Whanganui to host North Island Cyclocross champs with racers from 34 schools

The Cycling New Zealand Schools North Island Cyclocross champs will be held at St John's Hill School. Photo / Gemma Bartley

Cyclocross racers from all across the North Island will come to St John’s Hill School in Whanganui for the Cycling New Zealand Schools North Island Cyclocross championships.

Thirty-four different schools were registered to take part in the event, which is being held alongside an Awa Cross event for younger children and adults to also take to the course.

Cyclesport New Zealand director Cath Cheatley said after the inaugural Awa Cross event was held in February, they got the idea to host the champs as a way to grow the code locally.

“We thought this would be really cool way to give our local secondary school kids a cool opportunity to have a championship event right here on their doorstep,” Cheatley said.

Whanganui High School, Cullinane College, Whanganui Girls’ College, Westmere School, Whanganui Collegiate School and Huntley School will be taking part.

She was pleased with the turnout, as they’d set a goal of getting at least 50 entrants and ended up getting just under 70 from places including Auckland, Hamilton, Hawke’s Bay, New Plymouth and Wellington.

The course for the event will utilise the entire school grounds and will feature a lot of technical challenges for competitors.

“If you know St John’s Hill School ... their grounds provide a heap of different terrains.

“We’re using the whole school facility, starting down on the courts and heading up onto the top fields through the shrubbery, over the back [and] up the climb.”

Racing was expected to be exciting, with full podium fields for all categories and defending champions coming to compete.

For the champs, competitors aged between under 13 and under 15 will race for 30 minutes while those under 16 to under 20 will race for 40 minutes, with the winners for each age group being those who log the most laps in the time limit.

Awa Cross races for younger children and adults will also be held on the course, with younger kids racing on a shortened course.

“We thought similar to what we did with the concept of Awa Cross and the Masters Games, that we’d hold Awa Cross events for the rest of the community to take part and then be able to enjoy watching the racing as well,” she said.

Awa Cross currently has over 80 entrants registered, with a week left for anyone else to get involved.

“A lot of people coming for the North Islands were bringing their whole family, so Mum and Dad can watch their teenager doing the championship events, they’ve brought their bikes and they’re bringing their younger brothers and sisters to take part as well.”

The event is being held on July 15 and people can register for the event on the Whanganui Cycling Club or Awa Cross Facebook page or on the day, with entries costing $2 for kids and $10 for adults.

Cheatley was encouraging people to register before the day to make preparations easier for the event organisers.

Entrants will receive a race number and a goodie bag, with a barbecue and spot-prize draw happening after the races.

She was grateful for the support of the Whanganui community, with people volunteering, and local businesses and St John’s Hill School coming on board to support the event.

Cyclocross is also a spectator-friendly sport, so she was encouraging people to come out to watch the racing.

Finn Williams is a multimedia journalist for the Whanganui Chronicle. He joined the Chronicle in early 2022 and regularly covers stories about business, events and emergencies. He also enjoys writing opinion columns on whatever interests him.