Clocktower Race to make a comeback
THE Hill CityUniversity Athletic Club is winding back time and resurrecting the Clocktower Race.
The once annual race is making a return today as part of the University of Otago Orientation Week festivities.
The event fell off the annual calendar when the previous organiser moved on.
But final year dental student and Hill CityUniversity Athletic Club runner Jared Monk are helping to bring the event back.
‘‘We hope to reinstate it into the Orientation Week programme, so it is a thing that will happen annually again, because it is a lot of fun,’’ Monk said.
The race started in 1990 and was inspired by the 1981 film
Chariots of Fire, which takes place at the University of Cambridge and depicts the Great Court Run.
Competitors will sprint around the University of Otago registry building, in the hope of beating the noon chimes to the end. They have to cover the 350m course in under 53.5 seconds to pip the final chime.
Monk is hoping the race will attract at least 20 very fast runners, and the club has dusted off the old trophy.
Registration starts at 11am and the race gets under way on the first chime of noon.
‘‘It is definitely achievable. It has been won in the past,’’ Monk said.
‘‘I’ve had the nod one of the top sprinters is going to come down and give it a crack.’’