Waiouru children in ATMR

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 9, Issue 410, 29 October 1991, Page 9

Waiouru children in ATMR

BY

JO

HOWIE

The Waiouru Primary School entered a team in the Round the Mountain relay. Each child ran 5 km, the youngest runner was seven years, the oldest 13. "There were so many children who wanted to run this year, we decided to shorten the distance so that everyone could be included," said Maree Atkinson the team manager. "We didn't have as much time to train, so that was another reason why the distance was shortened. The team started to train less than a month ago. We used a programme the Physical Training instructors devised for us." The children completed the distance in ten hours and 32 minutes. "This was much better than we expected," Maree said. "From the children's training times, we estimated for them to finish in about 16 hours. Some children recorded very fast times, and two ran 30 km each. They were Mathew Atkinson and Tania Harris. We had two legs run-

ning at once. At two in the morning half the team started at the start line in Waiouru, and the other half started at the half way point near National Park. "We thought we would never finish the circuit in time, but as it turned out we didn't need to do this," Maree said. The runners were: Kaine Harris, Tania Harris, Paul Akurangi, Trayton Rai, Nicki Ward, Che Joyce, Matthew Atkinson,

Adam Atkinson, Adrian Grootjans, Rebecca Clarke, Pani Hona, Aaron Godsmark, Robert Bennet, Ben Tumata, Shaun Hemmingsen, Kirk Vartha, Dallas Jones, Rakai Rewharewha, Kararaina Rewharewha, Fiona May, Jodi Ward, Apera Uuara, Russel Quickfall, David Twist, Cameron Riddler, Amber Ware, Beverly Ewen, Hayley Prien, Michael Prien, Abbey O'Neil, Lisa Robinson, Renata Tak-

itimu, Mahia Gilbert, Damon Joyce, Kataraina Clarke, Hona Clarke, Anthony Ducre, Niki Stone, Jeremy Collet, Maraini Taotahi, Honi Brausch. The parents who helped train were: Emma Ward, Chris Hemmingson, Karen Taotahi, Jocelyn Joyce, and Vicki Godsmark. Maree said she would like to thank the AGI, and the Oasis, who were the main sponsors for the event.