Golf course open to host cross country runners
Thanks to the generosity of River City Golf, cross country running returns to the Tawhero Golf Course next Wednesday for the Whanganui Secondary Schools Championships.
The Tawhero course was first used for the New Zealand Schools Championships in 1991 and again in 2018 and 2019 for Whanganui Schools. It is an excellent cross country challenge.
Last year’s race was not only affected by Covid, being held in August rather than May, but the likely change of ownership of the course meant a switch to the Whanganui Collegiate course. We are delighted that River
City Golf have allowed this return.
The 2021 race not only features a change of venue from last year but also a major change in the format of the meeting, with the introduction of relays in addition to the traditional championship and team races.
The relay, with teams of four runners, should foster greater participation and the one kilometre legs of the relay should encourage teams from other codes to run for their school.
Retaining the championship over a traditional distance benefits leading runners preparing for next month’s New Zealand Secondary Schools Championships in Hawera. The championship will include a three to score team event.
I have often highlighted the benefits of relays and have used them as part of cross country preparation for major events. As a middle distance runner over the shorter 800 and 1500m distances, I particularly enjoyed the shorter relays, preferring them to the slog of the harder team races over seven-mile courses.
I was fortunate to be number four of a strong Loughborough College cross country team with three international runners. We won many four-person relays largely through the prowess of the leading three. On one notable occasion in Leeds, the Loughborough team won tablecloths as a relay prize.
My teammates suggested that my tablecloth should be cut into matching napkins for the three leading runners. Such was their opinion of my contribution.
It was my enjoyment of such relays, notably the Hyde Park relays around the Serpentine in London, that inspired me to establish the Round the Lake Relay that has for more than 40 years attracted 500 runners annually to Virginia Lake.
The Karori Relays in Wellington were started only a couple years later and celebrate their 43rd year.
Although the relays are largely a Wellington event, Whanganui Collegiate has regularly entered.
It is hoped that the relays in Tawhero will add interest and increase participation without detracting from the traditional championships. Although numbers held steady last year, there has been a sad decline over the past two decades and this has been reflected in a disproportionate decline in Whanganui entries at New Zealand Schools, which will hopefully be reversed this year.
Sadly, Nga Tawa is now affiliated to Manawatu¯ . Last year they added quality and numbers to the Whanganui event. On the evidence of middle distance track events, Whanganui Collegiate will start as clear favourite in many team grades but also in the chase for individual titles. In the 22 middle distance events held at Cooks Gardens in March, Whanganui Collegiate won 19 of the 22 events contested. However, many athletes won multiple events and they will rely on team-mates to snare team titles.
Daniel Sinclair won all three of his intermediate track events in March (800m, 1500m and steeplechase). He did not contest the 3000m, which was won by Jacob Anderson (Cullinane).
Sinclair moves up to senior for cross country and there will be considerable interest in his battle with Collegiate team-mate George Lambert, who won the same events as Sinclair in March. At North Island Schools their 3000m times and 1500m times in their own grades were only 4s apart favouring each respectively. Triathlete Hunter Gibson (Collegiate) and Nat Kirk (High School) should be in the mix.
Louise Brabyn, who won all three of her middle distance events, will start as favourite in the junior (under-16 girls) with competition likely to come from team-mate Theodora Gempton. Matthew Sinclair won the 800m and 1500m in juniors with Matthew Smith (Ruapehu). Jennifer Ramage (Girls College) in the junior girls’ 3000m was the other non- Collegiate winner.
The team races, especially at Year 9, are especially hard to predict and are wide open especially as the grade is restricted to Year 9 athletes and new faces will emerge.
The girls’ start is at 12.30pm with all athletes running 3km. The boys start at 1pm with Year 9 running 3km and juniors and seniors 4km. The relays start at 1.30pm.