Hinerangi Macdonald taking it all in her stride as she competes in the Porangahau School Cross-country.
Hinerangi Macdonald taking it all in her stride as she competes in the Porangahau School Cross-country.
The pupils at Porangahau School have some of the best scenery in Hawke's Bay as part of their cross-country course. Who wouldn't want to run alongside the waves on a long, windswept beach?
I was the first one but then Duke and Spencer past me. I had to wait for a couple of races. After the race I ate some of my food and watched people racing. I saw Charlie and Will's big hole. It was dug down to the water. I sat on my sandcastle. It was about two metres big! On the practise race I thought it was the real race so I actually wasted all of my energy. Some people walked a bit of the way but it was a really long way. I saw a town of sandcastles. It probably took a lot of people to do it. I was impressed. I had never done Cross Country on the beach but now I have. It was so, so much fun.
By Esther
On Wednesday we were doing cross-country and I went in Aunty Maymorn's car. I saw the raging water and the shinning sand. There was a mountain of bags on the sand. There were so many sandcastles too. When it was my turn Maison, Jaycee, Marley, Moomoo, Sienna, Sophia and I were in my group. We were running two kilometres. Jaycee and I went for a good start. Jaycee came first and I was second. I heard people cheering me on. "Yay! I finished". I face planted in the boiling sand. I was panting and I was so hungry. I grabbed my lunch and gobbled it down so fast.
Some serious faces as runners prepare to put in their best effort.
By Hazel
When I got down to Te Paerahi Beach I didn't know what to do. I felt excited because I had never done cross-country on the beach. The hard bit was the soft sand, but the bit that was close to the beach was easy to run on. I came third to last and I was with Carlos mostly the whole time, but at the end I boosted and bet Carlos. After the practise run I saw Charlie digging a deep hole. I asked him, "Do you need any help building?" Charlie said, "If you get all the sand out of the way and save your free sand. you're hired to do the job." When my actual race was finished I went and looked at Charlie digging a deeper hole. We were down to the salty water. I also saw a village of sandcastles that probably took a long time to build. There was one humungous castle. At the end of the day I felt tired.
