Olympic set for hill race

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32708, 10 September 1971, Page 22

Olympic set for hill race

Olympic seems set to make it six wins in a row in the A grade section of the annual 48.5mile Takahe-Akaroa road relay on Saturday. This is the opinion of the official handicapper, R. Harding. Although the race is a scratch contest for the A and B grades with the C grade starting half an hour earlier, a time handicap is imposed in the main contest Olympic has been rated Imin 20sec faster than University No. 1, which convincingly won the Canterbury senior championship and even more convincingly the Jane Patterson 10-man teams’ match. Since the handicapping, however, both these teams have had injuries. The Olympic runner for the 6.7-mile

fifth lap, J. K. Macdonald, has a sore leg, and University has had to change - its team after injury put M. Everton out of the first stage, from the Takahe to Allandale. Originally to run the fifth lap for University, N. Cleveland now has the shorter third leg because of a tom muscle received in the Motu-eka-Nelson relay last week. The Canterbury 400 metres champion, G. McKechnie, has been promoted from University’s No. 2 team to No. 1 team. Christchurch powerful The series was virtually dominated until the mid--1950s by Christchurch, which is again amongst the top reckoning. Third-ranked in the handicaps, Christchurch is rated I Imin 40sec slower than Olympic; New Brighton's chances are- rated another Imin 30sec slower again. After convincingly beating

a slightly weakened University team in the seven-man Motueka-Nelson relay last week. Greymouth is rated only a modest fifth, with an allowance of 15min ssec. Assessments for the other two entries in the seven-team A grade field are Methodist, 17min 15sec and Presbyterian, 19min lOsec. Methodist has brought the former track champion, M. Clarkson, out of retirement to complete its team. The contest should provide some tough competition between the tail-enders of the A grade and the best* of the B grade. Top in the B division is Olympic Nd. 2, only 35sec slower than Presbyterian No. 1. University No. 2 is in second ranking only another Issec back. University in C grade University . has strongest claims to the C grade, where its third team has been given a time allowance of 39mm, thus ranking it much ahead

of several of the B grade entries. University is automatically entitled by the rules to put its. third team in the C'grade. Replacements through die grades caused by the non-availability, however, might diminish University’s nominal 6min advantage over Olympic No. 3. Others highly rated are Christchurch No. 3, and then two other University teams. The handicapper upset University’s own assessments by rating its No 5 team better than its No. 4. Early break Olympic No. 1 will probably be the target for the A and B grade field to chase right from the start Olympic is obviously going for the early break with its strongest niari, international J. Sheddan, on the first stage. Several teams will hope to retrieve ground on the next i stage, from Allandale to i Gebbies Valley, where sev- , eral of the strongest runners I have been placed.