Taunting and banter aplenty in relay

The inter-school taunting was fierce, the pace was electric and the smiles were aplenty during the annual Round the Rock Relay on Tuesday.

Most of the pre-race banter was between Tereora College’s students and their teachers as they battled to see who really rules the playground.

It was the students’ side, known as the Cornflakes, that secured top spot overall in a time of 1:36:32.

They were given some gyp, however, by the 20-man team running under the banner of the Edgewater, who finished 70 seconds later.

Neck and neck throughout the 31 kilometre course, the students did their best to fend off a team including the 2012 Round Raro Road Race winner Warick Brenan and the woman of Weight Watchers fame, Sarah Koen.

It was left to Owen Turuta to finish the job and it was something he did impressively. He wasn’t alone, however, with Josh Milne and Noovao Raita gaining on opponents whenever they were tagged on.

Brenan received some fine support from all of the team’s members, including his 13-year-old son Matthew, but it wasn’t enough and they were left to instead claim second place overall and first in the 20-man team category.

Avatea School rounded out the top three overall, and also claimed first place in the primary school division ahead of Apii Te Uki Ou.

The first 10-man team home was the Tereora teachers, who ran an impressive time of 2:16:42 to ensure they collected top spot, 15 minutes ahead of the Hash House Harriers group.

The fast, furious and fit Island Car and Bike Hire 2 team came home in two hours, 22 minutes and 50 seconds to outgun teams who had four times as many runners.

As the night grew darker, Island Car and Bike Hire, Harrys Hounuis, Step in to Life Sans Suci and Superfeet arrived to round out the 10-man teams.

The SDA youth side outgunned the ANZ and Telecom Cook Islands teams to claim an impressive second place in the 20-man team division.

The Tereora College students put pride aside to formally acknowledge the hard work of their teachers as drinks and hot dogs were consumed before the prizegiving.