Big field, and rich in talent

Press, 8 September 1989, Page 14

Big field, and rich in talent

More than 1500 runners from throughout New Zealand will take part in the Mobil New Zealand road relay championships from the Sign of the Takahe to Akaroa tomorrow. They will include men and women from juniors to veterans, all in teams of eight, with ability varying from joggers to international athletes. The championship is held every year in different parts of the country, and comes to Christchurch for the Takahe to Akaroa every four years. In the years when the championship is elsewhere, the Takahe to Akaroa becomes a “local event.” The annual event has come a long way since it started 50 years ago, on June 1, 1935. In those days there were only eight harrier clubs in Christchurch, women were not yet “liberated” enough to tackle such a demanding sport, and the 80km course included some cross-country running and some fences.

The clubs represented in the first relay were Presbyterian, Christchurch, University, Methodist, Anglican, Marist and Baptist. The other club, Technical, boycotted the first race because its officials were not happy with what they called the “trophy system.” Now there are about 20 Christchurch clubs and' the women’s strength is increasing each year. But the course is still much the same and the

tradition lives on of enclosing a message from the Mayor of Christchurch in each team baton to be delivered by the first team to Akaroa to the Mayor of Akaroa. The relay begins at the Takahe and follows the main sealed road up a slight gradient to the sign of the Kiwi, down the steep road to Governor’s Bay and on over rolling hills to Allandale. The second lap begins there and follows the road to Teddington and up and over Gebbies Pass. The third lap starts at Gebbies Valley and ends at Kaituna, a distance of 10.1 km. From there, runners follow the main road to Lake Forsyth where they face swarms of midges and at every national championship traffic congestion becomes a big problem as motorists attempt to drop off the lap. runners and pick up the other runners as they hand on their flax stalk batons to team-mates.

The sixth lap is almost all uphill for 6.9 km and is usually left for uphill running specialists. It starts at Cooptown, 4.lkm past Little River township, and ends at Hilltop. On the seventh lap runners take the old stock route on an undulating road before a steep descent down a gravel road to rejoin the main Akaroa road at Duvauchelle.

The last lap of 10.7 km is over rolling hills with the big Takamatua hill coming just before the final descent into Akaroa.