Pace on the rugby field was not the only highlight at Cooks Gardens on Friday as nine standout runners took part in the 2000m Road Race at halftime.
The Wanganui Athletic event also served as a bucket collection for Wanganui Collegiate's Christian Conder and Jane Lennox, who will represent NewZealand in the ISF World Schools Cross Country in Budapest, Hungary, this coming April.
Organiser Alec McNab arranged for a handicap start based on personal best times, with Conder, the New Zealand captain, starting around five minutes behind the first runners on the 200m around the track, and then hike out of the ground to the Opera House and back again.
Conder's training partner Louis Hogan, of Wanganui High School, would take line honours after around seven minutes running, followed by Collegiate's Ruby Redmayne and then Conder in third place after making up all but half a minute on the rest of the field.
McNab said the money collection had brought in $500 in notes alone, so was likely to be $800- $900 when the coins in the buckets were all counted.
