Southland Harriers eNewsletter

From The Chair

The 2026 Winter Southland Harriers season has kicked off, and its going to be a cracker. The committee has put together another jam packed season of running on roads, up and down hillls, through long grass, mud and creeks, along coastlines, and even through a car parking lot. How cool!! 17 events, 17 chances for us all come together and celebrate our love for running, competition and maybe share some doughnuts, hot soup and good old fashioned running banter.

This year we are also proud to be hosting the South Island Secondary School Cross-Country Festival. This will be the first time this event is run in Southland and we are super excited to welcome students from across the South Island at Oreti Links. We are still looking for volunteer marshals, so please catch up with us if you can help. The committee recently held a working bee on the course and it is looking challenging, but fun! You can come and test it out this coming weekend at our relay event.

From you we only ask a few things to help us run our events smoothly.

Register early, this helps us prepare for the events. This is a big one, and please pay attention to when registrations close. For some events we allow entries on the day for others registration closes on the Wednesday before the event.
If you can volunteer, please let us know. We are always looking for extra hands at the finish line, especially for championship events.
Arrive early and pay attention at the briefing, this avoids confusion at the finish line, and ensures prompt and correct results.
Handicapping is a big job, please do not ask for handicaps to be changed. The committee had to make the hard decision last year to stop changing handicaps to suit runners on the day. Please respect this decision it was not an easy one.
Help us promote our events, the committee can not do this on our own. Share and comment on our Facebook posts and invite new people to our events. Lets keep growing this sport together.

Queens Park Opening Day

80 Runners, and 12 Volunteers Participated In Our Southland Harriers Opening Day

The weather gods shined on our opening day at Queens Park, as 80 runners lined up on the start line. For some it was their first Harriers event for others a chance to test themselves against a new distance, or a chance to catch up with mates they haven't seen for awhile.

First across the line in the 9kms was Hunter Gough (Male) and Debbie Landreth (Female). Its going to be great to watch both these runners this year, and I expect it will not be the last time they are first across the line.

Over 6kms, the youthful legs of Cayden Sanginiti (Male) and Kimberly Iversen (Female) were first over the line.

Sean Iversen (Male) Abby Obyle (Female) put in their best efforts over 3kms crossing the finish line first in this category.

Full results can be found using this link: https://www.webscorer.com/race?raceid=428235

As always thank you to all the volunteers who helped out on the day, we couldn't have pulled it off without you. Their were a few organizational cobwebs to clear out, but everyone just got on with the job, and had a good time.

We hope that those new to Harriers got a bit of a taste of what we do and we look forward to see you all again. If you are new to Harriers don't forget to ask us questions we are always happy to help.

For the seasoned Harrier runners what an awesome way to kick off the season. Lots of laughs were heard after everyone caught their breath and we cant wait to see what this season brings for each and every runner.

New Zealand Mountain Running Championship

On April 18th over 200 runners took to the hills of Johnsonville in some very windy weather, and Southland had a good turnout and strong results.

Dwight Grieve in the open 12km race, Lewis Blay and Mahe Braaksma in the 8km under 20's, Jazz and Charlie Braaksma in the 5km. The south showing again our love of the trails and mountains. Jazz 11th, Charlie 1st under 14 (non championship race), Mahe 4th, Lewis 3rd in NZ and Dwight 11th overall, Gold in 45-49 men.

Race Report from Mahe Braaskma, thanks Mahe.

NZ Mountain Run Champs - Wellington April 2026

We arrived in Wellington in heavy rain and thought the race might be cancelled. At race HQ we got our numbers and headed to the start, where the wind and rain were still intense—but the race was on.

At the start line everyone was cold and nervous. As soon as it began, we ran uphill straight into strong wind and rain. At times the wind was so powerful it was hard to run. On one big climb, my heart rate hit 198—the highest I’ve ever had.

The downhill was even tougher, with the wind in my face and the rain stinging my cheeks. It was a tough race to the finish. The track was muddy and slippery after lots of runners, and I nearly fell many times!

Even with the tough conditions, I still loved it. It was a challenge, and I pushed myself harder than ever. I was happy to get 4th place in the U20’s age group. I’m definitely keen for more mountain running races.

Southland Harriers Cross Country Relay

Saturday, May 2nd at 2pm

Oreti Links Golf Course, Sandy Point

The Southland Harriers Cross Country Relay is a FREE teams event. Put together a team and come for a jaunt around Oreti Links Golf Course at Sandy Point.

Teams can be made up of 2-4 runners/walkers. Teams can be made by clubs, schools, families or friends before the start of the event. Each team member completes a 1.62km lap then change over in the transition area, with teams having to complete four laps in total. If you can't get a full team together please enter who you have so we know you are coming and we will try and make up complete teams on the day for single runners/walkers. NOTE: 1 lap completed by a walker = 2 runners laps.

This is free, fun event and we have a few twists up our sleeve.

Event Starts at 2pm sharp, please arrive around 1:15pm for check in and briefing so we can start on time.

Registration Link: https://www.webscorer.com/register?raceid=425014

Please note this event does have a registration closing date/time. Any question please email:southlandharriers@gmail.com

Event Location: Google Maps: 50 Links Road, Oreti Beach 9879, Invercargill, if you haven't been there before. Off Sandy Point Road.