Half marathon on Saturday

Thursday 13: With the annual Round Rarotonga Road Race (RRRR) now less than a month away, local runners face two events this week as they prepare for the RRRR which will be held on Saturday September 5.

The events will be, firstly, a relay (3 x 3km) event this evening starting at the eastern end of the Punanga Nui market at 5.15 pm. Teams will be selected so that each team should finish around the same time.

The second race this week will be the annual Half Marathon which will be held on Saturday morning commencing at 6.30am from Manea Foods at Tereora.

The half marathon is a distance of 21km and there will also be the option of a 10km event stating at the same time.

Last week’s race saw some good performances in the 10km race, with 4 men under 40mins.

In the women’s event Anita Boaza having her first race of the season won in 43 min 56 sec and Pare Tangata improved some 6 minutes from the previous week and was under 60 minutes for the first time.

Results of last week’s races:

Men’s 10km: 1 Thomas Henderson 39:00, 2 Roland Neururer 39:04, 3 Kevin Henderson 39:18, 4 Scott Howley 39:34.

Men’s 5km: 1 Phil Washbourne 18:08, 2 Geoff Stoddart 20:13, 3 Andy Olah 25:57, 4 David Lobb 26:00.

Women’s 10km: 1 Anita Boaza 43:56, 2 Rangi Apera 46:43, 3 Louise Wittwer 56:33, 4 Pare Tangata 57:59.

Women’s 5km: 1 Melanie Wilson 28:38, 2 Apii Napa 31:14.