Furkert wins by a bare toenail

Athletics

The Ruamahanga Ramblers held the first race in their winter series on flat ground at Clareville on Saturday. Highlights included:

Aidan Furkert arrived straight from pony club. Faced with a choice of running in riding boots or bare feet, he chose the latter. This nearly proved his downfall as the finish of the race was on a gravel track, and Kasey Cox, sensing Aidan was struggling with the stones, put in a strong sprint finish, only just failing to catch him (by 2 seconds).

Father and son Chris and Ben Van Gerven from Masterton made their first appearance for the Ramblers, and both gave John Ihaka a bit of a hurry-up in the walking section. Chris was over a minute ahead of John, who only just managed to hold off the fast-finishing Ben.

John Sage arrived late and missed the race briefing. The race was two laps of a 3.5km circuit, rather than the usual three laps of a 2km circuit. At the end of the second lap John was wondering why every one was stopping, whereas he had saved enough energy for another lap!

Because of a shortage of timekeepers, at the last moment race co-ordinator Paul Furkert decided not to run, helping with the timekeeping instead. As the runners passed the start finish line several regulars gave him some stick about being too lazy to run, to which he countered that at least it meant he was still unbeaten in the winter series

Next week's race is on Steve Pitney's farm, Hururua Rd. The farm tracks lead through some pleasant native bush, before the runners ascend steeply (350m in less than 1km) for spectacular views of the Wairarapa valley.

Results:

2km: Jack Britland 08.43; Lucas Megaw 09.16; Aidan Furkert 09.44; Kasey Cox 09.46; Jessica Duthie 10.44; Alex Megaw 12.18; Lucy Britland 12.21.

3.5km: Michael Hymans 15.14, Andrew Hymans 16.21; Matthew Sebire 17.38; Chris Van Gerven 24.38; John Ihaka 26.20; Ben Van Gerven 26.30; Ali Lang 27.40; Lisa Gray 32.56; Mel Megaw 32.56; Audrey Sebire 34.07; Gerald Taylor 34.07; Irene Price 35.23; Jane McDougall 37.32; Alison Morrell 37.39; Anne Taylor 48.05; Dean McDougall 37.37.

7km: Michael Rowe-Penny 29.52; Malcolm McDonald 30.45; John Ninnes 32.29; Ray Haste 33.19; Stephen Yeats 33.31; Craig Bird 33.46; John Sage 34.00; Steve Britland 35.00; Marty Sebire 36.15; Teresa Reynolds 36.43; Chris Megaw 40.19; Wayne Hyman 41.01; Claudia Baechle 44.55.