Mum's the word at Paihia run

Mother's Day can mean a lot of different things to different people. For some it can be having a girl's day in with mum, indulging in all sorts of tasty treats. But, for some, it's a chance to hit the pavement and go for a run with mum.

Almost 1200 turned out for the Jennian Homes Mother's Day Paihia Run/Walk as part of the 2013 Sport Northland Run/Walk Series.

Taking line honours in last weekend's event, and no doubt thanking mum for their support over the years, was Whangarei's Harry Linford and Carolyn Younger to make it three wins from three starts for the duo.

In what was a repeat of the previous two events in the run/walk series, Linford was in control throughout the race and once again proved what a strong runner he is as he completed the 8km course in a time of 27.55 in front of third time runner-up Ian Calder, who finished in second place in 28.34. Mike Hardiman, also from Whangarei was third with Lauri Allen fourth.

Meanwhile in the women's standings, Younger was expecting a strong challenge from Whangarei school girl Amanda Still and was not disappointed.

Still kept in touch with Younger all the way but could not manage to take out the experienced Younger, who won in 32.22 with Still just four seconds behind. Third home in the women's section was Ruth Hutchinson, from Whangarei, with Kerikeri's Corinne Smith taking fourth place.

The Jennian Homes Paihia event puts Linford and Younger at the top of the 2013 Sport Northland Leaderboard and look as if they will be hard to move from the top with still a further five events to go in the series.

Sport Northland Events Team Leader Hayley Overton said there was a real party atmosphere at the event with many families taking part to celebrate Mother's Day.

The next event in the Sport Northland Run/Walk series will be the Newman Engineering Baylys 2 Dargaville Run/Walk which is a 6.8km or 12km run/walk on June 23. Entries at www.runwalkseries.co.nz