Athletics Whangarei dominated the Onerahi Road Relays finishing first and second in all events, except the 3.2km walk in which Hatea Harriers were victorious.
Each runner/walker in the four-person teams completed a tough circuit on Saturday, starting and finishing alongside Saint Stephen's Church and including Beach Road, followed by a steepclimb up Hill Street. For senior teams, the circuit was 6km, but for the children's teams and one section of the walk it was 3.2km.
Northland road running champion Tim Goodwin from Athletic Whangarei led from the gun, establishing a lead of 29 seconds over his club mate Tom Andrews, and 3:31 over Hatea's John Kent.
Goodwin said he was aware he was being chased. "There was a guy close behind me - there was a nice tail wind along the coast, but the hill coming up [to Church Rd] was a bit of a challenge," he said. His next race will be the Whangarei Half Marathon.
The next three runners after Goodwin - Richard Blogg, Mike Gowing and Ian Calder - all increased Whangarei's lead, finally finishing 10:03 ahead of Whangarei's second team and 16:15 ahead of Hatea.
Despite treating his lap as a training outing in preparation for the Whangarei Marathon, Calder ran the fastest 6km lap of the day, finishing in 20:49, eclipsing Goodwin's 21:09.
"It was a good training run on a really good undulating course - I like a few hills," Calder said, adding the Whangarei Marathon was going to be his "first and last marathon".
Ady Ngawati, running lap one for Whangarei, brought her team home first, well clear of Estelle Tiller of Whangarei, and Hatea's Judith Bradshaw.
Like Calder, Ngawati also used Saturday's run as part of her marathon training. She is preparing to defend the Legend's Marathon title she won last year.
Ngawati handed over to Tayla Going, who showed her class by running the second-fastest women's time for the day and increasing Whangarei's lead to an unbeatable margin. Lewis Miller, Whangarei, was the stand-out runner in the children's relay, with the fastest time of 14:44 over the 3.2km circuit, ahead of Amanda Still's 15:22, Adam Cheeseman's 15:25, Scott Still's 15:47, and Cullum Hill's 15:56.
Hatea Harriers had their only triumph in the 3.2km walk, finishing first and second, while Whangarei was first and second in the 6km walk.
The fastest walkers: 1 - Alan Connelly, 2 - Antoinette Smith, 3 - Ian Babe and in the 3km walk: 1 - Stella Hourigan, 2 - Tom Hourigan, 3 - Gillian Trass.
