Tag Archive for: relay

Taitua Arboretum Relay 2019 Results

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On Saturday 15 th June we met at the Taitua carpark at the end of Taitua Road.

We selected EVENLY MATCHED TEAMS of three runners each, from the people that attended. This was a standard format relay of one 3km lap of the Arboretum for each runner. It was a perfect day in the Arboretum and most went for a full lap warm-up before teams were picked. This is an interesting and challenging course, twisting through the pebbled pathways of the reserve. After some intense battles in the earlier relay legs, the finishing runners were still battling up the steep switch-back hill to the finish line.

Thanks for the support again this year, with Garth Ritchie, Trish Stockman and Peter Horan taking the times. A very enjoyable event.

Results

1 st Team Liv Theunissen, Paul Reynolds, Iain Rattray 39:05
2 nd Team Kerry Rattray, Ross Barnett, Sunil Fernandez-ritchie 40:24
3 rd Team Sue Hunter, Vaughan Kestle, Les Miller 40:29
4 th Team Stuart Glass, Tanja Miller, Chris Keith 41.01
5 th Team Wendy Fox, Mark Scott, Marc Scott 41:25
6 th Team Graham Clarkin, Sandra Jensen, John Crane 41:30
7 th Team Kay Stockman, Dave Clark, Gemma Horan 42:56
8 th Team Kaye Sharpe, Leon Govender. Kevin Knowles 44:09
9th Team Shona Dewson, Vaughan Swale, Micheal Peck 44:24
10th Team Tanya Podjurski, Maureen Leonard, Paul Ritchie 47:49
11th Team Debbie (long course) Morris, Maddison Rattray, Dave Gunn 50:40

John Crane11:29
Les Miller11:30
Sunil Fernandez-Ritchie11:36
Dave Gunn11:51
Chris Keith12:14
Ross Barnett12:18
Iain Rattray12:24
Marc Scott12:38
Marc Scott12:45 2nd lap
Micheal Peck12:49
Kevin Knowles12:54
Paul Reynolds13:07
Tanja Miller13:10
Liv Theunissen13:34
Gemma Horan13:59
Paul Ritchie14:08
Dave Clark14:18
Maureen Leonard14:19
Sandra Jensen14:19
Vaughan Kestle14:27
Sue Hunter14:32
Madison Rattray14:37
Kay Stockman14:39
Vaughan Swale14:48
Leon Govender14:54
Stuart Glass15:37
Graham Clarkin15:42
Wendy Fox16:02
Kaye Sharpe16:21
Kerry Rattray 16:30
Shona Dewson 16:49
Tanya Podjursky 19:22
Debbie Morris 30:44

Redwoods Relays 2018 Results

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Hawks had a great day out at the Redwoods relay, and the weather was gorgeous. Overall numbers in the event seemed lower than usual but everyone competed in sterling fashion – with an excellent support crew too. Kettles and whiskey glasses were won

Waiwhakareke Random Relay 2018 Results

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Results below Tanja’s report.

Report by Kevin Knowles

On Saturday 30th June we met at the Waiwhakareke Reserve car park, opposite the Hamilton Zoo. We selected evenly matched teams of two runners each, from the people that arrived.

This was a relay of six 2.26km laps of the reserve, per team. Each of the two team members got to randomly choose how many of the 6 laps to share with their team member. e.g. alternating 1 lap, 2 laps, 1 lap, 2 laps. (which my team member Helen and I agreed on) It was a clear day after the late start which allowed the fog time to clear, and most went for a full lap warm-up before teams were picked.

This is an interesting and challenging course, through a range of pebbled, grassy and a little muddy pathways of the reserve. After around an hour of running, just 7 minutes difference covered all the team finish times.

Thanks for the support again this year, with Glenn Sexton taking the times.

A very enjoyable event.

Report by Tanja Miller

Saturday the 29th of July 2018 was one the of the chilliest mornings I’ve spent on the sideline as a soccer mum. Our poor little players had freezing fingers and faces but they bravely battled the cold and played like troopers! I figured if a bunch of 8 & 10 year olds could get out in the cold weather and play then I too can head outdoors again and get moving!

I dragged myself away from the fireplace and headed to Waiwhakarere Natural Heritage Park to race with my fellow Hawks. Despite being a Forest Lake resident I’ve never been to the Heritage park and I was excited to run in a new place. The location is directly across from the Zoo and thankfully the council allowed us to park in the over flow carpark and use the Zoo toilets. A small but keen bunch of Hawks also braved the wind chill to turn up and support the event.

Kevin Knowles, our fabulous race director, explained the relay strategy to everyone. Unfortunately I’m a slow learner and it took several attempts but eventually I got the gist of it, thanks Kevin for your patience! We were then placed in teams using a very technical method, haha! Fastest to slowest from 2 lines were paired up. It was then up to each team to secretly decide which strategy they were going to use for the race. My team mate was Gemma Horan and we decided to run 2 X 2km laps each then 1x 2km lap each.

The terrain was a variation of gravel, mud and grass with a nice climb towards the end of each lap. The first part of each lap was downhill so that was a warm up for the tough stuff yet to come. I was definitely glad to finish my laps as it was a challenging little course. Each team had their own strategy/lap order so we didn’t know who was in the lead until the end of the race and that added to the excitement. There was lots of friendly rivalry between the teams with everyone racing hard to try and take line honours.

Eventually the winners were found with Sam LeHeron and St Peters Cambridge student Kimbi Sanders finishing victorious. Second place went to Les Miller and Leon Govender who finished just 9 seconds back. Kris Moore and Dot Larsen came home for 3rd. Gemma and I finished in 5th place which was very commendable as we were the only all female team. Thanks heaps to all those who turned up to support the event, it sure was fun! Also apologies for the lack of event photos. I assigned one of my children the roll of photographer. They decided that sitting in the warm car was preferable to taking photos! 🙂

Team Names Team time
56 Team Sam LeHeron / Kimbi Sanders 56:43:00
55 Team Leon Govender /Les Miller 56:52:00
54 Team Kris Moore / Dot Larsen 57:48:00
52 Team Phil Perry / Peter Horan 58:43:00
53 Team Kevin Knowles / Helen King 59:05:00
57 Team Gemma Horan / Tanja Miller 59:23:00
50 Team Maryam / Sunil Fernandez Ritchie 1:01:25
51 Team Mathijs Wetzels / Gilbert MacDonald 1:03:36

 

Place Team Name Leg 1 Time Difference
1 56 Sam LeHeron 8:58        1 lap –
2 55 Leon Govender 9:32        1 lap 0:34
3 53 Helen King 10:21      1 lap 1:23
4 54 Dot Larsen 11:02      1 lap 2:03
5 50 Maryam 11:54      1 lap 2:56
6 52 Phil Perry 17:53       2 laps 8:55
7 57 Tanja Miller 19:09       2 laps 10:11
8 51 Gilbert MacDonald 24:58       2 laps 16:00
Place Team Name Leg 2 Time Difference
1 52 Peter Horan 10:57      1 lap –
2 51 Mathijs Wetzels 17:14      2 laps 6:17
3 54 Kris Moore 17:46      2 laps 6:49
4 50 Sunil Fernandez Ritchie 18:28      2 laps 7:31
5 55 Les Miller 18:30      2 laps 7:33
6 53 Kevin Knowles 18:58      2 laps 8:02
7 56 Kimbi Sanders 19:29      2 laps 8:32
8 57 Gemma Horan 20:24      2 laps 9:28
Place Team Name Leg 3 Time Difference
1 57 Tanja Miller 9:36       1 lap –
2 53 Helen King 10:16     1 lap 0:40
3 54 Dot Larsen 10:53     1 lap 1:17
4 50 Maryam 11:58     1 lap 2:22
5 51 Gilbert MacDonald 12:26     1 lap 2:51
6 56 Sam LeHeron 18:45     2 laps 9:10
7 52 Phil Perry 18:50     2 laps 9:15
8 55 Leon Govender 20:09     2 laps 10:33
Place Team Name Leg 4 Time Difference
1 55 Les Miller 8:42      1 lap –
2 51 Mathijs Wetzels 8:58      1 lap 0:16
3 56 Kimbi Sanders 9:30      1 lap 0:49
4 57 Gemma Horan 10:13    1 lap 1:32
5 52 Peter Horan 11:03    1 lap 2:21
6 54 Kris Moore 18:07    2 laps 9:26
7 50 Sunil Fernandez Ritchie 19:06    2 laps 10:25
8 53 Kevin Knowles 19:30    2 laps 10:48

Taitua Arboretum Relay 2018 Results

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Report by Kevin Knowles

On Saturday 16 th June we met at the Taitua carpark at the end of Taitua Road.

We selected EVENLY MATCHED TEAMS of three runners each, from the people that attended. This was a standard format relay of one 3km lap of the Arboretum for each runner. It was a perfect day in the Arboretum and most went for a full lap warm-up before teams were picked. This is an interesting and challenging course, twisting through the pebble pathways of the reserve. After some intense battles in the earlier relay legs, the finishing runners were still battling up the steep switch-back hill to the finish line. Notable sprint finishes. Kent Hodgson vs Conner Tristram, and John Bowe vs. Les Miller.

Thanks for the support again this year, with Garth Ritchie and Andrew Wark taking the times.

A very enjoyable event.

Team Results:

1 st Team 1. Iain Rattray, Lance Brew, Leon Govender 37:22
2 nd Team 6. Dot Larsen/David Southwick, Andrew Wark, Kent Hodgson 38:22
3 rd Team 7. Ray Chrystall, Tanja Miller, Conner Tristram. 38:26
4 th Team 5. Madison Rattray, Paul Reynolds, John Bowe. 38:59
5 th Team 2. Vaughan Kestle, Kevin Knowles, Les Miller 39:00
6 th Team 4. Kerry Rattray, Sunil Fernandez-Ritchie, Simon Kerr 39:22
7 th Team 3. Kaye Sharp, Gary Clare, Marc Scott. 42:10

Individual Results:

1 Simon Kerr 10:53.9
2 Lance Brew 10:58.6
3 Connor Tristram 11:10.3
4 John Bowe 11:15.1
5 Kent Hodgson 11:18.4
6 Andrew Wark 11:29.7
7 Les Miller 11:37.5
8 Marc Scott 12:10.3
9 Kevin Knowles 12:29.5
10 Iain Rattray 12:38.7
11 Sunil Fernandez-Ritchie 12:40.1
12 Tanja Miller 13:27.7
13 Paul Reynolds 13:33.6
14 Leon Govender 13:45.7
15 Ray Chrystall 13:47.7
16 Gary Clare 13:58.7
17 Madison Rattray 14:10.2
18 Vaughan Kestle 14:52.7
19 Dot Larson 15:34.6
20 Dave Southwick 15:44.5
21 Kerry Rattray 15:49.4
22 Kaye Sharp 16:00.9
23 1. Iain, Lance and Leon 37:21.9
24 6. Dot, Dave, Andrew, Kent 38:22.0
25 7. Ray, Tanja and Conner 38:25.9
26 5. Madison, Paul and John 38:58.7
27 2. Vaughan, Kevin and Les 39:00.0
28 4. Kerry, Sunil and Simon 39:22.4
29 3. Kaye, Gary and Marc 42:10.2

National Road Relays 2017 Results

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Keep reading down the page for the Hawks official team results or click here to go directly to the results.

Overview report by Mudlark (Don Willoughby)

WHEW!!!! Hawks are the top club in road running and champions of New Zealand. What an amazing weekend in Rotorua and a huge thanks to John Crane and Glenn Sexton for their efforts throughout the year to get nine teams to the start line.  111 teams took part and it is a reflection of what great spirit the club has that even at the last minute we had runners who were upgraded to a higher team and managed to produce outstanding runs. Maureen Leonard was a classic case taking out the fastest lap on her leg. Since 1999 when I was race director on a new course based on Cambridge the Hawks have featured in the top 3 ranking most years. That year the Masters Women won and the Junior Women were third. And now follows a brief history of the club’s record as I know it.  In 2000 the event was held on the Motueka Nelson course and MW won again while the JW were first and we were second club overall. As Brett Addison points out it took 17 more years for our JW to win again. 2001 was Takahe Akaroa and the MW team kept on producing wins and one memory I have of that year was the huge skin flaps on Bridget Ray’s feet after a flying downhill leg. Our JM led by the Robertson twins won to great excitement and we were again second club. In 2002 and 2003 the event was based on Fielding and our MW, JW and JM did us proud with medals but still the top club eluded us. It  was Nelson again in 2004 and no gold medals but once again MW 2nd, JM 2nd and JW 3rd produced top runs  and we were 3rd in the club comp. 2005 the event returned to Takahe Akaroa with no wins but a 3rd in the top club. Then followed Feilding,  Timaru and Mosgiel and while we were knocking on the top spot never clinched it. 2009 on the Banks Peninsula we finally “knocked the @#$% off”  with MW in first, JW second and MM third. Finally we had done it and a very emotional Don accepted the gold medal. The next year in Inglewood we won again while Hunua 2011 with no golds but plenty of minor placings like seconds to SW, MM and MW we were second ranked club. The next  four years I was not fully involved due to poor health but we were still up there. Last year in Rotorua we finished 1st equal and finally in 2017 we cracked it again. What a tribute to those who led the club so ably this year and kept the members focus on aiming for Rotorua. Winning a national relay is all about having every member running to their best on the day. In Rotorua we had replacements in each team that won a medal  but they still produced their best. The fact that we had eight runners who scored fastest lap in their race was a measure of how the club has real quality. Nancy Jiang, Marion Millward, Maureen Leonard, Aimee Ferguson, Grace Ritchie, Samantha Corbett, Emerson Deverell and John Crane all ran the quickest times for their lap which was brilliant running. I was privileged to follow and assist Wendy Harris with the Junior Women’s team as a passionate Hawks supporter. Aimee Ferguson gave this team a brilliant start and was 3 minutes ahead after the first lap and this lead was built on successively by Grace Ritchie, Jemima Antoniazzi, Samantha Corbett and Emerson Deverell which meant Charli Miller brought the team home in first  more than 7 minutes ahead of second placed Wellington. Giving time splits and encouragement throughout each was a privilege and a thrill for the old fella. I was even happier at the finish when our Masters Women came home in first spot and then our senior women took second behind North Harbour Bays. Pens and rule books came out and Glenn did some hasty calculations. Were two golds a silver and a bronze enough to be top club? I had been given the word early on that we had won but had to keep a lid on it until the prize giving. I am very proud to be a Hawk and viewed  the whole day as a wonderful running experience in the club’s history. The fish and chips and red wine back in Cambridge tasted top stuff on Saturday night as Rae and I reflected on a super day.

Junior Women’s NRR
Report by Wendy Harris

I was privileged enough to have the opportunity to drive the Junior Women again this year and was not the only one who felt like we had some unfinished business after last years race.  It was clear from the beginning that although the girls didn’t want to put too much pressure on themselves they were a team that believed they could win!  And win they did.
Aimee Ferguson was our starter with her last words to me being “I have to remember not to start with the boys and do my own thing”.  Obviously that went out the window as when we saw her 1km in she was the lead girl and was running with the boys.  A strategy that worked anyway as she led the JW race from the start and ran 2 minutes under her estimated time to put the team into a healthy 1:20 minute lead.
Grace Ritchie set off up the hill and managed to keep with one of the JM teams and run a really gutsy second leg looking determined and focused all the way.  Lucky the team was well organised in getting to the changeover in time as Grace was also 2 minutes faster than her estimated time.  The lead was extended to 2 minutes and Jemima Antoniazzi, our youngest runner at only 14 took off down the hill with those long legs of hers flying.  At times she was going so fast around the bends that she could hardly stay close to the edge of the road.  At the changeover the baton was passed to Sam Corbett and the lead had extended to 3 minutes.  Sam was pumped and ready to go, focused and prepared to keep the team in front.  Sam’s run was solid and consistent from the word go, she did a PB and gained another minute on Wellington the team behind.  Emerson Deverell then took the baton for the team with Don Willoughby hot on her tail calling out encouragement all the way.  By this point it was extremely windy with big trucks racing past making it not the most pleasant experience for Emerson.  She never gave up and pushed through until the end was finally in sight.  Her first words were “I’m so sorry I’ve let the team down”.  I think she might have been hallucinating a little after giving it everything she had as she had gained a massive lead over Wellington extending the time difference to 7 minutes.  Charli Miller was the last runner for the team with the longest lap to take the team through to the finish.  She was lucky to be in the team due to having a broken arm but complete with cast in tow she headed off with only one job to do – get to the end in front of all the other teams.  Driving past Charli running strong the girls allowed themselves to believe that short of a disaster befalling Charli the win would be theirs. 
Hamilton City Hawks Junior Women – Gold Medal Winners – National Champions.
Congratulations to all the girls for racing so well, giving it their absolute all, showing great sportsmanship and for generally being awesome.  A special mention to Lillie Harris for her great photography, time keeping and navigation skills.  Also a big thank you to the support crew out there on the course, Dean, Megan, Grant, Kevin and the man with the famous milkshakes Don Willoughby.

Senior Men’s NRR
Report by Lance Brew

With managing to be able to get two senior men’s teams fulled with senior men without having to steal masters or female runners there was some excitement around what might unfold for the Senior Men 1 team who were in the A grade.

With Malcolm King leading us of on the 1st leg he was really wanting to keep us in contact with teams ahead of us going pass him at  around 3.5 km mark he looked relaxed but with the hill to come what was going to unfold. Well from all accounts he gave it his all up then down the other side to come in very wobbly and with us screaming for him to sprint in, it was very apparent he had gassed himself and was spent. Making it to the change to hand over to Jai Davies Campbell who shot off like a bullet to run down the guys ahead. Leaving us to deal with a very stuffed Malcolm who we had to leave at the back of his car and we were of to see what Jai was doing he was going just fine gaining in on the Wellington Scottish runner and just as Jai was about over take him he stopped to do his lace up.

Jai smashed his leg gaining some good time on two teams in front to hand over to myself and give me something to chase down and extend on behind. With each km ticking over I could see I was clawing back time on the 2 runners ahead of me. I know going up the hill to the change I was going to pick at least 1 off and get really close to another. Theunis was there waiting and went out quickly having some good competion just a head and Matt Scott chasing behind. To some of us in the van we were starting to think we may of put him on the wrong leg but no he worked really hard to keep a gap on Matt behind but also got us really close to Tauranga Ramblers which got some excitement going as now there was a race on for top Waibop team. Giving the batton over to Russ at the top of the hill a bit of excitement ensued as what was Russ going to do to this leg specially the down hill section by the time we caught up to him he was already past Tauranga and making some great headway although Alice and B(dog) who were our chief supporters started to worry that he was hurting himself and Alice had to grab a beer to calm her down. Russ got to the bottom of the hill and set of to bring home a good run with some little white lies by us in the van saying it all down hill from here and flat we forgot about the last hill (sorry Russ) which he smashed and brought it in for Rodrigo to head out.

Rodrigo set out like he was going to kill his leg and extended the gap on the teams behind for the first time in the day if was now more of Rodrigo doing a time trial and holding our place and seeing if he could take time outa  Christchurch Avon to give Jacob a chance. Rodrigo got over the top of the hill and set about trying to pick up the pace down to hand over to Jacob who was just like Rodrigo of consulidating our place in the race. Looking really smooth he ran a great leg to bring us home in 7 placing.

Well Done guys that was one fun team to be involved in and Thanks again to Alice and B for been great supporters

Senior women NRR adventures
Report by Celicia Flori
The morning of the relays started off pretty smoothly. We all met at 7.30am at the lodge with no delays other than Malesa mysteriously disappearing for a 5 long minutes. We then left for the start line to see the first team take off at 8am. We would not start till 8.45 and in that time we sorted out our race numbers, running order, etc. While I was pinning my number to my singlet Kovo looked at me quizzically and said “ I don’t think that is the logo of the front of the singlet” I looked down and indeed it wasn’t: I had been wearing my singlet back to front the whole time. Good start of the day 🙂
The first runner in our team was Kovo. She run in fourth place for some time right behind the 3rd girl, but then, as she put it, “got tired of the view” so took off and got us to 3rd place with a good lead. Our second runner was Malesa which, for the first time in 3 years, was not sick on the day of NRR, and it showed!! She got a PR 5km and, with a 56 seconds improvement over last year’s time, closed the gap with the second girl by over a minute.
Next up was Dawn, she had a good solid run and kept us in third place with a good lead. The first section of leg 3 can’t be followed by van so we didn’t see Dawn for a little while. During this time me and Malesa had a cool down/warm up jog and were surprised at how badly the course was marked until we got to a motorway and realised that we were not on the course at all! Malesa’s excuse was that she had just run her guts out, my excuse…well lets not dwell on that.
I was up next after Dawn. Given that the distance, how did Mike Harris put it, “had a zero less than what I am used to”, I think I did ok. I took 39 seconds off last years time and LITERALLY ran my guts out.. I have to admit that if the course had been a tad bit longer it would not have been a pleasant ride in the van for any of us. Given my state the baton change between me and Nancy was hilarious. I had eyed the portaloos even before the change over and all I wanted to do was get to them as fast as possible, so much so that I went a little too fast and almost ran over Nancy after handing her the baton. Luckily I veered in time and headed for the cones instead….
Nancy’s run was amazing as usual. She took two minutes off the second girl and got us to 2nd place! We heard a lot of ”who the hell is this girl” from the other team..
Then came the turn of Veronica. She struggled a bit at the start due to stitches but then, thanks to Graham’s great suggestion of “open your legs”, she kept 2nd place with a good lead. The final leg was run by our runner of the day Olivia. She ran an amazing final leg and opened the gap from the third place by a few minutes. She said she ran scared the whole time thinking the other runner was right behind her. We didn’t tell her that in fact she was miles away…good strategy team!
After all these adventures we managed to take home Silver!
Great work you all!
Each time I do the relays I am always impressed by the comradery and team work that goes on. For a great chunk of the day we are all out there supporting each other, encouraging each other and giving everything you have to the team. I feel it some how makes you a better you and it is why I find this event so beautiful and inspiring. So proud of you all and of being part of this team and of the best running club in NZ!! We got a trophy to prove it now 🙂

Masters Men 50+ NRR
Report by John Crane

An early rise for the old men .. first race start at 8:00am.

We’d done our research … realistically we knew that the two Wellington clubs were a lot stronger and were likely to take the first two places … so it was looking like we’d be in a three way battle for bronze with Auckland City Athletic and our old mates Papanui Toc H. But then again … anything can happen on the day!

After so many years of running the National Road Relays this was the first time I’d ever done the first leg. I’d been worried about a back injury, but thankfully all went well and we were on our way, with a narrow lead over Wellington Scottish at the first changeover. Chris Keith up next. The big guns from Wellington were starting to fire, but Chris ran a great leg and kept them very much in our sights.

Third leg was Oscar, keeping us in the the battle for bronze with a gutsy run and uphill finish. By leg four the two Wellington teams were having their own battle up front. Auckland had got ahead of us and Papanui were putting us under pressure. Kevin put in a fantastic effort and kept us very much in touch with Auckland in the chase for bronze. Then it was Chris Smith … just a week after running the Rarotonga 32km race. Somehow he’d managed to recover from that and put in a huge performance. In fourth place still, opening the gap on Papanui and still just over two minutes away from Auckland. Leg six was Garry. After many years of running relays with Garry we know what to expect … he puts everything into it, and this year was no exception, running hard out at the start to cut the gap to the Auckland team and holding on grimly to the end of his leg. Never a pretty sight!

Last leg … great to see Tony Olsen back running the NRR after a few years out. He had over two minutes to make up on top Auckland runner Alastair Prangnell, and had to keep an eye on Papanui who were over two minutes behind, but had Richard Bennett on their last leg (and I know how that feels from about 15 years ago!).

Then a bit of drama in the battle up front between Wellington Harriers and Wellington Scottish. The Scottish leg six runner had come to grief, collapsing about 500m short of the handover, resulting in a seven minute penalty and throwing things up in the air for the minor medals. Tony went after Auckland and ate into their lead from the start … it was going to be close. In the meantime we were trying to work out if Wellington Scottish were likely to finish more than seven minutes ahead of us. We gave Tony one last boost of support then into the vans to the finish, fighting the traffic and lights we arrived just in time to see Auckland holding on to third place over the line, with an exceptional run from Tony to put us just over a minute behind in fourth. We still couldn’t work out whether we’d finish ahead of Wellington Scottish once their penalty had been applied … but then the results were announced, confirming us in 3rd place. It never feels quite right to benefit from another team’s misfortune … but that’s all part of the drama of relay running, and it was good to hear later on that the Wellington runner was OK after a short spell in Rotorua hospital.

A great result for the old fellas, and at least we managed one medal for the men . We also realised that all those years of close battles in the MM40 grade that started 10 years ago against Wellington Scottish and Papanui are starting to come round again … same old battlers, just 10 years older! Bring on 2018 in Akaroa!

The Very Hungry (for victory) Relay Team
Report by Kirsten

In the light of the moon a little MW relay team lay on their beds wondering what the next day would bring.

In the morning the sun came up and ‘pop!’, out came the team, hungry for victory.

On leg one Kirsten ran her best, she ate through one runner.

But they were still hungry….

On leg two Helen ran fast and well, eating through TWO runners.

But they were still hungry….

On leg three Karen ran consistently and well, chewing through THREE runners

But they were still hungry…

On leg FOUR Marion the legend got them into second place

But they were still hungry….

On leg five Katy machined in a very quick time through FIVE runners

But they were still hungry….

On leg six Maureen ran reliably well, eating through one Olympic, one composite, one Lake City, one New Brighton MM, one more composite, one Wellington Scottish and (most importantly and truthfully)…..one Wellington Harrier!

That leg we all had a (nervous) stomach ache!

The next runner was Bridget Ray and she did a stunning run in a high pressure situation.

And after that the team felt much better.

Now they weren’t hungry anymore, as they suspected that something great was about to happen.

However they had to stay in a cocoon for more than two hours until results were officially announced.

At prizegiving they went up on stage and……..

They had a beautiful gold medal!!

Postscript: Thanks epic and fabulous team xx

Masters Men 40+
Report by Mark Scott

After medalling the last four years our 7th this year didn’t feel too good, but shows where we’re at with a lot of us late 40’s now. A big thanks to Nick as our hot spare and Hadley coming into the team a fortnight before race day. We were a massive 15 minutes off 1st, 11 minutes of 3rd The top three teams were well ahead of the next five teams that we were competitive with, 4th team finished 3:51 ahead.

Saying that we had a great day and refocused on beating Lake City (fail) and the leading Senior Womans team, North Harbour Bay (win). Our team, in order of legs – Glenn Sexton, Kent Hodgson, Hadley Craig, Marc Scott, John Bowe, Mike Harris and Mike Causer.

Glenn got us off to a good start in contact in 6th and ahead of Bays. We stayed in the 5th to 8th place throughout the relay. A couple of our blokes got “chicked” by our Senior Ladies runners, I could have been one of those. Thanks Cecilia.

So what really mattered… a leg to go, a minute down on Bays. Mike Causer says “no problem”, “walk in the park”. Mike comfortably reels in the Bays runner and we smashed them by 5 seconds! Nice.

Recruitment started on Tuesday with Jason signed up. Need a few more to stop John Bowe and Mike Causer heading off to Tibet for a self-imposed 5 year exile and zen life!

Hawks Relay Team Results

The full official timing results can be viewed here

Dist Time M/Km
Junior Women 1st 
Leg1 Aimee Ferguson Fastest lap 8.3 0:32:19 3:54
Leg2 Grace Ritchie Fastest lap 8.2 0:31:58 3:54
Leg3 Jemima Antoniazzi 4.1 0:13:59 3:25
Leg4 Samantha Corbett Fastest lap 6.0 0:23:53 3:59
Leg5 Emerson Deverell Fastest lap 8.4 0:33:02 3:56
Leg6 Charli Miller 10.3 0:41:35 4:02
Finish 45.3 2:56:46 3:54
Masters Women 1st
Leg1 Kirsten Milne 8.5 0:35:54 4:13
Leg2 Helen Hall-King 8.8 0:39:24 4:29
Leg3 Karyn McCready 8.3 0:41:03 4:57
Leg4 Marion Millward Fastest lap 8.2 0:37:01 4:31
Leg5 Katy Dawson 10.1 0:40:27 4:00
Leg6 Maureen Leonard Fastest lap 8.4 0:38:04 4:32
Leg7 Bridget Ray 10.3 0:43:51 4:15
Finish 62.6 4:35:44 4:24
Senior Women 1 2nd
Leg1 Kovo MacDonald 8.5 0:35:11 4:08
Leg2 Malesa McNearney 8.8 0:34:03 3:52
Leg3 Dawn Tuffery 8.3 0:38:03 4:35
Leg4 Cecilia Flori 8.2 0:31:32 3:51
Leg5 Nancy Jiang Fastest lap 10.1 0:35:12 3:29
Leg6 Veronika Adams 8.4 0:35:52 4:16
Leg7 Olivia Ritchie 10.3 0:39:25 3:50
Finish 62.6 4:09:18 3:59
Masters 50+ 3rd
Leg1 John Crane Fastest lap 8.5 0:32:08 3:47
Leg2 Chris Keith 8.8 0:34:24 3:55
Leg3 Oscar Emery 8.3 0:38:11 4:36
Leg4 Kevin Knowles 8.2 0:33:38 4:06
Leg5 Chris Smith 10.1 0:36:34 3:37
Leg6 Garry Wilson 8.4 0:34:58 4:10
Leg7 Tony Olsen 10.3 0:38:03 3:42
Finish 62.6 4:07:56 3:58
Senior Men – B Grade 5th
Leg1 Jack Montgomerie 8.5 0:33:57 4:00
Leg2 Martin Ferry 8.8 0:32:19 3:40
Leg3 Sunil Ritchie 8.3 0:34:12 4:07
Leg4 Kris Moore 8.2 0:32:44 4:00
Leg5 Rueben Tomlinson 10.1 0:35:28 3:31
Leg6 Cameron Hall 8.4 0:31:41 3:46
Leg7 Carl Fischer 10.3 0:37:31 3:39
Finish 62.6 3:57:52 3:48
Masters Men 7th
Leg1 Glenn Sexton 8.5 0:32:08 3:47
Leg2 Kent Hodgson 8.8 0:32:27 3:41
Leg3 Hadley Craig 8.3 0:33:57 4:05
Leg4 Marc Scott 8.2 0:32:53 4:01
Leg5 John Bowe 10.1 0:35:30 3:31
Leg6 Mike Harris 8.4 0:33:02 3:56
Leg7 Mike Causer 10.3 0:36:49 3:34
Finish 62.6 3:56:46 3:47
Senior Men – A Grade 7th
Leg1 Malcolm King 8.5 0:31:56 3:45
Leg2 Jai Davis-Campbell 8.8 0:28:52 3:17
Leg3 Lance Brew 8.3 0:31:01 3:44
Leg4 Theunis Pieters 8.2 0:30:49 3:45
Leg5 Russ Best 10.1 0:31:30 3:07
Leg6 Rodrigo Jaca 8.4 0:29:56 3:34
Leg7 Jacob Priddey 10.3 0:34:34 3:21
Finish 62.6 3:38:38 3:30
Senior Women 1 2nd
Leg1 Kovo MacDonald 8.5 0:35:11 0:04:08
Leg2 Malesa McNearney 8.8 0:34:03 0:03:52
Leg3 Dawn Tuffery 8.3 0:38:03 0:04:35
Leg4 Cecilia Flori 8.2 0:31:32 0:03:51
Leg5 Nancy Jiang 10.1 0:35:12 0:03:29
Leg6 Veronika Adams 8.4 0:35:52 0:04:16
Leg7 Olivia Ritchie 10.3 0:39:25 0:03:50
Finish 62.6 4:09:18 0:03:59
Composite 7th
Leg1  Hikaru Mita 8.3 0:32:02 0:03:52
Leg2 Trish Stockman 8.2 0:47:50 0:05:50
Leg3 Brooke Shepherd-Wright 4.1 0:17:37 0:04:18
Leg4 Charlie Evans 6.0 0:27:20 0:04:33
Leg5 Marcus Daws 8.4 0:35:57 0:04:17
Leg6 Nick Freke 10.3 0:43:56 0:04:16
Finish 45.3 3:24:42 0:04:31
Junior Men 7th
Leg1 Lochie Montgomerie 8.3 0:30:46 0:03:42
Leg2 Connor Tristram 8.2 0:27:52 0:03:24
Leg3 William Swales 4.1 0:13:10 0:03:13
Leg4 Ben Prince 6.0 0:20:50 0:03:28
Leg5 Sam Montgomerie 8.4 0:31:53 0:03:48
Leg6 Isaiah Priddey 10.3 0:36:59 0:03:35
Finish 45.3 2:41:30 0:03:34

Redwoods Relays 2017 Results

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Report by Don Willoughby

Apologies for not fronting at the Redwood Forest on Saturday but health is a little fragile. However on checking the Lake City website it seems Hawks teams scored some excellent results despite the weather. With wins to our Mens and Womens open teams and seconds to Masters Men just a mere two seconds off a win, Masters women were also second while Mens open 2 team were third. Here is a list of lap times in ranked order:

Jacob Priddey 16.33, Jai Campbell-Davies 16.45,Isaiah Priddey 16.46, Sam Montgomerie 17.12,Theunis Peiters 17.26, Connor Tristram 17.51, John Bowe 18.25, Andrew Wark 18,41,John Crane 18.36, Lochie Montgomerie 18.46, Glen Sexton, 19.03, William Swales 19.06, Sunil Fernandez-Ritchie 19.10, Marc Scott 19.17, Charli Miller 19.20, Hikaru Mita 19.26, Cameron Hall 19.59,  Kevin Knowles 20.30,  Veronica Adams 20.34, Bridget Ray 20.37, Grace Ritchie 20.46, Gary Wilson 20.47, Karl Bradley 21.02, Melesa McNewarney 22.10 and 22.13, Oscar Emery 22.18,  Marion Millward 22.43, Kay Stockman 24.02, Gemma Horan 24.24, Keryn McCready 24.48, Tracey Greenwood  25.20, Craig Pebbles 25.21, Gilbert McDonald 27.01, Wendy Fox 28.04, Gordon Spiers 28.34. Some great running here so well done guys and girls.

 

Taitua Arboretum Relay 2017 Results

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Report by Mathijs Wetzels

A beautiful winter’s day brought a good turnout to this year’s Taitua Arboretum Relay. Six teams of five runners, all randomly drawn out of Kevin’s hat, lined up for a 3km challenging but enjoyable run under the trees and over the meandering well-formed gravel tracks of the arboretum. The first wave of runner’s came through with Team 5’s David in the lead with a sharp time of 14:06. After a bit of jostling for positions, Kevin clawed back the lead for Team 6 with a 14:02 lap time. Mark’s speedy 13:16 got Team 5 back in the lead again. Kovo from Team 4, was the fastest woman home at 14:11 and narrowed the gap. This left Joe to chase Maureen for the win. Maureen was storming home but Joe’s young legs proved faster and he caught Maureen on the last gnarly hill before the finish line, in the day’s fastest time of 12:08, to claim victory for Team 4 in a total time of 1:19:23.

It was a very enjoyable afternoon and all runners ran their heart out for their team. Many thanks to Kevin for organising this neat event and setting up the race course. Unfortunately some jokers in the public, thought it would be fun to change the arrow’s direction so at times the race almost became an Orienteering event.

On that note a very special thanks goes to the Search & Rescue party, led by Marc, Kent, Andrew and Ross, who rescued Team 6’s last runner (who shall remain anonymous) from being lost in the woods (but who is now able to write this report) 🙂

Report by Nick Freke

On a pleasant Winter afternoon a good contingent of Hawks turned out for the Taitua Arboretum Relay run. As a debutant in this event, I was not sure what to expect, and while I understand the format and course has changed slightly most years, the run takes place in a great setting that is very easy to get to.
With a background chorus of crowing rosters Kevin briefed the runners on the course and format of the run, six evenly matched 5 person teams were selected and the teams were left to determine their race strategies (runner placement).
Many of the gathered runners went for a warm-up trot over the course prior to the start (which in hindsight I should have paid more attention on!), and then we were off.
The 3km loop started with a fairly steep downhill (which meant it ended with a fairly steep uphill),  and I would describe the course rolling with a number of sharp turns. While the course was well marked out, there were quite a number of intersecting paths, which could (and did) create some confusion for runners who in their haste to get round may have missed signage.
Having done this twice myself, I was comforted to know that I was in good company (with Dave Southwick, Garry Wilson, and Maureen Leonard among others), Trish Stockman helpfully noted at the end that running is not always about how fast you can move you feet, but also how well you engage your brain while doing it…a fair point it would seem.
In the end (notwithstanding some people covering extra distance), the finish was a tight one with the first and second teams finishing within about 30 seconds of each other, and the next two teams only a further minute or so back (see results posted below).
In the end a fun event (thanks Kevin), run in great conditions, and the icing on the cake (figuratively and literally) was the wonderful baking that Fiona supplied, her lemony sponge going down a treat!
Team 1 Time   Team 2 Time
Grahame Clarkin 19:16 David Southwick 19:10
Kallum Mardon 14:25 Gordon Speirs 19:09
Evan Primmer 19:58 Dawn Tuffery 15:11
Oscar Emery 15:41 Nick Freke 15:40
Jason Hindrup 13:34 Andrew Wark 12:49
15km Totals 01:22:54   15km Totals 01:21:59
Team 3 Team 4
Fleur Marillier 19:17 Don 19:03
Connie Daws 16:41 Helen Hall-King 16:51
Garry Wilson 16:54 Trish Stockman 17:10
Gillbert MacDonald 18:18 Kovo MacDonald 14:11
Kent Hodgson 13:30 Joe Morgan 12:08
15km Totals 01:24:40 15km Totals 01:19
Team 5 Team 6
David Gunn 14:06 Ross Barnett 15:06
Colin King 16:11 Kevin Knowles 14:02
Marc Scott 13:16 Terry Hannett 26:25
Fiona Barnett 19:30 Craig Pebbles 19:22
Maureen Leonard 16:42 Mathijs Wetzels 21:25  (4.5km)
15km Totals 01:19:45   15km Totals 1:36:20
 

Sing Relay 2017 Results

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Report by Glenn

A modest but keen bunch of 18 turned up to the Sing Relay on Saturday. With the recent river floods there was doubt to which course we would use, but the levels dropped remarkably in the 24 hours leading up so we could use the usual out-and-back with a modified start.

17 runners listened to the race instructions, and those 17 didn’t get lost… however 1 unlucky runner (who was leading) ran past the turnaround cones with four words ringing in his ears, “Take two left turns”. Unbeknownst to Jai, the left turns were junctions on the riverpath before the turnaround – not left into Peacockes Road (and anyone’s guess where the 2nd one was.) End result was, Terry got an extra bit of distance in waiting to meet Jai on his way back. Terry turned around and waited for his buddy for 5 or so minutes while he took a tour of rural Peacocks Road.

Winners on the day were Fleur and Russ, followed by Emily and Kevin, and Mary and Glenn.

Big thanks to Cameron Hall, Kevin Knowles and Kris Moore for organising the day.

Report by Malesa

After a wet week and some hard work completed by some young men to sandbag the entrance to the clubrooms, Saturday was a beautiful day.
They were all off with Cameron’s loud call of ‘Go’, heading towards Cobham bridge.  The faster runner of the pair, runner 1, was required to run to the turnaround point 2.5km out from the start line then head back towards runner 2. Once they reached runner 2, a baton, in this case a small piece of Styrofoam, was handed over and runner 1 had to head back to the turnaround. Runner 2, in the meantime would head back to the start line.

Jai lead the pack from the get go, heading out with his competitive mind, followed closely by Kris and the rest of the group. Jai was in such a competitive mind that he carried on, carried on past the turnaround cones, adding an extra 3kms. As Kris followed and yelled at Jai to come back, Jai’s competitive mind continued forward. Kris, not wanting to let his team mate down, gave up and continued with the race. Everyone else was on track.  As they headed back to the finish line, runner 2 waited for runner 1 to ensure they crossed the finish line together.
First place was taken out by Rob and Fleur in a time of 21.16, followed by Kevin and Emily in 22.14, with Glenn and Mary in a time of 22.27 taking out third place.

Results are as follows:
Rob and Fleur
Kevin and Emily
Glenn and Mary
Kris and Gilbert
Dawn and Evan
David and Kai
Sandra and Craig
Gordon and Garry
Jai and Terry

Tarawera Ultra 2017 Report – Relay Team

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Report by Sandra Jensen

Relay teams are the new black.

Our super masters ladies team of epic-ness were under prepared and vaguely sorted and plans were afoot for a party bus to Rotovegas but that didn’t happen. Needless to say the event and whole day went swimmingly minus the extreme nausea that didn’t subside until we were passing through Cambridge on the way back home.

Runner one, the ever-smiling Ellie Broadbridge, started with a blast and we aimed to cheer her at every opportunity. Getting confused with another event’s finish line at the Blue Lake we quickly made it to the transition point trying to spy as many other folk we could and yell at them. The topless lady was a constant highlight as was the lady with very white teeth.

Next was Trish. Off onto the hill of doom. She rocked it despite her spasming calve muscle which resembled a small alien trying to emerge but she seemed to enjoy herself. The bus ride to and from Okataina was a highlight as always and a near-death experience.

Next was Jenni on to leg 3. The most scenic of the legs and one I’d have done had I not yet done leg 4. She bought cake with her. We like her.

The parking on the road to the Falls was abysmal with people parking wherever they wanted to so I had to change quick-smart in the car as running in jeans and jandals was not going to cut it. Jenni emerged looking like she’d just run 20kms in the heat, oh wait she had, and then I was off.

The joy of passing so many…walkers quickly diminished when I realised all those poor buggers had already done at least 30-odd kms before me, if not more. But I loved most of the run. A place I’d never run before and it was a bit of everything. The heat didn’t hit till the last horribly long 5km (why is it always like that) and I felt the waves of nausea hit, resisting the urge to jump in the river or quit right then and there.

I finished. It was fun. The first aid tent looked reassuring and my team mates chose not to run the finish with me like a badly written chick flick. We aren’t that touchy feely.

Would I do it again? Yes. Now if Kevin would just put down the cake we can wish Ellie a happy birthday.

National Road Relays 2016 Results

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The National Road Relays – such a special event! The finale for the winter road and cross country season, always full of drama (especially in the week before the race), where everyone is expected to give 100% and ends up giving 110%, awesome individual performances, team commitment … and most importantly, great fun. This year’s relay in Rotorua didn’t disappoint. It was all of these things … and to cap it off the Hawks finished with a 3 way share of top overall club alongside Wellington Harrier Athletic and Auckland City Athletic (the first time the honour has ever been shared) – a fantastic club result that reflects our depth across all age groups.

2016-nrr_master-womens

All teams performed magnificently on the day, but none more so than the Junior Women. This is a young junior team with most experiencing their first NRR and probably feeling a bit overwhelmed by it all. With some excellent guidance from Wendy and Helen as team managers they put in an exceptional performance to finish second and very nearly snatching the win. With several more years ahead of them, this team are already a force to be reckoned with at a national level.

There were many other great results and performances – too many to single out, but this is how the teams ended up …
Junior Women – 2nd
Senior Women – 2nd
Masters Women – 2nd
Junior Men – 6th
Senior Men – 3rd (B Grade)
Masters Men – 3rd
Masters 50 – 5th
Social Team – 5th

2016 NRR_Full Hawks_Results (PDF)
Full NRR results here

A huge thanks from me to everyone who took part, all those who helped organise, drive vans, support, etc. Thanks also to those people who marshalled a stage on behalf of the club – definitely the best organised change-over and great to see everyone out on the course.

We must also pass on a big thanks and congratulations to Lake City for hosting a very successful event.

Looking forward to next year already!

Cheers,
John Crane

And from Don – ‘Huge congratulations to all those involved in the national road relay champs over the weekend. To score 50 points in the champion club comp was a brilliant team effort. The fact that four clubs ended up with 50 was historic. Did Athletics NZ have spare gold medals available?

Superb effort to John Crane and his organising team. I was very proud to be a Hawk and was quite chuffed to be able to access Facebook and Twitter on my computer after noon and catch up with information about the many Hawks medal successes. There was some close racing for our teams and I look forward to hearing the many stories.  National road relays are FUN!’ – Don Willoughby

NRR report – Junior Womens Team

Report by Wendy Harris

Helen and I were privileged to be able to manage the Junior Women’s team of Sam Corbett, Aimee Ferguson, Monique MacDonald, Rose Dillon, Charli Miller and Grace Ritchie at this year’s NRR champs.  As a very young and inexperienced team we had no expectations of them placing and just hoped that they would enjoy the experience and see it as an opportunity to be a part of a national event and set themselves a goal for 2017.  The drive around the course on Friday followed by a team chat where Helen gave them instructions on not jumping into bushes and letting us know if they needed to go to the toilet while we were out on the course so we didn’t lose anyone only seemed to assist in increasing the nerves of the girls.

2016-nrr_junior-womens

Race day dawned and we all jumped into “Betty” our trusty transport for the day with Sam who was up first looking rather nervous and quite possibly wondering what she had got herself into particularly as her longest ‘race’ previously was 5km and her lap was over 8km ending on a 2km hill.  Running a very well thought out and wisely paced lap Sam got the team into a creditable 5th place with the 4th placed runner within her sights as she handed the baton to Aimee.  Aimee was well aware that she had the biggest uphill lap and really needed to pace herself so she could do the distance.  She set off strongly and very quickly passed Pakuranga JW to gain a place and put us into 4th position.  Despite the tough uphill every time we saw her she was smiling and you could see the determination on her face – a really gutsy effort finishing strongly and resulting in being the second fastest JW on her lap.

Monique was next and with the shortest but nastiest lap, being a very steep downhill.  Monique maintained a fast even pace throughout and kept us close enough to the 3rd placed Wellington that there was a chance we could catch them.  Monique ran so hard her hips almost didn’t want to work anymore when she had done.  The very cheerful and bubbly Rose took over the baton at this point for leg 4 of the race and worked hard to close the gap between the Hawks and Wellington.  Her lap was a tough 6km of ups and downs but her triathlon training certainly paid off with Rose also ending up the second fastest JW runner for her lap.

With two laps to go and five minutes between the lead JW team of Auckland and our girls Charli took over.  She had been given strict instructions to ease off in the first 2kms as it is all uphill before it flattens out for the remaining 6km of her lap.  She seemed to have her own race plan though and took off flying up the hill.  Helen and I started to get a little concerned that she wouldn’t finish the lap as she couldn’t keep that pace up but she had obviously found a whole new level of speed and energy as she just kept going and going.  At this point the volume in ‘Betty’ increased somewhat as the girls realised that maybe, just maybe they might get a podium finish after all and there was much screaming out the windows as we cheered Charli on.  She passed the 3rd place, then she passed the 2nd place and by the time she had handed over the baton to Grace at the final changeover the girls were in 2nd place with only a minute and a half between them and Auckland.  Grace, the team’s most experienced runner in the team looked focused and calm as she set off (I’m sure she was actually quite anxious as the thought of keeping the team in 2nd place weighed on her mind).  We had to leave Grace at the 4km point of her 10.4km lap so we could get to the finish in time to see her but when we left her she was looking strong, determined and fast and we could see the gap between her and 3rd increasing as she made the prospect of a 2nd placing look very secure.

We saw Grace again as she came flying towards the finish having closed the gap between her and Auckland to around 30 seconds.  The girls (and Helen and I) were screaming in excitement knowing they were now silver medallists.  Charli and Grace also achieved the accolade of fastest runners on their prospective laps.  For Helen and I to say we are proud is an understatement.  The girls truly displayed guts, comradeship, support, encouragement, determination and I think most of all courage in what was an extremely tough race.  Well done girls.

Bannister Plaque 2016 Results

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Report by John Crane

There was a small but enthusiastic turnout for the Bannister Plaque on Saturday, an event that was a late addition to the calendar for anyone who was around over the long weekend … and it turned out to be an enjoyable and sunny Hamilton afternoon for the 22 runners who came along.

Helen Hall-King had come up with a great idea for a different relay format, so we gave it a go. The format was based on teams of two (so we had eleven teams in total), and the course was our Cobham Drive cross country course, with a 2km lap and a 1km lap marked out. Each team had to run two 1km legs and two 2km legs, and the teams could decide for themselves how they split these between them and in what order they ran them in. The only rule was that the same runner couldn’t do consecutive legs (so they had to alternate). That kept things interesting right to the end as some had chosen to do the short legs first and get ahead, others ran the two longer legs first, and some just alternated between the two – so it wasn’t until the last few hundred metres that things unfolded.

First over the line and Bannister Plaque winners was the team of Gemma Horan & Andrew Wark. Second was the team of Vaughan Kestle and a fast-finishing Les Miller, just outsprinting the third placed team of Mary Rogerson and John Crane.

Many thanks to all the helpers who pitched in on the day.

Sing Relay 2016 Results

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Report by Fiona Barnett

The Annual Sing Relay was held on Saturday 9th April at the Clubrooms. There was a good turnout, with 16 teams – special mention to Rosie Miller who stepped in to ensure everyone was able to run.

We start by lining up according to our 5km time, then pairing off from each end (fastest with the slowest), working in to the middle.

As a tail-end Charlie, I was pleased to be paired with the speedy Marc Scott (thus ensuring me of a relatively short run!).

The faster half of the teams start on Grantham St and follow the Trophy Day course – up to the Band Rotunda, across the bridge and down onto the river path on the east side of the river. The slower half start on the path at the other side of the carpark and run up towards Cobham Drive, across the bridge and back down to the path to meet their teammate. Meet your runner, hand over the baton and turn around back the way you came. The first team with both runners home are the winners.

High-tech batons were provided by Helen (bamboo skewers), which could be used to poke your teammate if you felt they hadn’t run fast enough to meet you! Just kidding, Marc!

Helen starts us off – next year, you need a loudhailer 🙂 – and away we go. There were quite a few runners at the faster end of the field, so the “slow” teams were not all that slow, with Terry and me firmly establishing our positions at the back of the pack (thanks for the company, Terry!).

Mary Rogerson was the first person I see handing the baton over to John Crane at the far end of the bridge, and then there is Marc coming towards me to take our baton. I turn for home and enjoy being in second place for a few seconds, before the faster of the slower teams start running me down once again.

It’s not too long before I get to enjoy the best part, the nice long downhill back to the finish, and I can see all those who have already finished milling around and chatting.

Top honours went to Maureen and Marcus and second place to Colin and Jemima (a new club member).

Back to the clubrooms for a spot of afternoon tea. This was a fun event at the start of the season.

Redwoods Relays 2015 Results

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Report by Glenn Sexton
Photos by Dave Melville


Rotorua finally put on a sunny day for this year’s edition of their Red Stag relays held in the Redwood forest.

Hawks sent their biggest team for a while. We had 9 teams attend. This was particularly pleasing with Whangamata Half and Hamilton Parkrun’s 100th event also on, making for a very busy weekend.

For the first time one of our teams was a combined OM team with Te Awamutu, and it was good to see the smaller clubs getting a chance to compete at relay events.

Hawks OW picked up a 1st, MM 1st, 3rd and 5th, MW a 2nd, OM 2nd and 5th.  MY had a good win and the composite team had a 5th.


Fastest woman went to Emerson Deverell and fastest youth went to Callum McDonald. It was also great to see Sam and Katie Corbett running very strongly – in the MY grade. Well done girls.

Once again a huge thanks to Kevin Knowles for picking and repicking the teams several times.

 

Full Redwoods Results 2015

 

Taitua Arboretum Relay 2015 Results

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Report by Kevin Knowles

We had nice weather at the beautiful Taitua Arboretum for this year’s event. 22 runners and their supporters turned up and were handicapped into 6 teams of equal ability with the aim being to give each runner on each leg a competitive race.

The first 6 runners ran off, around 2.6km of twisting pebble paths through the tree park, and the two younger runners Katie Corbett and Max Field were the first to appear and complete the first lap.

Leg by leg it was a hard fought battle to claim the glory.

The woman’s team of Katie and Sam Corbett, Vicki Wade and Sarah Murphy led most of the way to win. Andrew Wark and Emerson Deverell were fastest male and female runners respectively. All teams finished in the space of 2 minutes, so I was very please that my handicapping efforts had worked.

Full results:.

Team 5 (1st)
Katie Corbett 11.04
Sam Corbett 10.44
Vicki Wade 10.36
Sarah Murphy 10.14
Total 42.38

Team 1 
Kaye Sharp 12.21
Vaughan Kestle 12.13
Maureen Leonard 10.34
Andrew Wark 8.51
Total 43.05

Team 2
Max Field 11.23
Ellie Broadbridge 12.13
Hannah Haworth 10.05
Kevin Knowles 9.37
Total 43.18

Team 4
Paula Klein 12.24
Graeme Clarkin 12.24 – appx
Marc Scott 8.55 – appx
Marc Scott 9:10 – appx
Total 43.23

Team 6
Gordon Speirs 13.15
Nic Gorman 11.21
Bridget Deverell 9.59
Emerson Deverell 9.07
Total 43.42

Team 3 
Gilbert MacDonald 11.58
Keith Vincent 12.57
Grant Budd 9.37 – approx
Grant Budd 10
Total 44.32

Next year I want to extend the course a little and attract even more runners to this fun event. Thanks to you all for a very enjoyable day.

Cheers,
Kevin

School of Origin 2015 Results

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Thanks to all who took part in this event. Outstanding run of the day was from the evergreen John Crane with an age-adjusted score of 85%, closely followed by Harry Ewing and Isaiah Priddey, both on 82%

‘School’ results

St Peters 75%
HBHS 74%
International 73%
Te Awamutu 72%
Fairfield 71%
Chiefs 70%
Special thanks to Alan McDonald from Sport Waikato and Margaretta Slaney from Cambridge for doing the timing and results.
1 Lap
Name   School/club   Grade Time PLACE/OA Team
Donovan Farrell Hukanui M U12 4.40 1 7
4 Laps
Lochie Montgomerie HBHS M U14 14.29 1 3
Emerson Deverell Waikato Dio F U18 14.34 2 4
Jeff Curle HBHS M U14 15.15 3 3
Jordan Taylor HBHS M U14 15.17 4 3
Charli Miller Fairfield F U16 15.24 5 7
Ani Gemmill SHGC F U16 15.41 6 4
Samantha Corbett Te Kuiti F U14 16.04 7 5
Karl Bradley HBHS M U14 16.05 8 3
Dean Masters Hillcrest M 30+ 16.07 9 4
Jessie Speedy St.Peters F U18 16.19 10 2
Shennaz Hussain St.Peters F U18 16.22 11 2
Hannah Haworth Waikato Dio F U18 16.36 12 4
Darryl Conn USA M 50+ 18.02 13 6
Lisa Joblin Matamata/Te Awamtu F 40+ 18.02 14 5
Eliana Slaney CAMBC F U14 18.30 15 2
Kay Strockman Te Awamutu F 50+ 18.57 16 5
Toshimi Farrell International F 40+ 19.21 17 6
Ellie Broadbridge Palmerston N/Te Awamutu F 40+ 19.35 18 5
Gordon Spiers Huntly M 60+ 19.57 19 5
Erin Fobbester Fairfield F U16 20.17 20 7
Dave Southwick HBHS M 60+ 20.54 21 5
David Trow HBHS M 70+ 21.27 22 3
6km
Harry Ewing Hawks/St.Peters M U18 20.02 1 2
Isaiah Priddey Hawks/HBHS M U16 20.33 2 3
Sam Montgomerie HBHS M U16 21.09 3 3
Allen Brears NPBHS/Te Awamutu M 40+ 21.10 4 5
John Crane UK M 50+ 21.11 5 6
Connor Tristram HBHS M U16 21.19 6 3
Sunil Fernandez-Ritchie Hawks/Hillcrest M 20+ 21.24 7 4
Hikaru Mita St. Peters M U18 21.34 8 2
Mattthew Scott St. Peters M U18 21.37 9 2
Lance Brew St Johns M 30+ 21.48 10 4
Matthew Van Dalen St. Peters M U18 21.58 11 2
Callum Macdonald Fairfield M U18 22.39 12 7
Finn Myles HBHS M U18 22.46 13 3
Andrew Wark Aus M 40+ 22.54 14 6
Mark Scott Te Awamutu M 40+ 23.14 15 5
Grant Budd Fairfield M 40+ 23.28 16 7
Grant Budd Fairfield M 40+ 23.28 17 7
Connor McGiven St Peters M U18 24.11 18 2
John Roberts Hawks M 20+ 25.46 19 4
Gilbert MacDonald Hawks/Fairfield M 20+ 29.03 20 7

 

TEAM PLACINGS
Team 2 St Peters & Cambridge Team 5 Waikato Rural & NZ
Team 3 Hamilton Boys High Team 6 Fairfield & International
Team 4 Hamilton – Waikato Dio, Sacret Heart, St Johns, Hillcrest
4 Laps
Jessie Speedy St.Peters F U18 16.19 10 2
Shennaz Hussain St.Peters F U18 16.22 11 2
Eliana Slaney CAMBC F U14 18.30 15 2
Lochie Montgomerie HBHS M U14 14.29 1 3
Jeff Curle HBHS M U14 15.15 3 3
Jordan Taylor HBHS M U14 15.17 4 3
Karl Bradley HBHS M U14 16.05 8 3
David Trow HBHS M 70+ 21.27 22 3
Dave Southwick HBHS M 60+ 20.54 21 3
Emerson Deverell Waikato Dio F U18 14.34 2 4
Ani Gemmill SHGC F U16 15.41 6 4
Dean Masters Hillcrest M 30+ 16.07 9 4
Hannah Haworth Waikato Dio F U18 16.36 12 4
Samantha Corbett Te Kuiti F U14 16.04 7 5
Lisa Joblin Matamata/Te Awamtu F 40+ 18.02 14 5
Kay Strockman Te Awamutu F 50+ 18.57 16 5
Ellie Broadbridge Palmerston N/Te Awamutu F 40+ 19.35 18 5
Gordon Spiers Huntly M 60+ 19.57 19 5
Darryl Conn USA M 50+ 18.02 13 6
Toshimi Farrell International F 40+ 19.21 17 6
Charli Miller Fairfield F U16 15.24 5 6
Erin Fobbester Fairfield F U16 20.17 20 6
6km
Harry Ewing Hawks/St.Peters M U18 20.02 1 2
Hikaru Mita St. Peters M U18 21.34 8 2
Mattthew Scott St. Peters M U18 21.37 9 2
Matthew Van Dalen St. Peters M U18 21.58 11 2
Connor McGiven St Peters M U18 24.11 18 2
Isaiah Priddey Hawks/HBHS M U16 20.33 2 3
Sam Montgomerie HBHS M U16 21.09 3 3
Connor Tristram HBHS M U16 21.19 6 3
Finn Myles HBHS M U18 22.46 13 3
Sunil Fernandez-Ritchie Hawks/Hillcrest M 20+ 21.24 7 4
Lance Brew St Johns M 30+ 21.48 10 4
John Roberts Hawks M 20+ 25.46 19 4
Allen Brears NPBHS/Te Awamutu M 40+ 21.10 4 5
Mark Scott Te Awamutu M 40+ 23.14 15 5
John Crane UK M 50+ 21.11 5 6
Andrew Wark Aus M 40+ 22.54 14 6
Callum Macdonald Fairfield M U18 22.39 12 6
Grant Budd Fairfield M 40+ 23.28 16 6
Grant Budd Fairfield M 40+ 23.28 17 6
Gilbert MacDonald Hawks/Fairfield M 20+ 29.03 20 6

National Road Relays 2014 Results

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Hawks finished the 2014 season with another successful and enjoyable National Road Relay Championship down in Christchurch at the weekend on the best and most challenging road relay course in New Zealand … Takahe to Akaroa.

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Redwoods Relays 2014 Results

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Hawks sent a total of seven teams over to a rather dreary and wet Long Mile Road in Rotorua for the 36th Redwood Relays. The top half of the course was in pretty good condition but the lower half through the parkland had people dodging and tip toeing around puddles.

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Tag Archive for: relay

Red Stag Redwoods Relay

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This relay is a great annual event for running and walking teams with a course that winds its way through the iconic Redwood Forest.  It is an event that is looked forward to by all and well represented by running clubs coming from as far as Hawera and Auckland.

Read more

Hawks Relay at Taitua Arboretum

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The race is approximately a 3km all gravel loop of the Taitua Arboretum.  Hope to have a traditional relay format, depending on numbers.

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Matamata Around the Streets Relays

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Popular long standing event and this year kicks off the start of the Road season and attracts around 30 teams from around the Waikato Bay of Plenty.  This is a quick 3.3km circuit clockwise around the streets and footpaths of Matamata.   Read more

Hawks Relay at Taitua Arboretum

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The race is approximately a 3km all gravel loop of the Taitua Arboretum. Hope to have a traditional relay format, depending on numbers.

This is a standard relay race with each runner running around a 3 km lap on hard packed unsealed paths and grass, twisting through the tree park.

Bring a snack and enjoying the Arboretum after the run.

Where: Taitua Arboretum ( Take Whatawhata road out of town. After passing the golf club, turn left into Howden Road. Then left into Taitua Road. Meet in the Arboretum car park at the end of Taitua Road.

When: Saturday 23 th July

Arrive: 1:00pm at carpark off end of Taitua Road.

What: We will select EVENLY MATCHED TEAMS of four runners each, from the people that attend.

2014 Taitua Course

 

Hawks Relay at Taitua Arboretum

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The race is approximately a 3km all gravel loop of the Taitua Arboretum. Hope to have a traditional relay format, depending on numbers.

This is a standard relay race with each runner running around a 3 km lap on hard packed unsealed paths and grass, twisting through the tree park.

Bring a snack and enjoying the Arboretum after the run.

Where: Taitua Arboretum ( Take Whatawhata road out of town. After passing the golf club, turn left into Howden Road. Then left into Taitua Road. Meet in the Arboretum car park at the end of Taitua Road.

When: Saturday 17 th June

Arrive: 1:00pm at carpark off end of Taitua Road – confirmation in weekly newsletter.

What: We will select EVENLY MATCHED TEAMS of four runners each, from the people that attend.

2014 Taitua Course

 

The Riverhead Backyard ReLaps Relay

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A relay for teams of 2, 4 or 6 people completing as many laps as possible (non-stop) in either 8, 12 or 24 hours. One runner at a time on the course which goes through the tent city so you transition right outside your team’s tent!

Hawks have been offered a 40% discount for teams entering this event. Contact Shona or Dawn for the code.

Summary of the Relay

  • Starts at 9am on Saturday 4th May
  • Teams of 2, 4 or 6 people complete as many laps (6.71km) as they can in the time limit
  • The relay does not have the 1 lap per hour format instead participants just keep running non-stop
  • Only one person from each team is running on the course at any time
  • Each team will be allocated a tent site on the course at the event base. Teams set up this site as they please and the runners tag right outside their tent site
  • Teams decide who runs how many and which laps – totally up to them
  • The event is aimed at all fitness levels from families to running clubs to corporate teams. We encourage walking teams too!
  • Teams are encouraged to dress up in a team costume!

Official website: https://www.lacticturkey.co.nz/riverheadbackyardrelaps/backyard-relaps-relay

Red Stag Redwoods Relay [revised date]

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The rumours are true, it’s back!  Much loved and eagerly anticipated in 2021.

The Redwoods Forest Relay (since 1979) will make a welcome return to the iconic Redwoods Grove, Rotorua from 9.30am, Sunday 17th October.  It is the only running and walking relay event in the Whakarewarewa Forest.  Say goodbye to winter and celebrate the arrival of spring with your friends, family and work mates in a friendly, fun atmosphere.

Run or walk, competitive or social – all are welcome, with a live DJ playing all your favourite tunes.  New in 2021 – courses for the open and secondary schools event plus a new primary & intermediate schools relay.  And the launch of a Rotorua Lazy Sneakers collection site!

Race pack pickup from 7.30am – 9.00 from iSite

Primary grade  (year 8 and under) first race of the day start time 9.30am

Adult grade start time at the commencement of the children’s race approximately 10.00am

More details to come see https://lakecity.co.nz/forestrelay

Red Stag Redwoods Relay

/in

This relay is a great annual event for running and walking teams with a course that winds its way through the iconic Redwood Forest. It is an event that is looked forward to by all and well represented by running clubs coming from as far as Hawera and Auckland.

Details from previous years and to be confirmed:

Race pack pickup from 7.30am – 9.00 from iSite Redwoods

Primary grade  (year 8 and under) first race of the day start time 9.30am

Adult grade start time at the commencement of the children’s race approximately 10.00am

More details to come see https://lakecity.co.nz/forestrelay