Get ready for Kumete sports

The annual Kumete inter-village athletics competition will roll into action this Saturday with the traditional cycle race around the island.

The Kumete trophy has been contested by the six villages on Rarotonga for over 50 years and the cycle round the island has always kicked off the Queen’s Birthday weekend athletics programme.

The cycle race will be run this Saturday starting at 3pm opposite the Raviz Indian Restaurant and the track and field events will be run at the BCI Stadium on Monday.

In recent years, the competition has been modified to one that was contested by the three vaka on Rarotonga, however the format for this year’s programme will be the traditional inter-village competition.

The village to beat this year is Avatiu who are the current Kumete champions and the challenge is for the remaining villages to win the trophy and be crowned the 2012 Kumete champions – by rallying together and turning up to the stadium in numbers.

For the cycling race on Saturday – the first three men and first three women across the line earn points for their village.

The first three teams, comprising the first three athletes from each village across the line, will also earn points for their village.

The race is a drafting race and is always a blast so get your bike cleaned and oiled with tyres pumped, and wear a helmet.

On Monday the athletics programme will be run at the BCI Stadium starting with an opening prayer at 8.45am.

Competition is set to start at 9.20am and will include a walk, discus, long jump, 100m, shot put, 1500m, 60m dash, tug-o-war, 200m, javelin, 800m, 4x100m relay, 5000m run and a vaevae challenge exercise session with music.

The day’s activities will wrap up at 1pm with the presentation of the Kumete to the champion village.