NZ Road Relays – Hunua, Auckland (Sept 3 2011)We arrived in Auckland just before lunchtime on Friday. After a short discussion our itinerary was prioritised. Perhaps a case of not letting truth get in the way of a good story, but the men were outvoted 5 to 7 (i.e. 5 women to 7 men) and the Newmarket shops were stop number one.
From Newmarket we proceeded south to Hunua and the YMCA camp doubling as race HQ and our accommodation. Once all checked in and registered we took a preliminary drive around the course to get a feel for the size of the hills. After a quick trip to the supermarket to stock up on provisions and a dull manager’s meeting punctuated by a small number of pedantic rule enquiries from managers with over developed verbal skills and under developed literacy skills, we were ready to settle in for a quiet night. Some read, some studied for upcoming exams, others released nervous excitement with some “relaxing” mattress sliding and balloon tennis.
We were promised four seasons for race day and weren’t disappointed. At various times it was warm and sunny then cold and showery.
We saw all the senior teams on their way from the camp start/finish area and drove to the start of the junior races. The junior course covered the final 5 legs of the senior course although the first leg was about 400m longer starting down a side road.
We cheered Evie on her way at the start of the JW race, but the 30min gap between start times meant we didn’t see them again until just before the end.
CHAV Junior Men Race
Seventeen teams toed the start line for the JM race. Sean Eustace got us off to a good start running the first 7.1km leg with a maturity belying the fact he has up to 5 more years in this grade. A lead bunch formed quite quickly going hammer and tongs at each other. Sean settled into his own pace not far behind this group and picking off runners as they fell by the wayside. He worked his way into 7th place towards the end of the lap before dropping one spot on the final run into the changeover.
Daniel Coats made immediate inroads and moved us back into 7th place in the early stages of his leg. He then set to the rolling hills with each getting bigger than the one before and culminating with the steepest section on the course midway through his 7.2km leg. You know you’re on a decent hill when the traffic is changing down through the gears as it crawls past you. Daniel made light work of the climbs though springing his way up and down. A couple of hard charging teams managed to sneak ahead, but Daniel ran with determination etched onto his face and kept us in touch. We reached the next change in 10th place, but with four teams in sight less than a minute up the road.
The stage was set nicely for Nick Merrett’s farewell to the JM grade starting the longest and flattest leg of the relay with plenty to chase. Nick settled nicely into the 10.5km task ahead using his experience to stay relaxed, not trying to close the gap all at once, but always creeping closer and closer. As the leg progressed and his prey tired, Nick got stronger and faster. He picked off three teams and set about building us a buffer. As in leg 1, we eventually slipped back a spot late in the lap changing over back in 8th place once again.
Tannock Blair took up the baton for the penultimate leg and started the long steady 3km climb over the first half of his 6.9km leg. Whilst positions were still being traded in front and behind us, Tannock had our only solo run of the race maintaining our 8th position throughout. Tannock delighted the crowds waiting at the last change over with a sprint finish for the ages against a SM team he’d caught.
Matt Dryden got to be both the hunter and the hunted on the final 10.0km leg. It made for a very exciting end to the race with five teams rapidly coming together. The Pakuranga A team were first to challenge edging ahead after closing down the 30s gap. Matt responded retaking the position and eventually reopened and extended the gap by the finish. In the meantime the gap ahead to 7th place, which had been widening initially, was starting to close quickly. By the end Matt had reduced the gap from 86s down to 39s. In spite of Matt’s valiant efforts, we couldn’t quite hold out two other hard charging teams and were pipped back into 10th at the finish.
We weren’t quite as tantalised as the JW team with their 4th placing only 9s out of the medals, but a very respectable 10th placing for our young team was a mere 39s from what would have been an outstanding 7th place after nearly 2 ½ hours of racing. The old adage, “every second counts” springs to mind and the experience gained with how close the finish can be will be banked for future years.
We would collectively like to thank the club for their support in making this trip possible and especially to John Ingles for making all the arrangements. A great time was had by all and the national road relay remains the most fun event on the calendar. If you haven’t yet had the opportunity to attend this event, it is something to aspire to.
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