21st Feb 2011 - New Zealand walker Rozie Robinson is in fine form judging from her recent 3000m walk efforts. Two weeks ago, she bettered Lisa Mathieson's 1994 Otago record by 3sec with her time of 13.57.72 but it could not be recognized because it was held during the New Zealand Masters Games and there were not enough walking judges round the track. Everything was legal last Saturday and her time of 13:42.30 at the Otago championships becomes the new Otago senior women's record. Rozie, aged 22 and a physical education student, was well organised and had the lap times written on her forearm before the race. "When I was given the lap times I knew I was ahead of the target times and the record was on," she said. It is also a Caledonian track record and beat the 13:51.93 that Gabrielle Gorst walked when winning the New Zealand title in 2003.
Rozie will be in action next Saturday in Hobart as part of the New Zealand team contesting the Oceania Racewalking Trophy against Australia.
30th Jan 2011- have a look at Jeff Salvage's USA 50K Photostory of the Olympic Trials - for me it was riveting viewing. Jeff puts it this way - "Wow! If you weren’t at the 50K Olympic Trials you missed one for the ages. It was without a doubt the most exciting race I’ve seen in the USA in my 27 years of race walking. Fortunately, if you missed it you can follow along with our 14 page, 170+ photo photostory. As a photographer I am particularly proud of capturing the emotion of the day, especially at the end of the race."Check out http://www.racewalk.com/under headline news midway down on the page to the left.
25th Sept - DUDLEY HARRIS 1926 -2011 -RWA Life Member.Dudley Harris was one of an initial group of 23 people who met at Jane Jackson's house back in 1983 and established the Auckland Race Walking Association later to become Racewalking Auckland (RWA) in 2007. At that founding meeting Kevin Taylor was elected our first President and Dudley Harris took on the task of producing the monthly newsletter which he published for many years. Dudley eventually took over as President when Kevin stepped down. Dudley was a real stalwart of Auckland race walking during the years of his involvement in our event 1982 to 2000. Dudley finished 3rd behind Mark Gray and Jane Jackson in the national 50 kms in 1995. He also had a group of race walkers who he coached, the most prominent of these being Commonwealth Games rep Jane Jackson. Dudley was also actively involved in the YMCA walking group and participated in many long distance endurance type walking races. It's unfortunate that i never met up with Dudley, our paths never seemed to cross. During the years of his involvement in race walking i was living in the UK and having retired from competition in early 1983 i had little knowledge of what was going on back in NZ in the race walking scene. On my return to competition in 2007 Dudley had long ceased his involvement in our event, although his name often cropped up in conversations among older members of RWA. Dudley Harris as a competitor, coach, administartor and writer on race walking made a huge contribution to our event in New Zealand especially in Auckland. He was a real stalwart of race walking. On behalf of RWNZ and RWA our commiserations go out to Dudley's family at this sad time. Mike Parker
President RWNZ + RWA
7th August - information from David Lonsdale on the Road Champs, One Hour event in Palmerston North and the Long Distance Champs. See the latest circular.
18th July - Have found an interesting concept being discussed at IAAF level which is going to be trialled in Australia. It is called the pit lane concept. It discusses the controversy of 3 red cards and the DQ system which can sometimes appear to be a bit conjective. This concept is that 3 red cards equals time in the sin bin and then the slate is wiped clean. The walker is then judged by all Judges from a clean slate perspective. A walker can have 2 periods in the sin bin; 9 red cards though is a DQ as per normal. There are obviously some huge advantages with this type of system, but the main drawbacks would be the extra overhead in trying to monitor - 2 way communication with all judges - if you have previously DQd a walker you need to know they are back in the race with a clean slate so you can judge them afresh. The other issue would be how much time in the sin bin? e.g. 30 seconds for a 50km event would not seem long enough? Some offences are surely worth more time than others - deliberately running is unsportsmanlike behaviour and therefore warrants a DQ? I think on the whole this concept has merit. See the attached for the concept paper. Many thanks to Victoria Race Walking and Jane Saville.
20th June - QUENTIN REW SELECTED FOR THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPSQuentin Rew has been selected for the 50km road walk at the Daegu World Championships on 3rd September 2011 at 8am.Rew qualified for selection after his performance of 14th in 4h 6m 57s at the IAAF race walking challenge in Taicang China in April. Rew is ranked third all time on the New Zealand 50km rankings behind Craig Barrett 3h 48m 7s and Tony Sargisson 3h 58m 5s. Taken from Athletics NZ News release.
19th April - Matthew Holcroft has been picked for the Commonwealth Youth Games in the Isle of Man in September this year. Matthew who has had good form over the Summer will be representing New Zealand in the 10,000 metres. Fantastic achievement Matthew. See full team on Athletics NZ website.
10th January - Two new events by Scottish Walkers for their Summer series have been announced, these are a 20km road race at Trentham on 27th February and a one hour track walk on the 19th March. All welcome both A and B grades. See calendar above for more details.
10th January - first announcement for the Ekiden relay championships confirming the date of 22nd May. Also details a couple of changes which relate to place of residency of club members and also allowing for 5 walkers instead of 6 if club is scratching to have 6 walkers. See the note from David Lonsdalehere.
20th December - New Grand Prix Race Walking series for RWNZ members. Prize money up for grabs for the 1st 3 men and women overall in the Series. This is your chance to race against your fellow Race walkers in a Series of 8 events that extends from Auckland to Dunedin. For all the details, click here.
22nd Nov - Desk top publishing skillsWhen the late Jack Tregurtha wrote his booklet Race Walking in New Zealand he produced a very interesting resource and valuable aid to walkers and officials. The Committee would like to revise it and publish it in loose leaf format in a ring binder, with a copy for every member.We have done some work on up-dating the text and will be looking for new photos. Our biggest problem is that we need someone with desk top publishing skills to work with us on this project. Can you help or do you have a friend who might help? If we can not get help from our membership putting the job out to a professional could put the whole project out of our price range. So I hope someone can get in touch with David Lonsdaleto offer some help. Phone 04 9778990
22nd Nov - Congratulations Geoff Annear and Peter Wrigley who have both been confirmed as IAAF Race Walking Judges on the IAAF Panel 2010 to 2014. Geoff Annear will be officiating at the Daegu World T&F Champs; Peter will be officiating at the Olympic Games in London. Most of you are aware of Peter and have met him regularly on the Walking circuit. Many of you (in the North Island at least) will not be aware of Geoff. He has a long history as an Official in Athletics and Race Walking. He lives in the Canterbury region. Geoff's appointment really strengthens the Race Walking judging panel in New Zealand.
22nd Nov - Children as young as 10 (finally you all say) are able to walk at the Colgate Games in Hastings and/or Dunedin in January (Thanks to Sandra Moratti and the Taranaki Centre). Please try to get as many children as possible competing at these games. See Colgate Games.
1st Nov - Photosadded from Road and LD Championships - mainly Taranaki ones - please send more of other walkers!
1st Nov - report from Rosie Robinson on her experience at the U20 Oceania Road Race Champs over 10km in Cairns. Rosie did an excellent time of 53m43s, as reported previously. When you read the report, you will understand how good it was considering the heat and humidity.
18th September - we are only 5 weeks away from the Long Distance Championships. Start getting those entries in now. This is the last one at Hastings, so make sure you are there. Click here for the latest update from Joff. For all the entry details go to the Athletics New Zealand website.
15th September - The Fourth Annual General Meetingof Members will be held on Saturday 23rd October 2010 at the Turners and Growers Site, Anderson Road, Whakatu, Hastings at 3.00 pm. Please click here for the memo from David Lonsdale detailing the timeline of actions leading up to that meeting.
The subscription to Race Walking New Zealand for the year 1 August 2010 to 31 July 2011 is now due for payment. The subscription rates remain unchanged at $25 for an individual or $30 for a family. Attached is a renewal form to use to make your payment. If you pay by direct credit please remember to ensure your name is included in the details. If you have not previously been a member of RWNZ, then please use the membership application form. The Annual meeting is only a few weeks away, a circular will be sent giving details of this to all financial members in the immediate future. This is also your chance to make nominations for our Committee. So don't delay, re-enrol today!
14th September - The Canterbury Race Walking Association have announced the postponement of the Len Watkinsevent which was due to be raced this coming weekend. This will be raced once everything has settled down, meanwhile entry fees will be returned. Please go to the following link for more photosfrom the Road champs.
4th Sept - Have been searching the Internet and have 3 more copies of Contactsfrom 2004 and 2005. Apologies for size, difficult to reduce from format.
The New Zealand Road Championshipsdue to be held today (Saturday 4 September) in Christchurch have been cancelled following the earthquake in the city.Athletics New Zealand Competitions and Events Manager Leanne Asher said the decision was not taken lightly, but safety issues for competitors, transport difficulties to and within the city and damage to the course meant that it would be very unwise to proceed.
31st Aug - It is with great sadness that we hear of the passing of Ted Guy. Our thoughts are with Eva and her Family. Ted was an absolute stalwart of Race Walking over many years. Ted and Eva were always at the AGM and took part in so many events over the years. He will be sadly missed by all particularly in Athletics circles in Matamata and Waikato. A great friend of walking.
22nd Aug - added some older Contact Mags - Apr 2006 - read again about Tony Sargisson's Silver medal. Interesting article about going round the bend (John Henderson and Jack Tregurtha) in the Aug/Sept issue of 2006. See all the Contact mags here. If anybody has any old ones that can be converted to PDF, please e-mail me so I can add to the site.
Race Walking Auckland - are about to join the RWNZ Supporters Club - have you? The Supporters Clubis all about putting money into our Sport. It is an investment in the future success of our Sport. Help our Walkers get to events, to help them compete against walkers from other Countries and in turn help them improve. Did you see the gold medal from Aaron Barclay in the Triathlon at the Junior Olympics? Do you want to see success by walkers in the future? Then do your bit by joining the Supporters Club. You don't even have to be a member of RWNZ to join! Where else do you also get the chance to win your money back as well (which of course you could then donate again!). See the attacheddocument for your chance to help our Future Champions.
SingaporeYouth Olympic Games- Matthew Holcroft is racing in the 10,000 metres on the 22nd August - go Matthew! Please check regularly on the Junior Olympians website for how all the kiwis are doing and in particular Matthew. I am sure there will be a message board or e-mail address soon so that you can send your encouragement.
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