As the running seasons change, Zach Ballamy has made a smooth transition from track to cross country. Photo by Rob van Dort
As the leaves fall from the trees and autumn changes to winter, runners move from the track to the country.
Short relays provide a popular transition at the start of the season.
The Wanganui Harrier Club Anzac Relays kicked off the Manawatu/Wanganui Centre season.
The Lake Wiritoa venue is popular and the 1km lap, where each runner does two laps, provides genuine spectator interest.
The Palmerston North Team continued their successful sequence of victories by retaining both the men's and women's titles.
Wanganui Collegiate finished second in both.
The school holiday-weakened male team finished 25 seconds behind Palmerston North in the 8km race.
The females came closer and were nine seconds in arrears after an epic battle with Whanganui High School for the minor places.
Rebecca Baker's anchor leg, the fastest female of the day, brought her WHS team within a second of Collegiate to finish third.
The two close rival teams do battle again at Whanganui Secondary Schools Championships on the Tawhero Golf Course on May 24.
Liam Back and George Lambert, who were the two fastest Collegiate runners at the Lake Wiritoa, were both in action again at the Shaw Baton Relays in Wellington three days later – running as guests for Wellington Scottish Harriers.
They combined with two Wellington College athletes to win the Under 20 section.
Back had the second fastest time of the day on the demanding 2km circuit, stopping the clock at just under six minutes to be beaten by a second from New Zealand's world championship representative Hamish Carson.
The duo from Wellington College and Wanganui Collegiate were back in action this Wednesday at Karori Park at the annual Wellington Colleges Relay.
The circuit is again over 2km and annually attracts most Wellington area schools and a few from outside of the region.
The boy's teams have six runners per team and the girls four.
Wellington College headed Wanganui Collegiate by about 50m after a close battle throughout the race.
Back opened up a 60m gap in the first leg, clocking six minute six seconds, for the fastest of the day over the course that included a sharp climb.
There was a confused change to Lambert, who set off in the wrong direction and cost himself a few seconds.
Lambert, still in Year 10, nonetheless ran strongly to record 6m 43s following the change, with his team dropping to third.
Ethan Gillespie held the position running the third leg and Zach Bellamy, who has made huge progress, brought the team up to second with an impressive 6m 28s leg.
Bellamy has been the biggest improver in the group and his smooth economic action and sound work ethic could bring about further progress – a runner to watch.
The Sinclair brothers in Joseph, who ran 6m 39s after recovering from injury, and William, who ran the anchor leg in 6m 28s, closed the gap but could not prevent the well-performed Wellington College retaining the title.
The Collegiate Junior Girls finished second in their race, with Ashleigh Alabaster finishing the fast opening leg in an impressive 7m 39s.
Sarah Lambert ran 6m 34s, taking her Collegiate senior girls to third place after the opening lap – a position which they held over the remaining three laps.
As indicated earlier, the Whanganui Secondary Schools Championships are at Tawhero Golf Course on May 24.
The venue was last used for cross country in 1991 for the New Zealand Secondary Schools Championships.
The Whanganui championships are important team races and excellent preparation for the New Zealand Schools Championships, to be held at Taupo on June 17, with the Regional Cross Country Relays to be held at the same Taupo venue the following day.
The Regional Relays, established two years ago at Rotorua, have been a popular addition to the calendar.
Whanganui schools will be represented in all six grades and arrangements will be made to ensure athletes who are not travelling with their school team will be in Taupo to compete at both the cross country championships and the relays on the following day.
The first three home for each grade in our Whanganui championships at Tawhero have automatic selection and the other two members are selected from nominations received, with previous performances including track was well as at Tawhero being considered.
The season is well underway and amongst the Wanganui Harrier Club major events are trips to the Hughes Memorial (June 2) in Taranaki and the Dorne Cup in Wellington (June 10), which are both well placed in the preparation period for New Zealand Schools.