The New Zealand Relay Initiative Camp was held in Auckland last weekend.
Twenty-four years ago I had just returned home from the IAAF (World Athletics) Grand Prix Finals held in Melbourne in 2001 (now Diamond League).
The excitement generated at that event was the subject of the first Athletics Insight article.
Relays have been a regular theme of my articles for more than two decades; they generate an exciting team element to track and field and cross country and can play an important role in athlete development.
I return to this for Insight’s 24th anniversary.
Over last weekend I was fortunate to combine a number of athletics-related activities in Auckland and Cambridge.
On Thursday and Friday, the second New Zealand Secondary Road Relay Festival was held at Pakūranga Yacht Club, utilising a figure-of-eight course hugging the shores of the Pakūranga Basin.
The 2025 event brought a lift in the number of schools competing from the inaugural event in 2024.
The increase in schools allowed for greater depth in the regional relays on Friday, where athletes competed for their region rather than their individual schools.
Although numbers were still not high, the event will grow as the message grows about the value of the road relays.
The popular Whanganui Round the Lake Relay expanded from humble beginnings to attracting over 100 teams from beyond the region because of the excitement relays provide.
The atmosphere and buzz around the Pakūranga course last week reinforced the special nature of relays.
The senior schools race on Thursday was a thriller.
The strong Westlake Boys’ High School had built up a big lead over the first three legs of the four-leg race.
They knew every second of this would be needed as New Zealand Schools senior boys winner Caleb Wagner was set to run Auckland Grammar School‘s anchor leg.
The pre-race calculation was that they would need at least a 30-second cushion. The calculation was accurate and Westlake needed every second of it.
Running the final leg for Westlake, Thomas Evitt held off Wagener’s dramatic challenge in the closest finish of the day.
Westlake Boys’ High won the Year 9 boys’ race from Tauranga Boys’ College, with Wellington’s Rongotai College taking third.
Hamilton Boys’ High School won the under-16 boys’ grade, with the St Patrick’s Silverstream A and B teams next to cross the line.
Takapuna Grammar School won the Year 9 girls’ race, with Diocesan School for Girls winning both the under-16 and senior grades.
Whangamatā Area School, Green Bay High School and St Kentigern prevailed in the respective Year 9, under-16 and senior mixed grades.
It was the turn of the regional teams on Friday on the same course. The concept allows runners a second relay run representing their region, rather than their individual school.
Waikato won the Year 9 and under-16 boys’ grades, while North Harbour took the seniors.
Host region Auckland won all three girls’ grades and both mixed grades that were competed for.
The senior Auckland team of Lisa and Sarah Hellyer, Hannah McManus and Scarlett Robb were especially impressive, taking line honours in a race that had mixed teams, Year 9 boys and all three girls’ grades.
On Friday my relay focus changed to track and field, where I was pleased to join the New Zealand Relay Initiative Camp, “Relay for success”.
Nuree Greenhalgh and Sonia Waddell are to be congratulated on developing the concept, and thanks to their energy and sound communication, there was an outstanding response to the self-funded camp, which is designed to cultivate a team-first culture.
Whanganui’s Jonathan Maples was one of the many attending and gained much from the experience.
The theme of passing the baton, building the future and that a relay team is much stronger than individuals is a powerful one and I wish every success to this initiative.
I was impressed with both the atmosphere and the sound technical ability demonstrated by athletes at this first camp.
I travelled south to Cambridge on Saturday afternoon to attend the Athletics New Zealand AGM at the Grassroots Velodrome.
I missed the 10km road race and road walk New Zealand Championships on the Saturday.
Whanganui’s Sally Gibbs was second across the line in the Masters Women’s – only 21 seconds behind the leading runner who was almost two decades younger – to win the 60-64 grade.
Gibbs set another record with her time of 38m 31s. On the same day, Lucas Martin was third across the line in the combined 10km race to take silver in the senior men. This was Martin’s 16th New Zealand medal.