Cross-country
Michael Macklin clearly took line honours when the Ruamahanga Ramblers held a cross-country event on properties near the Mahunga golf course in Masterton on Saturday.
Macklin was all of four minutes quicker than anybody else over the 6.4km course, a situation which had his rivals suggesting all future races should be held well away from Masterton as work commitments generally mean he struggles to make the usual 2pm start for events staged elsewhere.
Course setter Malcolm MacDonald was experiencing the trials and tribulations of that assignment for the first time and either the effort required to complete that task - or perhaps the lack of hills - saw him beaten by arch rival Paul Furkert, a reversal of results over previous weeks where the terrain obviously suited MacDonald better.
MacDonald also had to take some ribbing over the fact one paddock contained long grass, hidden among which were some rather firm cow pats. The first lap saw several runners stumble over these but by the second time around the grass had been sufficiently squashed to allow evasive action to be taken.