Stroll inspired Lake run

A stroll around Virginia Lake in Wanganui in 1977 sparked an epiphany for athletics guru Alec McNab.

And a year later that light bulb, "wow" moment, manifested itself into what is now one of the most popular events on the Wanganui sporting events calendar - the annual Secondary Schools Round the Lake Relay.

The retired senior master at Wanganui Collegiate School and now acting director of sport is also a former president of Athletics New Zealand.

His 1977 stroll around Virginia Lake proved an enlightening exercise. It reminded him of competing in the annual Universities relay in Hyde Park, London, when he was at Loughborough College in his homeland.

"The Universities relay was around the Serpentine Lake with each of four runners running one three mile lap of the lake. The relay attracted over 100 teams annually and was a highlight of the university running calendar," McNab recalled.

The sheer beauty and suitable walkways around Virginia Lake prompted McNab to host the first Wanganui Secondary Schools Round the Lake Relay in 1978 with the initial event scheduled after school at 4pm in late June and attracted 58 teams.

"Two races were run that year and the fact that darkness comes early in late June led to the decision to shorten the distance for the girls' race, which has been continued since then. The girls run 250m less each leg of the circuit," McNab said.

The first boys' race was won by Wanganui Boys College (now Wanganui City College).

"Dean Crowe, who later ran for Oceania at the World Cup and distinguished himself on a USA Athletic Scholarship, ran the anchor leg for Boys College that day and pulled back a 200m deficit on the leading Wanganui Collegiate runner."

The event quickly grew and by 1980 the two-race format was increased to four to cater for the growing popularity of the event and was brought back to the current start time of 1.40pm.

The record number of teams was in 1985 with 250 teams competing, including two South Island schools and a touring group from the USA.

"The four-term year forced a change in timing of the event to early September and with tournament week around about the same time, there was a drop in entry numbers," McNab said.

Over the past 10 years, however, this has been consistently between 140-160 teams. This year 162 teams entered from 35 schools, with 150 completing the race.

"The combination of the relay nature of the event and the wonderful setting of Virginia Lake has contributed hugely to the longevity of the event.

"With an average of 600 runners each year means that over 18,000 athletes have run around this Wanganui icon."

See report page A34