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From left, Paige McGregor, Claudia McBride and Zahara Patterson make the most of time between races. After this tumble on the home straight, Silverdale School’s Troy Halliday got straight back up for a fast final sprint.
Top senior runners from 14 Coast and Rodney primary schools attended the Interschool Cross Country competition on Thursday August 29.
The Year 5 and 6 students ran 2.5km through Shakespear Regional Park, their course taking them through paddocks, bush and beach.
“A cross country competition is a great thing for the kids to get involved in, because even if they don’t plan on making running their full-time sport, it is great for their overall fitness,” organiser Andréa Goodyer from Wainui School says.
As part of their role in the Hibiscus Coast Cluster, Wainui School organised the administration for the event, and Kingsway School set up the course and provided Year 9 students to marshal.
Each school’s top three runners ran in competitive races with their gender and age group.
Whangaparāoa School’s Mia Nancarrow took out the Year 5 girls’ race, and Stella Maris’ Luchian Opperman was the fastest Year 6 boy.
The fourth, fifth and sixth best runners from each school took part in non-competitive relay teams.
“Society has changed and playing outside doesn’t happen as much as it used to, so even just having kids participate is a good thing,” Andréa says.
“They have really enjoyed playing sport in the sun between races and encouraging their peers – it has been a very positive event.”
