50 teams tipped for Carterton road relay contest

Athletics Carterton are hopeful of attracting at least 50 teams for their annual Belvedere three-person road relays this coming Saturday.
They will be divided into two sections, junior which will compete over 10.1km and open over 21km.
The junior section will take in age groups from 12yrs and under to 17yrs and under while the open section will include both senior and veteran athletes.
Clubs from within the Wellington and Manawatu regions are likely to be strongly represented as the event gives them an ideal opportunity to sort out combinations for the national road relay championships a little later in the season.
The fact each runner covers the same lap means that form can be properly gauged
with times telling the whole story in that regard.
It is possible that at least one of the teams competing next Saturday, the Scottish Harriers 19yrs and under, will win their age group at the nationals and they could also be major contenders for fastest time honours at Belvedere.
To date no runner in the open grade has broken the 20min mark for the 7km lap but a bonus prize will be offer for any team or teams which crack the world individual marks for the quarter-marathon (21.1km), 59mins 6secs for men and 65mins 44secs for women.
It will be interesting to see if any of the athletes preparing for the world mountain running championships in Wellington the following weekend will use the Carterton event as a final dress-rehearsal for that assignment.
The Carterton club itself will have just the one team competing in the open men's grade where Michael Scott, Craig Ewing and Michael Rowe-Penny will join forces. However, there is a possibility that some of their younger members could contest the junior grade, either for Carterton or for the newly-formed Wairarapa development group.
Composite teams will also be arranged for runners who wish to contest the event but do not have the opportunity to run in selected teams.
Meanwhile, Athletics Carterton staged a road race on Saturday, the start and finish of which was the Matarawa Hall.Runners covered 5.5km in distance and walkers 2.7km and the enjoyed the rural atmosphere in summery conditions.
Results in order of actual and handicap times.Runners Michael Rowe-Penny 23.05, 23.05; Michael Scott 24.47, 20.47. Walkers: Norm Wilton 24.48, 24.48; Eric Lowery 36.00, 30.00.