Rugged course

Press, 22 October 1980, Page 28

Rugged course

The word “beware'' might well prove a sound guide to entrants in next Saturday’s annual Symon and Lowther 100 km event which starts in Cathedral Square at 6 a.m. This is because the course, over the Banks Peninsula hills, in both scenically beautiful and also one of the toughest ultra-distance circuits in the world. Only the Comrades annual marathon race front Pietermaritzberg to Durban cr.n claim a. tougher series of steep up. hill"and down dale switch- > backs to test and daunt the runners. The Symon . and Lowther is 16km longer than the Comrades, race. - The favourites for major honours are the Australian runners, Don - Kevssecker and Tom' Gillis, both of Sydney, and the South Canterbury distance athlete, John Souter. The record for the race is held by the great Australian distance athlete, Roger Alcorn formerly of Christchurch and now of Perth, with a time of 7h 16 min. Both registered and un- . registered runners are eligible to enter. Entry forms can be obtained from Symon and Lowther.

After leaving the Square, the runners go hmf way up Cashmere then return to the bottom to cover a 16km loop on the flat farm lands in the Ladbrooks area before returning to attack the toughest part of the run. This is up to the Kiwi, along the Summit Road to Gebbies Pass. down through Teddington to Governors Bay; to Lyttelton and up the Sumner Road to the tum off towards Mt Pleasant. Then the runners go along that 15km section back to the • Kiwi and down through Cashmere before proceeding along Hoon Hay Road »-> the finish in Upland , Road. ?