Whangarei Athletics cleaned up at the Onerahi Relay Challenge, taking both the men's and women's events ahead of Hatea Harriers at the weekend. The four-person relay was run over a 6km hilly circuit near the airport and the runners were exposed to cold, blustery winds. Whangarei men's first lap runner, Mike Gowingraced off to an early lead. "I was expecting some runners to come with me - for the start anyway - but nobody did," Gowing said. He was well clear of Hatea's Neville Bassett by the end of the first lap. Ady Ngawati - twice Auckland Marathon champion - running for Whangarei women's team, came in second overall, however, ahead of the Hatea men's team. The Whangarei men increased their lead over the next three laps, with well-performing junior runner Ryan Slater running second, Chris Seeley third and Ian Calder fourth, with the fastest lap time of the day. Hatea Harriers' hopes were dashed before the event, when several of their top runners pulled out. As well, one of their runners had the misfortune to take a wrong turn and run extra distance on Saturday. Despite the setbacks, Hatea's course record set last year remained intact, and their last lap runner, Ryan Smith, recorded the second fastest time of the day. Following Ngawati's impressive first lap, Whangarei's Leigh Ruddock and Denise Limby ran strongly over the next two laps, sending Simone Ackermann off with an unbeatable lead to clean up the women's race and finish second overall. Two teams from Whangarei Boys' High School added extra interest to the relay. Al Kirk, Boys' High's principal, led off for one team, followed by Tom Weigold, Rod Cundliffe and Richard Blogg, to take sixth place in the men's race. Meanwhile, Sam Kirk ran a gutsy first lap for Boys' High's second team, handing over to Dylan French, who ran the next three laps - a total of 18km - in 79 minutes and 22 seconds.
