ENDURANCE - Festive race has the edge

Kerikeri half marathon winner Stephen Lett, from Auckland's North Shore, says the event has a festive culture that will keep people coming back.
Lett, following a creditable fourth in the recent Auckland marathon, kicked away late to finish with a personal best time of 1 hour, nine minutes, 11 seconds, nearly a minute ahead of his closest rival.
"The course is custom built for a strong finish with a long, slow decline. I came in second last year and I'm pleased to go one better and repeat my 2006 win," he said.
"It's a nice run but it's more than that - the people, the hundreds of volunteers, they make it a pleasure you just don't find in many of the other races on the circuit. You can just go out there, run and enjoy it."
The race - currently injecting $1.5 million into the Bay of Islands community - is set to gain prominence in 2008 when it doubles as the official New Zealand half marathon championship.
"I'll be back to try and defend the title then. I'm sure the field will be much stronger but I have the advantage of having run it a few times now," Lett said.
Paul Crowhurst beat off the challenge of fellow Aucklander Michael Adams to finish a split second ahead of him in the dash to the line - both athletes were credited with finishes of 1h 10m.
Whangarei triathlete Lee Greer was the first Northlander home with a time of 1h 11m 11s in fourth place, with Whangarei's Ian Calder the next best in seventh place with a time of 1h 15m 38s.
Auckland's Lara Phillips won the women's title in a time of 1h 17m 44s. The 22-year-old environmental management graduate was competing in the event for the first time and also plans to try to defend her title in 2008.
Phillips finished almost two minutes clear of Auckland's Penny Peskett (1h 19m 24s) and nearly four minutes ahead of third-placed Ady Ngawati of Whangarei (1h 21m 06s).
Ngawati, could not back up quickly enough after her fantastic win in the recent Auckland marathon. She was suffering from the effects of a bout of bronchitis last week, which saw her overshoot her planned time by three minutes but didn't deter her from starting the race.
The event - in its 18th year - drew a field of 1913 runners, walkers and wheelies, down from last year's record 2440.
Organiser and general manager of Sport Northland Colleen Atchison was pleased with the turnout, in particular the massive crowd gathered for the prizegiving showing its status as a true sporting calendar drawcard to the Far North.
The Fullers corporate teams competition was won by the ASB Bank - defending the title - with Auckland's Lee Warne taking out the chair road race as the only entrant.
Kaitaia's Gary Little won the men's walk in a time of 2h 02m 47s and the women's title went to Julie Helean of Auckland in 2h 15m29s.