Race Attracts Top Athletes, Veterans

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31142, 19 August 1966, Page 6

Race Attracts Top Athletes, Veterans

A record total of 218 athletes has entered the annua) Governors Bay to Lyttelton road race to be held on Saturday.

With 30 more entries than last year, the event is the biggest handicap road race in the South Island. It is one of the most severe in the programme of winter road races with hard uphill and downhill running along the six-mile course.

Most of Canterbury’s leading athletes have entered for the race—lsB in the senior section and 60 in the junior section.

Good handicapping should produce close racing. The scratch man is D. Dixey, of North Otago, who gained fastest time last year. He is giving away 13f minutes to the group of six men on “go.” The noted Christchurch runner, K. Williams, is on 13 minutes and keen competition is expected from a strong group of runners on 12 minutes, including R. Stevens, T. Preece, and G. Clarke of the Olympic Club. Olympic is considered a strong contender for the teams’ race.

Close competition could also come from the next group on 12 minutes which includes R. Sharpe, D. J. Reece and S. McLean, all of St. Martins club, and T. McGillivray and B. Curie of Olympic. The winner could be among those more favourably handicapped. These include R. Fleming of Christchurch, on four minutes and M. Poulton, of Christchurch, on nine minutes.

Two West Coast runners, H. Van Looy on 10 minutes and J. Taylor on nine minutes, should both perform well. The course record is held by J. K. McDonald (Olympic) who ran 29 minutes 14 seconds in 1962. Veteran Runners The race has the biggest entry of veteran runners to take part in a road race in Canterbury. About 20 runners are over 40 and 10 are over 50. Some of them started as joggers. Among the veteran athletes is the president of the Canterbury centre of the N.Z.A.A.A., W. A. Kennedy, of Christchurch. Although over 50, he is capable of better than six-minute miles for the race. He is on nine minutes and is giving away a big start to men many years his junior. There are also two Empire Games marathon representatives, L. E. Fox (Olympic) and A. Richards (Technical).

On “go” is J. L. Richards, aged 58. who was a former New Zealand 100-mile cycling champion. He started training for distance running at the age of 55. He has reduced his weight by two stone, and has no difficulty in handling a 20mile training run. The former Canterbury representative, M. R. Craighead, is also running on seven minutes. It is his first race for some years.

The Lyttelton Lions Club has this year given a trophy for the club with the fastest six-man team.

The race is run by the Methodist Harrier Club. In the junior race close competition is expected between B. Bruce (St. Martins) and J. Tomlinson (New Brighton) on nine minutes and J. Sheddan (Olympic) on the back mark of nine minutes 30 seconds.