Sister ready for the half

With more than 200 competitors already registered as of last week, entries are looking good for this Sunday’s Hatuma Lime Half Marathon — but there’s always room for more families to take part.

A highlight of the Central Hawke’s Bay sporting calendar for more than 30 years, the event is an opportunity for family and wha¯ nau groups to get active, and one familywhich has been involved in the event for years are close-knit Waipukurau sisters Paula Thomsen, Michelle Kneesch and Kathryn Donnithorne (nee Halford).

Kathryn said the event had become a highlight for their families and provided a great chance for them to be active together.

“When registrations open, all hands go up in our family as we are always up for a bit of a challenge. Especially if it’s kids versus parents,” she said.

“We do teams of four and each year we like to run a different section of the lake.

“Last year we agreed to run parent and child together but that lasted for the first 2km as the kids speed off, so it is all on this year. Look out kids,” Halford said.

On the family-friendly course participants run around Lake Hatuma, going in a clockwise direction around a mostly flat course, with a 5km stretch of undulations.

Nicki Heremaia, Sport Hawke’s Bay Community Sport Advisor said it was great to see more families, especially kids, taking part in the event.

“While we get the top athletes still coming to take part, the event is in good hands with the number of young people participating.

“The Hatuma Half Marathon is a great family event which is safe and exciting for all.”

There is still time to enter with pre-registrations closing on Saturday at 5pm.

Entries will be taken on the day at the Waipukurau Racecourse but will incur a late fee of $10.

People can enter as individuals or as a team in either the walking or running sections with team members each completing one or more sections of the course.

Visit hatumahalfmarathon.co.nz for all event information and to enter online.