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HASTINGS� HARRIERS DOMINATE RELAY EVENT |
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The Hastings Harrier Club once again proved too strong for their competition in the Athletics Hawkes Bay Gisborne Road Relay held in Taradale on Sunday. Hastings, although missing some of their top line runners from previous years, still had too much strength, winning the 6 person relay event by nearly 6 minutes from their Napier counterparts, with Bush Harriers (from Masterton) a further 9 and half minutes behind. |
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The event started well for the Napier team with Chris Corney quickly taking the lead from the start, pursued by John Mudgeway (Bush) and Barrie Herbison (Hastings). Putting the power on Half way up the Puketapu Hill, Corney quickly stretched Napier?s advantage to 50 metres by the top of the hill and 100 meters by the bottom of the other side. Mudgeway was forced to concede 2nd place to a strong finishing Herbison, but his Hastings team was over 1 minute behind by the end of the leg. |
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However the Hastings team was playing one of their two aces on the second leg and Mathew Holder quickly made in roads into the deficit, catching a passing Napier's John Craven within the first 1.5 km on his way to taking fastest time for the second leg. In a run, which was later described by the Napier Club Captain as "probably the run of the day", Holder finished just 16 seconds off Phil Costley's 1995 record for the leg. Holder's run had taken Hastings' 1 minutes deficit and turned it into a lead of two and a half minutes. |
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Worse was to come for the Napier team as Hastings' second ace was about to run the 3rd leg. While is obvious that Richard Potts would take time out of the Napier team whichever leg he ran, what did come as a surprise was how much time he took out of Napier?s Craig Mathers. At the top of the demanding Apley Rd hill leg, Potts had added another 2 minutes 52 to Hastings? lead and it was all over for the Napier team who now trailed by close to 6 minutes. |
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There was a small gain for the Napier side as Darryl Strachan took fastest time on the 4th leg, heading home Hastings? Callum Millward by 26 seconds. But the gain was short lived as Josh Barber immediately pulled back 40 seconds, to take fastest time on leg 5 from Napier's Mark Speakman. Leg 6 was more of the same with Napier's Kevin Fisher losing a further 27 seconds to Hastings' Stephen Smith. |
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The women?s event was one traffic from start to finish with the Hastings club once again dominant. Their team of Margaret Radich, Tessa Walker, Deidre Nieulands, Helen Barber, Hayley Sherborne, and Andrea Williams finished the 37km course in 2 hrs 36 min 54 sec. The Bush Harriers women were second across the line, close to 10 minutes behind with the Hastings B team third across the line a further 6 minutes back. |
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The only event of the day not cleaned up by the Hastings club was the short course relay held around the Puketapu block. A Havelock North Boys High team of Josh Lynex, Nathan Worsley, Richard Keesom, and Graeme Hodges easily won the event in 1 hr 12 min 30 sec, from Napier Gold, a selection of Napier Harriers juniors. Another Napier Harrier?s selection simply called "Napier Juniors" were third home. |
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The walk section was won by a combined Napier/Hastings selection. Calling themselves HB Harriers, Gabrielle Gorst, Amanda Gorst, Jeanette Cooper, Carole Bone, Jack Tregurther, and Lauren Hickey completed the 37 km course in 4 hrs 3 min 5 sec. Just on three and half minutes later. second placed Bush Harriers crossed the line with Hawkes Bay Marathon Clinic filling third spot. |
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All in all the event was a resounding success with 150 athletes taking part. |
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