Southland Harriers eNewsletter

Race 4 Shoe Clinic Series-Taramea/Riverton

33 Runners Participated In This Event

8 Volunteers Assisted In The Set Up And Running Of The Event

Honestly, I think every event we have held this year, trumps the event before. The Taramea event this weekend was just stunning. The overnight rain did make things a little slick under foot (and under tires), but not one runner went for a slide, so it couldn't have been that bad.

The hardest part was keeping your eyes on the ground and not the scenery.

A big thank you to Graham and Alison Nielson who designed the course, and were out early marking the route. It was well thought out, and took in the highlights of the coast. The concept of having the choice to run the extra uphill loop, on your first, second or third lap really added to the “game of chase, and be chased” for the runners. Apparently most of us choose to get the extra loop out of the way early, which may have cost us some time, as we had to slow slightly to pass other runners, who knows.

We were definitely an added attraction to some peoples' day, and I noticed a couple of tourists (or maybe locals) stop and watch us all running by. An extra shout out to the kids and our one newcomer, it was a challenging course, and it was good to see you all come into the finish line with smiles on your faces.

Race 5-Shoe Clinic Series-Oreti Sands

Date: 10th of August, 2024

Where: Old Oreti Sands Golf Course off Dunns Road.

Time: 2pm start, please arrive early for sign in.

Registration: only if you have not already registered for the series https://www.webscorer.com/register?raceid=347738

Seniors will run approximately 6.8kms
Juniors will run approximately 1.7kms

Across the old course, through the trees and over the hill. This course has been designed by Ian and Grant, so you can guarantee there will be a little bit of something for everyone!

Please be aware that the Oreti Sands club rooms were damaged last year, and we will not be using the building itself. There is some shelter under the balcony and we will be renting a toliet for entrants and spectators.

The costs to enter these events is:
• Senior runners $10 per race, or $40 for all 8 races
• Junior runners $5 per race, or $20 for all 8 races
• To be in with a chance of winning a bonus spot prize make sure you attended the last
event and prizegiving on September 28.

Best Of Luck

Next weekend the Southland Harriers take a break, but not all runners will be sitting back, watching Netflix all weekend.

Some of our top runners will be off to the New Zealand Cross Country Champs in Napier, and we want to wish them all the best of luck. Keep an eye on our Facebook page for a link to the youtube channel which will be recording events live. If you cant wait and want to find out all the details of who is running when, here is a link to the NZ Athletics Page, https://athletics.org.nz/events/2023-new-zealand-cross-country-championships-and-2023-new-zealand-cross-country-relay-championships/.

And……….

The Meridian Hydro Half marathon and 10km event is happening in Te Anau next weekend. Best of luck to all Southland Harriers competing. Let us know how it goes!! It's a fantastic event.

Finally…………Just a quick message on the Tuatara Teretonga Ten K (Road Champs) being held on August 31st. Entries are now open: https://www.webscorer.com/register?raceid=348266

We are trialing something a bit different this year, at a low key level. So we can look at maybe opening this event up to a larger audience next year.

We want to see if we can run a champs event, alongside an event we open up to the public. Unregistered runners will run 10kms (or 2.5kms for kids). Registered runners will run the appointed distance for their age group. Which basically means, some club age groups “may” not run 10km, we will be making club champ distance decisions at the committee meeting this week.

The Tuatara Cafe has come on board this year as a sponsor. Therefore we are looking at holding our medal/trophy ceremony at the cafe after the event.

More info next week!!