Barefoot bravery in mud | Bay of Plenty Sport | Surfing, Rugby, Soccer, Football, Cricket in Bay of Plenty

by Jamie Troughton

 Forget fleet feet - all Michael Sutton needed a lesson in on Saturday was traction control.

The Tauranga 14-year-old's decision to race in bare feet at the Waikato-Bay of Plenty crosscountry championships may have backfired on a sodden Waipuna Park course in Welcome Bay, but it's also set up an intriguing contest when Sutton runs for his second national title of the year at the New Zealand championships in Christchurch next month.

The national secondary school junior champion was second in the M16 division on Saturday behind prolific Hamilton talent Mohamed Ali and the pair may be on more even footing when they line up again on August 1.

"Some parts of the course were better in bare feet but the mud kind of took over in other places and it was pretty slippery," Sutton said. "Mohamed was probably taking five or six seconds out of me on every lap - he's the guy to chase and he'll be in my race at nationals, but I'm definitely going for a top-three finish."

The Tauranga Boys' College student won his schools title in Nelson last month in bare feet too, although that track was a lot drier.

The advantage of not collecting as much mud around the 6100m, three-lap course was negated by the Waipuna Park's steep signature hill, which Sutton conquered with all the grace of a triple-jumper in an ice-rink.

The astounding part was that he still managed to chase Ali and early leader Liam Walsh (Lake City) down between hills, eventually finishing just 10s behind his Hamilton rival in 22m 12s.

Ali is a year older than Sutton, who turns 15 in September, but is some way ahead in the national title stakes.

He's the reigning secondary school 3000m and 1500m champion and has a strong pedigree off the track, though he said he was a bit rusty.

"I haven't been doing much hill work lately so this course was a pretty good test for me," Ali said.

"That's how I starting running as well - in bare feet - but I've had to slowly start getting used to running in shoes now."

The course again played right into the hands of Thames schoolboy Aaron Pulford, who beat his Hamilton Hawks teammate Corey Whiting by nearly 2m in the M19 race.

Pulford beat Ali for the secondary school senior title in Nelson and also conquered a strong senior field at the Tauranga Open last month.

Rotorua Marathon runner-up Steven O'Callahan (Lake City) won the senior title on Saturday, heading home Tauranga's Michael Pugh and Gareth Hyett, while Sarah Biss made it a Lake City double with a win in the open women's race.

She turned the tables on Taumaranui's Demelza Murrihy-Topp, who won the Tauranga Open, finishing the 8100m race more than a minute clear in 32.25.