One cannot but help mention the weather in the opening preamble! No wonder Peter likes to come north for his walking; two years in a row we go down to Hawera and we hit gale force winds. I know that Wellington walkers were meant to be here and Peter being the perfect host obviously decides to make them feel at home with their normal weather. I think though that everybody agrees that this course is superb. There is a slight gradient, but a 1.25K loop up and down is ideal for racing on a handicap start. 1.25K into a gale 4 times is character building though!
When conditions are as bad as today, it should not be possible to go better than handicap time. The majority of us would have been 1 to 1.5 minutes over our normal times! Just one person managed to go under though – Harry who waltzed through the conditions of the inaugural Fox trot, mind you it takes two to tango and he only just caught Neil before the end. Wacky was 3rd home in the men’s handicap race. Just 14 seconds between Harry and Neil then a further 14 seconds back to Wacky. Eric took out fastest time.
The conditions were probably harder for the women than the men today; strength into the wind was the key factor. You lost more on the upwind sections than was gained on the downhill. Well done to Michelle, back from injury and very deservedly first woman home on handicap. It was close at the end though with a fast finishing Serena only 9 seconds back and then a further 7 seconds to Helen! Last event the ladies took all the points, this time the men took them all and I do believe that was purely a strength factor. Marlene was quickest time.
Tom once again had a very fast race in the Vets section, but he only just flew past Brian towards the end. It was extremely tight racing and with a K to go was impossible to predict. In the end Denise managed to finish 3rd just ahead of Arthur. Only 28 seconds separated the 1st 4. Arthur once again took fastest time, but Tom is rapidly catching him.
The Points trophy continues to be very intriguing. The dark horse (Tom) has now gone 2 points clear of Wacky with the Metronome (Arthur) only a further point back.
Well done to the timekeepers, Sue and Trevor as well as Frances on cup catching duty. It was hard for us walkers, but I think it was worse for you guys.
Results:
