Athletics
The main talking point when the Ruamahanga Ramblers held a cross-country race at Ashby's Ponatahi farm last Saturday was the "craziness" of Derek Cox.
The previous weekend had seen Cox, along with 1200 others, contest the Crazy Man event in Wellington where he placed second in the over-40 category. If that wasn't energy-sapping enough he preceded his appearance at Ponatahi by running up to Jumbo Hut from the Mount Holdsworth road end in the morning, finding the knee-deep snow experienced in places rather more difficult to negotiate than the conditions struck later in the day.
At the same time, however, the Ponatahi course, set by the wily Ray Wallis, was a cracker. It was mostly firm underfoot but there were some very muddy gateways and some short, steep valleys with swampy mini creeks at the bottom. Testing would be the best way to describe it.
Several Ramblers wore running spikes or football boots and they clearly had the advantage on those with normal running shoes who found the steep up and downs rather more slippery than they would like.