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Event Report: The Hard, The Tough and the Dirty |
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This will
shock, amaze and inspire you - read on. |
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The club
apologises that it could not get ready three new trophies. |
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We will
endeavour to get the trophies to the winners as soon as possible. |
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The
nineteenth annual running of the Wayne Cretney memorial event resulted in
some tired |
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and I
hope happy competitors on a wet winter's day in the Mikimiki Massey
University farm |
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of
Riverside in the Wairarapa. It seems that we had real Cretney weather just
to make it a |
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little
tougher because it may have been a little too flat, fast and easy going than
normal. |
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In the
tradition of the event, the longest and toughest leg was run last by all
competitors |
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involving technical erosion river flats, hilly rocky areas and some pines. |
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I
thought that the 2nd to last control was relatively easy and I made it more
interesting |
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by
giving the control description 'Herbie the car' which was painted on the
side of it. |
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However, it seems that pressure and tiredness can do funny things, and that
a few |
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people
got temporarily lost. |
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Having
two course 1 runners finishing almost within 1 minute, |
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three
M50 within one minute and an incredible three M40 |
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runners
finishing within 10 seconds of each other is what this event is all about -
trying to |
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push
the mind and body to the limit. Fastest runner was Duncan Morrison |
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who run
5.8mins per km for over 13 kms showing the top M40s a clean pair of heels. |
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Others
of note were Tim Robertson's 6.6mins per km and Laura Robertson's 7.1mins
per km over 10km. |
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Graham
Fortunes comment was apt when he asked his finish time and I said '59 dead' |
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and he
quipped 'Yeah, that's how I feel.' |
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These
runs were even more unbelievable when you consider the following. |
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If I
had got my act together, I may have avoided the clash of this event with the
New Zealand |
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Secondary Schools held in Hamilton on the Friday and Saturday. |
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However, the clash has caused a situation which has flabbergasted me. |
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Several
families actually competed in 3 events on the weekend - two in Hamilton on
Friday |
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and
Saturday and then drove 6.5 hours overnight from Hamilton to Masterton to
start on time at 10.00am. |
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To the
Morrisons, Robertsons, Turners, Highams and Goodwins my hat goes off to you. |
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Selectors take note - these youngsters are ones to watch for the future -
and maybe |
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one day
in the JWOC or WOC they will benefit from the Cretney gut-busting events |
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where
they will be able to call upon those last reserves and ounces of energy to
go onto glory. |
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The
dedication and commitment of those who competed in the 3 events and the
sacrifices |
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of the
parents I think is a wonderful tribute to Wayne - a competitor who loved the
hard, |
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the
tough and the dirty. |
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And a
thank you to all the other competitors who regularly keep coming back to
make this a special event. |
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Bryan
Teahan - course planner. |
