HARRIERS’ RUN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26708, 1 March 1948, Page 8

HARRIERS’ RUN

TIMARU TO DUNEDIN A REMARKABLE PERFORMANCE CENTENNIAL GOODWILL MESSAGE As the clock struck 7 p.m.—his scheduled time of arrival —V. McKay, the captain of the Timaru Harrier Club, arrived at the Dunedin Town Hall on Saturday on the last leg of the club’s relay from his home town. McKay had, at 3.15 in the morning, left Timaru with a message of goodwill and centennial congratulations from the Mayor of Timaru, Mr A. E. S. Hanan, to the people of Dunedin, and after his 19 colleagues had each run their portion of the journey, he was able to deliver the message into the hands of the Mayor, Mr Cameron. It was one of the longest harrier runs ever attempted in the Southern Hemisphere. Each member of the team had to cover at least two of the 48 sections into which the distance was divided, but such fast time was achieved over the first stages that the pace had to be slackened and a detour through Karitane made, adding another 12 miles to the distance so that the last runner would not arrive before the scheduled time. If the pace whicn was set had been maintained, the harriers would have reached Dunedin soon after 4 o’clock in the afternoon. None of them showed any signs of distress on their arrival. When McKay left Timaru he carried the good wishes of a large crowd, who were present to see the Mayor, Mr Hanan, hand to him the baton in which the goodwill message was enclosed. During the early hours, it was bitterly cold and those travelling in the bus and cars in the wake of the runners on one occasion stopped and lit a fire on the roadside.

Mr Hanan’s message was written on special parchment, and in accepting it, Mr Cameron said that in years to come, when the centennial celebrations had become memories, the Timaru Harrier Club’s run from its home town to Dunedin would be remembered as one of the chief athletic events of the year. He thanked the runners for their centennial goodwill gesture and remarked that in bringing the message by hand and delivering it personally added greatly to its value. Other messages of greetings enclosed in the baton were from the Timaru Scottish Society to the Otago Scottish Society, from the Timaru Caledonian, Society to the Caledonian Society of Otago, and from the South Canterbury Sub-centre of the New Zealand Amateur Athletic Association to the Otago Centre. These messages were presented by Mr E. C. Hetherington. president of the Timaru Harrier Club to the presidents of the respective bodies, Messrs G. Borwick, A. Ferguson and C. W. Clark, who, after reading the messages, each congratulated the runners on their splendid effort. The ceremony of the presentation of the messages was held on the Town Hall balcony and a small crowd, which included a fair proportion of Timaru visitors, was present. Pipers welcomed the runners as they entered. The team returned to Timaru yesterday by bus. •