Jack Beaumont running for the top

Jack Beaumont loves a challenge.
So when his coach suggested that he enter last weekend’s New Zealand Mountain Running Championships in Nelson the current New Zealand Secondary Schools 2000m Steeplechase and National Junior Men’s 3000m Steeplechase champion jumped at the chance.

“That was the first time I have ever run a mountain running race, and it was really good, I really enjoyed it,” Jack, a Year 13 student at Central Southland College in Winton, said.

If you’re on the edge of Nelson’s city center and you look up, you’re looking at the Grampians. An excursion up to the top of these hills is not for the faint hearted. The junior men’s race up and back on Saturday was 9.3 km and Jack’s winning time was 41 minutes 40 seconds.

“I’ve found that I’ve done well running up hills and doing cross country more so than I do on the track, so my coach suggested that I’d be good in this event so I decided to give it a go.” Jack said.

His strength was the ascent, powering away on the climb and holding off his rivals on the descent back into town.

Now he hopes to make the New Zealand Junior team for the World Mountain Running Championships, which are in Wales at the end of September.

“I’d really like to go and I’ve put my expression of interest into the event. But they will look at the main cross country season and make the New Zealand team selections after that.”

The New Zealand Secondary School Cross Country Championships are in Dunedin in June and the New Zealand Cross Country Championships are in Christchurch in July.

New Zealand has pedigree in world mountain running. Jonathan Wyatt was a six-time world champion (between 1998-2006) and Melissa Moon (2001 and 2003) and Kate Mcllory (2005) are former women’s world champions in an event that has been traditionally dominated by Italians and Austrians. Wyatt and Mcllroy both won when it was staged in Wellington 10 years ago.

Jack’s next event is the Gore half marathon in a month. “I did this last year, so my aim is to improve my time there. Then there are the two cross country races in Dunedin and Christchurch.”

This will be Jack’s third time competing in the New Zealand Secondary School Cross Country Championship. He finished second as a junior in 2011 and in the middle of the field as a Year 11 student in the senior race in 2013.

Jack has come off a busy few months training for and competing in track events.

He said he runs track events from 400m up to 5000m but “the steeplechase is my main track event at the moment. I’ve won three New Zealand titles.”

He recently won the New Zealand U20 3000m steeplechase at the national track and field championships in Wellington, and event he won the national U18 title in last year, while later this year he’ll be defending his national secondary school 2000 title which he won as a Year 12 athlete in Wanganui last December.

"I will be trying to get the New Zealand record in the secondary schools steeplechase this year; I was 8 seconds off it last year so hopefully I can take that much off. I did 5.52 and the record’s 6 minutes flat.”

How often does Jack train? “Six times a week. I’ll typically have two long runs a week, two speed sessions, one race-day and then on Monday a light jog and a few sprints.”

Outside of running, Jack found time last year to play hockey and to get NCEA Level 2 with Merit.

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