Zak Hanna anchors Snowdon Race Team to podium place at Trofeo Vanoni Relays!

Trofeo Vanoni Mountain Relays 2018 (by LEE MAGINNIS):

Newcastle AC’s Zak Hanna was part of the podium placed Snowdon Race Team at the Trofeo Vanoni Mountain Relays in Italy this weekend (Sunday 28th October 2018).

The Northern Ireland and Ireland international was selected following his excellent result at the Snowdon Race earlier in the year. His team mates were Chris Holdsworth and Chris Smith, both from England.

Each athlete had to run the same 7k loop, which included 500m of ascent.  Heavy rain made conditions challenging, especially for the third leg runners, including Zak, who had to contend with a cut up and slippy course.  However, this did not dampen the enthusiasm of the runners and supporters; a large number of whom were from the Home Nations.

After strong performances by the two Chris’, Zak took on the anchor leg with the team in 2nd place; France and Scotland were in close proximity. He set to work on the climb, with the French athlete Alexandre Fine, to bridge the gap to Czech leader Thomas Macecek . This achieved, it was a battle between Zak and the Alexandre for the win. In the final stages, Alexandre pulled away for the victory, with his team completing the 21k and 1,500m of ascent in 1:33:29 (1st place).  Zak sealed 2nd place for Snowdon Race Team in a total time of 1:34:34, with Scotland completing the top three in 1:35:18.

Zak’s individual 7k (with 500m of ascent) time was an excellent 32:36.

Full Results:  Trofeo Vanoni Mountain Relays 2018 Results

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