June 8, 2025 • 13 mins
The prestigious Dorne Cup cross country race in Wellington celebrated its 100th anniversary on Saturday.
Mark Growcott from the Hutt Valley Harriers has produced a publication detailing the event's history.
He joined Adam Cooper to share memories of the event.
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TO READ MARK'S PUBLICATION, CLICK HERE
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
From grassroots to gold Medals. It's Wellington's Small Sport Breakfast
with Adam Cooper Rutherford and Bonn Toyota and King Toyota
on News Talks VB. Yeah, great heavy company on another
Saturday morning here on the All Sport Breakfast on at
Newstalks edp Well. You might not know this, but one
of the country's most prestigious cross country races is held
(00:20):
right here in the Wellington region every year, the Dawn Cup,
and it's all set to go once again today at
the Trentam Memorial Park. It's a renowned, challenging race that
attracts top runners from all over the country. But the
reason we're talking about it this morning is a very
special milestone is being celebrated alongside this year's race. It's
(00:40):
the centenary. Yes, the first Dawn Cup was held exactly
one hundred years ago, so to mark the occasion, Mark
Grocot from the Hut Valley Harriers Club has produced a
book which commemorates not just the anniversary itself, but outlining
all the race's history from over the years. So to
find out a bit more about the race and its celebration,
Mark Grocott as with me Morningia, Mark, Can you firstly
(01:03):
just let us know what got you in too wanting
to produce something like this to mark the centenary.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Yeah, thanks, Adam, Yeah, good to chat. Yes, so hate
Delly harry Is, which is the running club that I
belonged to, celebrated its centenary in twenty twenty three, and
it was during this time that, while I was contributing
a section for our centenary book, I decided to write
a chapter on the Dawn Cup and the Porn Cup
(01:29):
for me, was my favorite race, and the research undertaken
for that project revealed to me that there was a
much bigger story to tell than what I was to
contribute to that book. And so the idea presented itself
to me when I realized that the Dawn Cup, the
Dawn Cups centenary was two years later, and what a
(01:50):
great opportunity to showcase the history of that event and
produce a book in time for that event. And so
the book evolved over time from from initially a much
smaller publication that was not going to be printed to
the book we had today, which is just over one
hundred pages and over one hundred photos. And yeah, I
(02:11):
must emphasize yeah, It's been a labor of love for me.
But also I got a lot of help from others
and from other harrier clubs with results and photos without
which I would have struggled. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Great, Oh that's awesome. It always takes a lot of
people to help out, doesn't it. I mean, you say
the Dawn Covers your favorite race, and I'm sure there's
a lot of people that would say the exact the
same thing. Why is it the favorite of so many?
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Well, I think it's because of the quality of the field,
because a lot of runners come from outside of outside
of the region, predominantly from the Lower North Island harrier clubs,
and so the field's quite strong and it's deep, and
so the runners from the local clubs appreciate the competition,
(03:00):
and then the runners that come down from the likes
of Mongauy Monsu in the Hawk's Bay, they feel that
it's a race worthy to travel down to to get
that competition, because we don't seem to get that for
other Harry events in arn Wontington. That level of visitors
(03:20):
coming down and it's also notable for the junior runners
who are still at colleges and stuff. The national secondary
schools Cross Country Champs usually follows the Dawn Cut by
a week or two, and so there's a lot of
runners from those colleges up up north that come down
(03:41):
eager to get that competition which will pay off they
hope at the National Signiory Schools Jamps.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Great and a lot of people say it is one
of the hardest races. They compare it so even more
difficult than Nationals and the Wellington Cross Country Champs. Why
is it so.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Hard, Well, yeah, it's basically the equality and the depth
of the field, which is the runners coming from out
of town. But no, without doubt, it's definitely harder than
a Wonington cross country title. And yeah, and so Dawn
Cut wins a cherished and sought outer and one one
(04:21):
added feature is the men's team that wins the team's
competition on the day gets to take the position of
the prize Dawn Cup and hold it in their position
for twelve months. So yeah, so the race itself is
probably on a par in terms of quality with like
the North Island Cross cross Country Champs. So not quite
(04:43):
up to New Zealand Championship standard, but sometimes it can be,
but usually on a par with North Island cross country
jamps and.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
It's moved across venues a little bit, but it's a
pretty good run now at Trenton Memorial Park. Adding back
to the nineteen.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Yes, yes, so it's been at trenth And since nineteen
fifty eight. But originally the first year, the first year
that we held it was nineteen twenty five and that
was at the Hut Park racecourse and it was held
there up to World War Two when the US Marines
(05:21):
were camped there during the war, and so when we
resumed proceedings after the war, we raced it from Waterloo
for one year and then after that Patoni became the venue.
And one notable feature of the venue at Patoni was
the runners ran along Patoni Beach, so they'd be running
(05:41):
on sand and sea over seaweed, and if it just
happened to be high tide, they'd be running through the
year seawater. So so yeah, it was a Patoni for
seven years and then in the early fifties, nineteen fifty
three it moved out to silver Stream and occupying the
land behind and Pats College out to the Hut River,
(06:02):
and that was the first time it became a soul
cross country course. Because the earlier courses had a mixture
of road and cross country. But yeah, the Silver Stream
course was notable because it was very boggy and had
many string crossings. And then nineteen fifty eight it's been
held at the picturesque Strengthen Memorial Park. The course at
(06:25):
trenth And used to have a lot more, used to
have a lot of fences in it, and so the
steeple chasers used to excel over on that course, but
those fences have largely disappeared now. But over the years
it's been largely a relatively flat course, so no major hills,
(06:45):
but it's had all the streams and bogs and fences
and stop banks for runners to overcome. So yeah, so
many features, many venues over the last one hundred years.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
What about racist from over the years, there one in
particular that sort of stands out as being memorable or iconic,
like it's doing it in Wellington as well. There's been
often weather elements of this time of the year to.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
Battle with absolutely. Yeah. Yeah, so there's a couple that
kind of stand out, So I'll briefly touch on those.
There was one year in nineteen forty seven was most Yeah,
the nineteen fwty seven race was most memorable basically for
the fact that torrential rain had lashed much of the
region overnight and all other sporting fixtures that day had
(07:31):
been canceled but not the Dawn Cup, and so runners
had to run through Moira on a flooded Randwick Road
through one through a basically about a foot and a
half of water for about a mile. So yeah, and
there are about two hundred runners that day that braved
the condition. And there's the photo of that race made
(07:55):
the front cover of the Sports Post, which was a
publication it ran up until about the nineteen seventies that
came out on a Saturday night, so that photo made
the front cover of the Sports Post the following Saturday.
So yeah, so that was quite a iconic race. And
then nineteen sixty one when it was held it was
(08:18):
at Trenton. Then Leslie Campbell, he was a female member
of Wontington Harriers, ran in the men's race, and up
till then the Dawn Cut was solely for men and
junior men. But she didn't disgrace herself over the five
mile distance because she finished a head of ten other men.
And it wasn't until nineteen sixty five that woman officially
(08:43):
had their own race. But at nineteen sixty five the
women were only running over two miles whereas Leslie ran
over five miles that day. So and then since then
other grades junior women and junior men and yees, so
there's been a number of grades added since those early days.
(09:06):
But yeah, so that was quite iconic because Leslie also
end and the Boss of Shield, which was another iconic
race on the Wellington calendar that same year. But women
had to wait to a nineteen sixty five until they
had an official race to competing to competing year.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
Yeah crazy, all right, And just before we look ahead
to today's race, Mark tell us about some of the
names taking parts on the start line today.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
Yes, so unfortunately both defending champions won't be competing today
basically because they're both now have have moved out of town.
Nathan c who won it last year, is now residing
in Melbourne. But we should still have quite an exciting
(09:57):
men's race, so it should generate quite some interest because
at Toby Golter from Olympic Harriers starts now. Toby's had
Toby's had a good year to date. He ran sixty
three minutes for the christ Church half marathon back in April.
He won the New Zealand Mountain running title not that
long ago, and in the summer he won the national
(10:20):
ten thousand meter track titles, so he'll probably be the
favorite at the fronts. Eric Speakman from Victoria University is
another expected to start. He's the reigning Wellington cross country
and road champion and finished in the and finished second
in the Vossler Shield Race that was held two weeks ago.
(10:40):
And the winner of that Vossler Shield Race, Liam Chesney
from Wontington. From Wontington Harrys there is another who should start,
so yeah, there should be quite a bit of interest
and also worth noting the runner up last the runner
up for the past two years, Andre lapine Day from Fielding.
He'll be hoping to go one place better this year
(11:03):
if he comes down. And the women's race is very
open because with no Maya Flint competing. So Madeline Watson
from Scottish won the Bossler Shield Race, so she'll be
one to look out for. And Cu mccoe o'tani from
Wontington who finished runner up last year, she'll also be
(11:24):
I'm guessing in serious contention.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
All right, a lot of names up for the top
prize and mark before you go, Where can people find
out more information or get their hands on a copy
of the book that you've readen to celebrate the centenary
of the Dawn Cup.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
Yes, so visitors, so yeah, So listeners who who may
be interested in looking and reading more about the history
of the race and reading the book can can visit
the Hat Dally Harriot Club's website which is HVH dot
org dot z and they can find the book there
(11:59):
on the front page and download a copy. So the
HVH dot org dot n z, or you can google
Hot Belly Harriers and and yeah, they can read the
book there. And yeah, I think the forecast that today, yeah,
with a bit of rain about and the range during
the week, so the course could be quite heavy. So
(12:22):
it'll be interesting to see how some of these leading
contenders cope with the heavy conditions. But usually there's a
lot of spectators that turn up, a lot of former
runners turn up because it's certainly an iconic race that
that attracts a lot of the past runners to come
out and watch. So hopefully the weather conditions won't turn
(12:45):
too many people off.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Today and they all right, well, all the very best
for the race and to yourself when everyone involved in it. Mark,
thanks so much for the chat and congratulations on the
publication you've produced. And have a great day out there
today despite the weather.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Yes, thank you, Adam, Thank you for more from News Talks,
ed B. Listen live on air or online, and keep
Speaker 1 (13:07):
Our shows with you wherever you go with our podcasts
on iHeartRadio.
From grassroots to gold Medals. It's Wellington's Small Sport Breakfast
with Adam Cooper Rutherford and Bonn Toyota and King Toyota
on News Talks VB. Yeah, great heavy company on another
Saturday morning here on the All Sport Breakfast on at
Newstalks edp Well. You might not know this, but one
of the country's most prestigious cross country races is held
(00:20):
right here in the Wellington region every year, the Dawn Cup,
and it's all set to go once again today at
the Trentam Memorial Park. It's a renowned, challenging race that
attracts top runners from all over the country. But the
reason we're talking about it this morning is a very
special milestone is being celebrated alongside this year's race. It's
(00:40):
the centenary. Yes, the first Dawn Cup was held exactly
one hundred years ago, so to mark the occasion, Mark
Grocot from the Hut Valley Harriers Club has produced a
book which commemorates not just the anniversary itself, but outlining
all the race's history from over the years. So to
find out a bit more about the race and its celebration,
Mark Grocott as with me Morningia, Mark, Can you firstly
(01:03):
just let us know what got you in too wanting
to produce something like this to mark the centenary.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Yeah, thanks, Adam, Yeah, good to chat. Yes, so hate
Delly harry Is, which is the running club that I
belonged to, celebrated its centenary in twenty twenty three, and
it was during this time that, while I was contributing
a section for our centenary book, I decided to write
a chapter on the Dawn Cup and the Porn Cup
(01:29):
for me, was my favorite race, and the research undertaken
for that project revealed to me that there was a
much bigger story to tell than what I was to
contribute to that book. And so the idea presented itself
to me when I realized that the Dawn Cup, the
Dawn Cups centenary was two years later, and what a
(01:50):
great opportunity to showcase the history of that event and
produce a book in time for that event. And so
the book evolved over time from from initially a much
smaller publication that was not going to be printed to
the book we had today, which is just over one
hundred pages and over one hundred photos. And yeah, I
(02:11):
must emphasize yeah, It's been a labor of love for me.
But also I got a lot of help from others
and from other harrier clubs with results and photos without
which I would have struggled. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Great, Oh that's awesome. It always takes a lot of
people to help out, doesn't it. I mean, you say
the Dawn Covers your favorite race, and I'm sure there's
a lot of people that would say the exact the
same thing. Why is it the favorite of so many?
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Well, I think it's because of the quality of the field,
because a lot of runners come from outside of outside
of the region, predominantly from the Lower North Island harrier clubs,
and so the field's quite strong and it's deep, and
so the runners from the local clubs appreciate the competition,
(03:00):
and then the runners that come down from the likes
of Mongauy Monsu in the Hawk's Bay, they feel that
it's a race worthy to travel down to to get
that competition, because we don't seem to get that for
other Harry events in arn Wontington. That level of visitors
(03:20):
coming down and it's also notable for the junior runners
who are still at colleges and stuff. The national secondary
schools Cross Country Champs usually follows the Dawn Cut by
a week or two, and so there's a lot of
runners from those colleges up up north that come down
(03:41):
eager to get that competition which will pay off they
hope at the National Signiory Schools Jamps.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Great and a lot of people say it is one
of the hardest races. They compare it so even more
difficult than Nationals and the Wellington Cross Country Champs. Why
is it so.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Hard, Well, yeah, it's basically the equality and the depth
of the field, which is the runners coming from out
of town. But no, without doubt, it's definitely harder than
a Wonington cross country title. And yeah, and so Dawn
Cut wins a cherished and sought outer and one one
(04:21):
added feature is the men's team that wins the team's
competition on the day gets to take the position of
the prize Dawn Cup and hold it in their position
for twelve months. So yeah, so the race itself is
probably on a par in terms of quality with like
the North Island Cross cross Country Champs. So not quite
(04:43):
up to New Zealand Championship standard, but sometimes it can be,
but usually on a par with North Island cross country
jamps and.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
It's moved across venues a little bit, but it's a
pretty good run now at Trenton Memorial Park. Adding back
to the nineteen.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Yes, yes, so it's been at trenth And since nineteen
fifty eight. But originally the first year, the first year
that we held it was nineteen twenty five and that
was at the Hut Park racecourse and it was held
there up to World War Two when the US Marines
(05:21):
were camped there during the war, and so when we
resumed proceedings after the war, we raced it from Waterloo
for one year and then after that Patoni became the venue.
And one notable feature of the venue at Patoni was
the runners ran along Patoni Beach, so they'd be running
(05:41):
on sand and sea over seaweed, and if it just
happened to be high tide, they'd be running through the
year seawater. So so yeah, it was a Patoni for
seven years and then in the early fifties, nineteen fifty
three it moved out to silver Stream and occupying the
land behind and Pats College out to the Hut River,
(06:02):
and that was the first time it became a soul
cross country course. Because the earlier courses had a mixture
of road and cross country. But yeah, the Silver Stream
course was notable because it was very boggy and had
many string crossings. And then nineteen fifty eight it's been
held at the picturesque Strengthen Memorial Park. The course at
(06:25):
trenth And used to have a lot more, used to
have a lot of fences in it, and so the
steeple chasers used to excel over on that course, but
those fences have largely disappeared now. But over the years
it's been largely a relatively flat course, so no major hills,
(06:45):
but it's had all the streams and bogs and fences
and stop banks for runners to overcome. So yeah, so
many features, many venues over the last one hundred years.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
What about racist from over the years, there one in
particular that sort of stands out as being memorable or iconic,
like it's doing it in Wellington as well. There's been
often weather elements of this time of the year to.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
Battle with absolutely. Yeah. Yeah, so there's a couple that
kind of stand out, So I'll briefly touch on those.
There was one year in nineteen forty seven was most Yeah,
the nineteen fwty seven race was most memorable basically for
the fact that torrential rain had lashed much of the
region overnight and all other sporting fixtures that day had
(07:31):
been canceled but not the Dawn Cup, and so runners
had to run through Moira on a flooded Randwick Road
through one through a basically about a foot and a
half of water for about a mile. So yeah, and
there are about two hundred runners that day that braved
the condition. And there's the photo of that race made
(07:55):
the front cover of the Sports Post, which was a
publication it ran up until about the nineteen seventies that
came out on a Saturday night, so that photo made
the front cover of the Sports Post the following Saturday.
So yeah, so that was quite a iconic race. And
then nineteen sixty one when it was held it was
(08:18):
at Trenton. Then Leslie Campbell, he was a female member
of Wontington Harriers, ran in the men's race, and up
till then the Dawn Cut was solely for men and
junior men. But she didn't disgrace herself over the five
mile distance because she finished a head of ten other men.
And it wasn't until nineteen sixty five that woman officially
(08:43):
had their own race. But at nineteen sixty five the
women were only running over two miles whereas Leslie ran
over five miles that day. So and then since then
other grades junior women and junior men and yees, so
there's been a number of grades added since those early days.
(09:06):
But yeah, so that was quite iconic because Leslie also
end and the Boss of Shield, which was another iconic
race on the Wellington calendar that same year. But women
had to wait to a nineteen sixty five until they
had an official race to competing to competing year.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
Yeah crazy, all right, And just before we look ahead
to today's race, Mark tell us about some of the
names taking parts on the start line today.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
Yes, so unfortunately both defending champions won't be competing today
basically because they're both now have have moved out of town.
Nathan c who won it last year, is now residing
in Melbourne. But we should still have quite an exciting
(09:57):
men's race, so it should generate quite some interest because
at Toby Golter from Olympic Harriers starts now. Toby's had
Toby's had a good year to date. He ran sixty
three minutes for the christ Church half marathon back in April.
He won the New Zealand Mountain running title not that
long ago, and in the summer he won the national
(10:20):
ten thousand meter track titles, so he'll probably be the
favorite at the fronts. Eric Speakman from Victoria University is
another expected to start. He's the reigning Wellington cross country
and road champion and finished in the and finished second
in the Vossler Shield Race that was held two weeks ago.
(10:40):
And the winner of that Vossler Shield Race, Liam Chesney
from Wontington. From Wontington Harrys there is another who should start,
so yeah, there should be quite a bit of interest
and also worth noting the runner up last the runner
up for the past two years, Andre lapine Day from Fielding.
He'll be hoping to go one place better this year
(11:03):
if he comes down. And the women's race is very
open because with no Maya Flint competing. So Madeline Watson
from Scottish won the Bossler Shield Race, so she'll be
one to look out for. And Cu mccoe o'tani from
Wontington who finished runner up last year, she'll also be
(11:24):
I'm guessing in serious contention.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
All right, a lot of names up for the top
prize and mark before you go, Where can people find
out more information or get their hands on a copy
of the book that you've readen to celebrate the centenary
of the Dawn Cup.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
Yes, so visitors, so yeah, So listeners who who may
be interested in looking and reading more about the history
of the race and reading the book can can visit
the Hat Dally Harriot Club's website which is HVH dot
org dot z and they can find the book there
(11:59):
on the front page and download a copy. So the
HVH dot org dot n z, or you can google
Hot Belly Harriers and and yeah, they can read the
book there. And yeah, I think the forecast that today, yeah,
with a bit of rain about and the range during
the week, so the course could be quite heavy. So
(12:22):
it'll be interesting to see how some of these leading
contenders cope with the heavy conditions. But usually there's a
lot of spectators that turn up, a lot of former
runners turn up because it's certainly an iconic race that
that attracts a lot of the past runners to come
out and watch. So hopefully the weather conditions won't turn
(12:45):
too many people off.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Today and they all right, well, all the very best
for the race and to yourself when everyone involved in it. Mark,
thanks so much for the chat and congratulations on the
publication you've produced. And have a great day out there
today despite the weather.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Yes, thank you, Adam, Thank you for more from News Talks,
ed B. Listen live on air or online, and keep
Speaker 1 (13:07):
Our shows with you wherever you go with our podcasts
on iHeartRadio.
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