Harriers: Hatea in tough contest

The annual Waipu relay, organised by Hatea Harriers, took place on Saturday for the 61st time in fine but windy conditions.

Teams competed over four 6.1km laps with the event doubling as the Northland road relay championship.

Team numbers were down compared with other years, with only 10 teams competing, but that didn't mean that competition was less any fierce.

In fact, tight competition in the first lap ensured some good racing.

In the men's division, John Kent from Hatea held out Chris Seely from Whangarei to give Hatea the first-lap lead by three seconds.

Mike Gowing then took the lead for Whangarei which Ian Calder and James Edwards held on to, with Whangarei taking the men's title from Hatea's A team of John Kent, Anson Clapcott, Ken Walker and Harry Linford by 1 minute 12 seconds.

In the women's division, Hatea again took a first-lap lead with Freya McCall leading in Estelle Tiller by 34 seconds but Whangarei came back with Angele Young, Janice Powell and Amanda Still to take the women's title.

The other Hatea team members of Linda King, DJ Gilming and Gillian Trass were competitive but Whangarei were too good on the day.

Fastest lap runners were Harry Linford from Hatea in 21:21 and Amanda Still in 26:08 for the 6.1km laps.