The 2026 Colgate Games were an outstanding weekend for Sumner Running Club, with our athletes delivering strong performances across all track and field events while proudly representing the club in Nelson.

With one of our larger travelling teams in recent years, Sumner athletes competed across all events, facing big fields and stronger competition.  As always at Colgates, there were nerves, excitement, long days and tired legs – but also big smiles, personal bests and plenty of lessons learned along the way.

The weekend began strongly on Day 1, with Sumner athletes picking up three medals. Sam Freeman led the way with a gold medal in the Boys 11 800m, while Teana Panapa claimed bronze in the Girls 10 800m and Lyla Lawry added another bronze in the Girls 13 Long Jump. Several other athletes progressed through heats and finals, setting the tone for a successful weekend.

Days 2 and 3 saw the momentum continue, highlighted by Sumner’s strength in the relays. All four Sumner relay teams featured on the podium – a great reflection of teamwork, depth and a real team culture. The 11yo Boys 4x100m team took out gold, while podium finishes were also secured by the 11yo Mixed Medley (2nd), 9yo Girls 4x100m (2nd) and 14yo Girls 4x100m (3rd).  The girls 14yo 4x100m team was a huge performance to  – considering the team featured two 13yo, an 11yo and an injured 14yo.

There were also some excellent individual performances later in the meet. Lyla Lawry added a silver medal in the Girls 13yo High Jump, and Sam Freeman followed up his earlier success with a silver in the Boys 11yo 1500m. Teana Panapa narrowly missed the podium with a strong 4th place finish in the Girls 10yo Discus, while several athletes progressed through finals and semi-finals in sprint events. Our Grade 8/9 athletes also recorded a number of podium finishes, highlighting the depth developing within the club.

A special mention must go to our two 14-year-old athletes, Neve Majendie and Eli Dimbleby, who were competing at their final Colgate Games and led the team by example throughout the weekend.  Unfortunately, Neve was carrying an injury and was unable to compete in many of her track events. Despite this, she played a key role in the Girls 14yo 4x100m relay, anchoring the team and running a spectacular final leg to lift the team into a bronze medal position. Eli also produced a standout performance in the Boys 14 800m, running a six-second personal best in a highly competitive race – a great reward for his work over the season.

Beyond the results, the most pleasing aspect of the weekend was the attitude and team spirit shown by all our athletes.  Whether competing, supporting teammates or learning from challenging races, the Sumner athletes represented the club with pride.

A huge thank you goes to our coaches, managers and supporters who gave up their time to travel and support the team over the weekend. Getting our wee team to Colgates simply wouldn’t happen without the commitment of volunteers and families.

Congratulations to every athlete who pulled on the Sumner singlet – a fantastic Colgate Games campaign and a great foundation for the rest of the season.

There are some great stories from the first half of the season.  Our wee team have been on fire with a stack of PBs and Junior Club Records!!

CCAA Quadrathon – 22/11/2025

Congrats to all our young athletes who competed in the CCAA Quadrathon at Nga Puna Wai a couple of weeks back.  Three of our crew managed to get themselves on the podium for their age group  – well done to Neve Majendie, Sam Freeman and Teana Panapa. Neve Majendie and Maddie Sweetman also broke club records in their events.

Athletes competed in four events to compile overall points. Some great results below…

GIRLS (100m, 1500m, LJ, Discus, Shot Put)

10yo Teana Panapa – 3rd overall ; 11yo Maddie Sweetman – 19^th (incl club record in discus); Scarlett Liddell – 21st; 13yo Lyla Lawry – 5th; Indie Clark – 9th; 14yo Neve Majendie – 1st(incl club records in shot put and long jump)

BOYS (200m. 800m, HJ, Discus, Shot Put)

11yo Sam Freeman – 2nd; Jack Smitheram – 6th; Joe Dimbleby – 16th (3 events); Lachie Say – 25th (3 events); 14yo Eli Dimbleby – 10^th

Club Records

Our team has broken or reset junior club records on an unprecedented 20 occasions this season in their events.  Across individual events, Neve Majendie has  broken 14 yo girls records 15 times across 60m, 100m, 200m, 400m, Long Jump, High Jump, Shot Put, Discus, Javelin,  Lyla Lawry has broken the 13yo girls High Jump record with both Maddie Sweetman (11yo girls) and Teana Panapa (10yo girls) both breaking Discus records for their age.  Our 14yo girls 4x100m relay team which features three 13yo’s – Lyla Lawry, Sienna Jones and Indie Clark have teamed up with Neve to break the club record in this event twice so far this season.  It’s unbelievable to think that we are only half way through the season, and already these young athletes have broken 20 club records.  In previous seasons we would get pretty excited about a single club record getting broken – the mind boggles as to how many more records may fall before the end of the season.  This is a tribute to all the hard work these young athletes and their coaches are putting in.

Colgate Games

We have a squad of 15 athletes heading to Nelson for the South Island Colgate Games in January.  This annual event has been running now for over 40 years for athletes aged 6-14.  This will be a great experience for our team to test themselves against 900 other young athletes from across NZ and from as far away as Queensland, Australia.

Neve showing us her medal from the quadrathon – great stuff

The summer season is starting next week, and all juniors are invited to attend the HAVE A GO session next Tuesday, the 14th of October at 4pm at Ferrymead Park.

The Interclub season starts on the 11th of October. Juniors (7-14 years) please follow the instructions on the Junior page to register for this. Seniors, a reminder your annual fee allows you to compete in the afternoon sessions for just the weekly track fee.

It is time to act. Thanks to those who have already indicated they will join us at the Special General meeting on Monday the 13th of October at 7:30pm via Teams. The link for this meeting will be made live next week, and we still need a few other active members (or parents of active members) to join in so we can get this across the line. The link is in the calendar and also here.

Today you get another link to the updated constitution and a request that if you have any questions you, please ask before the meeting. This constitution is based off the Athletics NZ template and has been reviewed by them.

Here is the resolution that will be tabled at the meeting – hopefully we will get at least 10 members agreeing to the change! If you cannot attend the meeting but agree to the resolution, feel free to drop Annette an email giving her your proxy vote and indicating your acceptance.

Resolution: Adoption of New Constitution

That the members of the Sumner Running Club resolve to:

1. Revoke the existing constitution dated [4th February 2008], and
2. Adopt the new constitution dated 13th October 2025, which has been drafted to comply with the Incorporated Societies Act 2022, and
3. Authorise the committee to submit the new constitution to the Registrar of Incorporated Societies for approval and registration.

It’s a wrap for the winter 2025 season – some great events, all sorts of conditions and a variety of running styles. Thanks to all of you who ran this year. The winter season end of season function will be held at the Elms Hotel on the 15th of October. Be good to see some of you there.

Looking forward to 2026. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this reflection of the season.

It is pleasing to report that approval has been given to hold a Special General Meeting via Teams at 7:30pm on Monday the 13th of October to ratify the new SRC constitution. The login for the Teams meeting will be posted closer to the time BUT please put this date in your calendar as we need at least 10 people present before we can approve. Here is a link to the new constitution – if you have any queries please send us an email.