The recent weeks of bad weather and persistant rain had many of the Napier Harrier Club chaffing at the bit in anticipation of last Saturday's cross country races at Puketapu.
A notoriousy muddy course in the true traditions of harrier racing was eagerly anticipated and while it was not the worst conditions seen at the venue, the course certainly lived up to its reputation and provided mud, rivulets and what could be described as small lakes to navigate.
The racing was in the 'Open Handicap' format and first out on the course were the juniors with all the under 16's running off the same clock. The 12 years and under grade saw 9 year old Georgia Creagh display her determination and confidence, to lead home her pursuers by 17 seconds, leading from start to finish. Charlie Chittenden (9.06) came home the quickest and in doing so ran through to secure the runners up spot, while Toa Elphick poached valuable championship points by resolutely overhauling two runners in the finishing sprint.
The women's 16 years and under 4km race produced the most convincing result, with Larissa Street winning by over 2� minutes from Danielle Kiely. This was easily Street's strongest effort of the season and perhaps she is now addind another string to her bow to add to her undoubted sprinting ability. Kiely's efforts in securing second placing were just rewards for solid training over recent months.
Jack Needes took advantage of a generous handicap in the equivalent boys race and although Ben Gillies (16.53) was quickest, he never got within striking distance. Patrick McGirr finished strongly for third, after a good battle with Ben Fulton.
In the 6km senior women's race, Cheryl Simpson revelled in the conditions to win by over a minute from Marilyn Brown (32.04) who recorded the quickest time. Ann-Marie Earwicker, a relative novice to harrier racing, was rewarded with a third placing after struggling with the unfamiliar conditions for most of the course.
Napier Harrier's club captain Craig Euctace, in his last race in the province before taking up a transfer to Christchurch, won the 9km senior men's race. A comfortable 12 second margin separated Eustace from Mark Speakman at the finish. Eustace appears to have recovered from his efforts at the Rotorua Marathon and is now showing the benefit of the strength gained while training for the marathon. Another showing the benefit of consistent training was third place gettter Craig Mathers who also ran the fastest time (38:59).

12 yrs and under - 2km (1 short lap) Place Athlete Grade Clock Time H'cap Actual Time Fastest Times H'cap Points 1 Georgia Creagh B12 11:59 00:00 11:59 8 15 2 Charlie Chittenden B12 12:16 03:10 09:06 1 14 3 Toa Elphick B12 12:23 03:10 09:13 2 13 4= Sam Hall B12 12:26 02:30 09:56 4= 12 4= Sean Eustace G12 12:26 02:30 09:56 4= 12 6 Annie Creagh B12 12:54 03:10 09:44 3 10 7 Natasha Town-Warner G12 13:10 01:45 11:25 7 9 8 Tyler Hambleton B12 13:46 03:10 10:36 6 8 Boys 14/16yrs and under - 4km (2 short laps) Place Athlete Grade Clock Time H'cap Actual Time Fastest Times H'cap Points 1 Jack Needes B14 21:05 03:45 17:20 2 15 2 Ben Gillies B14 21:43 04:50 16:53 1 14 3 Patrick McGirr B16 22:09 00:00 22:09 3 13 4 Ben Fulton B14 22:35 00:00 22:35 4 12 Girls 14/16 yrs and under - 4km (2 short laps) Place Athlete Grade Clock Time H'cap Actual Time Fastest Times H'cap Points 1 Larissa Street G14 23:38 00:00 23:38 2 15 2 Danielle Kiely G16 26:21 04:50 21:31 1 14 Women 19 yrs and under, Senior and Masters Women - 6km (2 long laps) Place Athlete Grade Clock Time H'cap Actual Time Fastest Times H'cap Points 1 Cheryl Simpson MW 42:53 09:00 33:53 2 15 2 Marilyn Brown MW 44:04 12:00 32:04 1 14 3 Ann-Marie Earwicker SW 52:14 00:00 52:14 3 13 Men 19 yrs and under - 6km (2 long laps), Senior and Masters Men - 9km (3 long laps) Place Athlete Grade Clock Time H'cap Actual Time Fastest Times H'cap Points 1 Craig Eustace MM 57:22 18:15 39:07 2 30 2 Mark Speakman MM 57:34 18:00 39:34 3 29 3 Craig Mathers SM 58:59 20:00 38:59 1 28 4 Trevor Fulton MM 59:20 18:00 41:20 4 27 5 Steve Lindsey MM 59:31 14:00 45:31 9 26 6 John Craven MM 59:42 15:00 44:42 7 25 7 Peter Gillies MM 59:52 18:00 41:52 6 24 8 Frank Busch MM 59:54 18:30 41:24 5 23 9 Eric Phimister MM 1:02:45 18:00 44:45 8 22 10 James Bell SM 1:03:38 17:40 45:58 10 21 11 Michael Lintott MM 1:04:05 11:40 52:25 11 20 12 Malcolm Lochrie MM 1:06:09 09:00 57:09 12 19 13 Mark Lane MM DNF - -

Previous Years Results Here:-

2003

2004

2005