Under the light of a full moon, runners charged through Reed Park on Saturday night, racing along the track to Whangarei Falls and back again, to complete the aptly-named Night-Owl Escape. Introduced by club member Jim Kettlewell, the night-owl event has become a popular annual event on the Athletic Whangarei programme. Saturday'sthird running of the race was timed to run near the shortest day. "Because it's dark you do have to run a little slower - in the first year it [the track] was very wet, but this year it was soft under foot, but very runnable and there's very little mud. Running at night is something that has become quite popular in other centres of New Zealand and I felt it was time we had a night run here in Whangarei," Kettlewell said. Twenty-one minutes after the gun, waiting officials heard the rush of crunching footsteps and saw a flickering light as two bodies, shrouded in darkness, emerged from the forest to be identified as Mike Gowing in first place, in 21m 30s, closely followed by Andrew Riddell, in 21m 31s. Gowing enjoys racing at night. "It's awesome - it's something totally different - it's different from daytime running - you can't see your feet and your lights aren't brilliant - it's a real buzz," he said. Over five minutes after Riddell, Andrew Miller emerged, finishing third in 26m 59s, followed by Cam Shelley, Jane Sweeney and Tui (Jane's dog - a jack russell cross), Tony Langton, Flynn Hill, Lucy Shand, Ian Douglas, Jack Dempster, Sue Shand, Brad Miller, Tim Gordon, Janice Powell, Frances Hill, Mika Hill, Cole Miller and Denise Limby. Aged 72, Ian Douglas - who is used to running and cycling at night - was the oldest runner competing. He said the course was one of his favourite runs and he often includes it in his two-hour run on Sundays. "It was great - I really enjoy being out [training] at night." Seven-year-old Cole Miller was the youngest runner competing and gave the standout performance of the day, completing the circuit - under the watchful eye of his mother - in 47m 47s. "It was good [running in the dark]. I saw a possum up in the trees and some glow worms - it [the run] wasn't that hard, but I fell over two times," he said.
