Foster Returns, Warriner Triumphs

Kiwi Brent Foster returned to the start line of the Structured Finance Stroke & Stride Series, a swim/run event he has dominated for years on Wednesday, and with predictable results: a sterling swim and a run that saw him hold at bay anybody who sought to come by him on the run.

The second race in the series saw the men starting first in a break with tradition—and with Fozzie leading everyone else around the 750-meter swim, race director Craig Browne reports. Foster came out with 20 seconds in hand as he started the 4k run, with Ben Riley, Matthew King, Clark Ellice, James Elvery , Liam Scopes and Thomas Hahn in pursuit. "The out and back run to Mission Bay was subjected to a slight headwind on the way out, and if this makes the going a little tougher then it only makes Brent Foster even happier as he hammers his way to the turnaround," Browne said. It would be a remarkable 51st victory for Foster in the life of the series. Holding down the runner-up spot was Ellice, the winner of the series opener and the owner of the day's fastest run split, which closed the gap to Foster to 14 seconds. Scopes was third.

On the women's side, Kirsty Whiting was first out of the water, with a pair of chasers—Sam Warriner and Debbie Tanner—just four seconds back. Another group containing Vanessa Palmer, Carmel Hanly, Rebecca Spence, Marisa Carter, and Nicole Cope came not far behind. Once out onto the run, though, Warriner quickly moved to the front as she ran along Tamaki Drive—"one of the most beautiful stretches of road in the world to run on at this time of year as the pohutukawa trees come into blossom," Browne noted. By the time she hit the finish, she'd extended her lead to more than half a minute, with Cope second and Whiting third.

The next race is Wednesday, December 8. There's more here.