 192.25pts, 3.
Local Spain
16-06-2025
- Climate
- Local Spain
'Up to 43 degrees': Spain braces for scorching second half of June
It may still be the last days of spring but Spain is preparing for a scorching week that experts believe will see summer-like temperatures and could last for the rest of the month. A mass of warm air will settle over Spain from Monday, causing the mercury to soar to values more typical of mid-July or August. El Tiempo reporting suggests it could cause the first official heatwave of the summer. 'Temperatures of up to 43 degrees are expected,' Nacho Espinós, an expert at Meteored, told 20 Minutos. 'The data confirms that temperatures are well above average for this time of year.' This follows news that mainland Spain recently recorded its hottest May day ever, with average temperatures over 24C, according to state weather agency Aemet. For at least the rest of the week, the heat will be intense and widespread, except on the Cantabrian coast where sea breezes will mitigate the temperatures. 'Everything seems to indicate that the Cantabrian coast will be spared the extreme heat that will affect the rest of the peninsula, as the breeze will be key to preventing temperatures from soaring,' Meteored sources state, giving San Sebastián as an example, where forecasts indicate the Basque city will more manageable highs of 25 degrees between Wednesday and Thursday. Seville could reach 43 degrees and Cordoba 41, while in other parts of the Guadalquivir valley temperatures could rise even beyond that. In the Guadiana valley, the heat will also be extreme, with temperatures above 40 degrees in many towns and cities in Extremadura. In central Spain, such as in Madrid, temperatures will reach 38 degrees. Though heat will be intense in most areas of the country, the highest temperatures are forecast in the south-west of the peninsula. In eastern Spain along the Mediterranean coast, humidity will make the heat feel much more intense. This heat blast will last at least a week and could stay for the rest of the month, forecasts say. 'Temperatures will be well above normal throughout next week,' Espinós explains. 'The maps point to a very hot second half of the month, but there's still a lot of uncertainty for the last few days.'
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Why Vitoria-Gasteiz is better for Basque pintxos than San Sebastian
This article was produced by National Geographic Traveller (UK). Sitting at the smart, horseshoe bar of El Toloño, veteran head chef Josu Armiño is letting me into a secret. 'We've got something that I think other places don't have, and that's the simplicity of the way we use ingredients,' he says, sporting pristine chef's whites and a slightly mischievous smile. 'For me, the most important thing is the quality of the produce we have here.' In the Basque capital of Vitoria-Gasteiz, El Toloño is one of the most locally revered pintxos bars — and for good reason. 'It's not about creating things with foams and all that,' Josu goes on to explain. 'It's about simplicity and building on the traditions of our grandparents' cooking,' he says. 'We add a touch of glamour and a bit more warmth and personality, but it's always on a base of traditional cooking. And I think that's the secret of what we do here in Vitoria and in the Basque country.' Sitting under a neoclassical, 19th-century colonnade on the edge of Vitoria's pedestrianised main square, Plaza de la Virgen Blanca, award-winning El Toloño is a key stop for locals out for a poteo — the pintxos equivalent of a pub crawl. It's a Basque tradition I'm here to try for myself. On El Toloño's bar counter, each delicate pintxo certainly looks like it'll live up to Josu's description. I decide to start with the gilda. Arguably the most famous of all Basque pintxos, it's made up of a Cantabrian anchovy skewered onto a cocktail stick between a plump, green manzanilla olive and a pickled green guindilla pepper. The gilda was named after Rita Hayworth's character in the eponymous 1946 film noir, which, at the time of its release, was considered so risque that it was banned by Spain's Francoist regime. Conceived as a homage to her punchy character, the gilda's combination of slightly bitter, fruity olive, salty anchovy and spicy guindilla is anything but subtle. It's the perfect opener to awaken my palate — especially when paired with a glass of txakoli, the Basque Country's signature dry yet refreshingly fruity white wine. Josu pours it from a great height with a theatrical flourish, as is tradition. By the time I've finished, the bar, with its elegant mix of slate-toned walls and black-and-white floor tiles, has filled up with middle-aged men in puffer jackets and smartly dressed businesswomen. Their lively chatter mingles with the clanking of beer glasses and coffee cups. Despite its popularity, there's still nowhere near the amount of elbow jostling you'll find in many bars in nearby San Sebastián or even Bilbao, both an hour's drive north to the coast. While glamorous San Sebastián may have risen to stardom thanks to its pintxos and fine dining culture, not to mention its superb beachside location, those in the know will tell you that Vitoria is the secret jewel in the Basque Country's culinary crown. Its inland location means that it benefits from both easy access to seafood from the Bay of Biscay and exceptional beef, vegetables and fruit from the countryside. It's been the Basque capital since 1980, when many of Spain's regional boundaries were drawn up in the aftermath of the Franco dictatorship. Yet its tourism profile has suffered from the fact that it has neither a coastal location nor international airport. In the spirit of the poteo, I take a short walk from El Toloño past the belle époque townhouses and tram tracks that flow down Vitoria's tree-lined avenues. My next stop is PerretxiCo, another bar that's won numerous awards in the Basque Country's pintxos competitions. These annual events see bars vie with one another in an effort to create the tastiest and most innovative pintxos. One previous winner I'm intrigued to try is PerretxiCo's La Vacuna, which translates as 'the vaccine'. It's a beef meatball of sorts, encased in a shell of crisp batter and topped with flying-fish roe. The dish arrives at my table alongside a small plastic syringe filled with a beefy jus, which I'm instructed to inject into the meatball. I do as I'm told, and find the intense, almost Bovril-like gravy adds a deliciously comforting warmth to the mix of crispy outer coating and finely textured minced meat. Taking a quick break from the kitchen in his black chef's apron, PerretxiCo's head chef Josean Merino tells me that La Vacuna was invented during the pandemic, 'to add a touch of humour'. It's also about balance. Josean says: 'I always say that a pintxo is one of the most complicated dishes to prepare, because you have to concentrate everything into one or two bites and get an almost surgical balance between the textures and flavours.' As the sound of church bells marks the hour, I leave PerretxiCo to head into the steep, narrow, medieval streets of Vitoria's Old Quarter, high on a hilltop. Not far from the magnificent, 13th-century gothic cathedral and elegant, neoclassical palacios and plazas, I find El Portalón, one of the city's most famous restaurants. Set in a large, half-timbered house that was once a 15th-century staging post and inn, El Portalón also offers its own prize-winning pintxos. One of its signature dishes is the octopus carpaccio — tender slices of octopus lightly dusted with sweet paprika, served with dried red peppers on a small piece of rustic, home-baked farmhouse bread. I put in my order and pull up a chair in the cobbled entrance yard, originally used as the building's stables. 'Going out to eat is a big part of life here in Vitoria,' says El Portalón's manager and head chef Alberto Ortiz de Zárate, a youthful looking 50-year-old who comes to say hello. He first joined his father as a commis chef in El Portalón's kitchen some 18 years ago. 'People appreciate good food and don't mind paying a little extra for it, so restaurants can spend more on the best produce, resulting in a higher-quality range of dishes,' he says, trying to put his finger on what makes Vitoria's food scene — and that of the broader Basque Country — so special. 'It's a cultural act — spending time at the table with friends and family, and enjoying it. It's not just about the food. It's about being with the people you care about — spending less time on your mobile phone and more time appreciating life.' Published in the June 2025 issue of National Geographic Traveller (UK).To subscribe to National Geographic Traveller (UK) magazine click here. (Available in select countries only).
