These are our stories from the 2006 Great Lake Relay
From Jack Tregurtha
Alan Clarke set himself a tough task last year, when he decided to pick two evenly matched teams for the Taupo Relay. His team had set the record the previous year, breaking 15 hours, and with no other team having got under 16 hours in the history of the event, he needed a new challenge.
Last year his two teams placed first and second, with a mere 10 minutes between them.
This year, it was known that a much improved team from Palmerston North would be taking part. Alan could have selected an A team and a B team, but again elected to try for two evenly matched teams, even though that gave Palmerston North a genuine chance of winning.
Alan knows the race inside out. He also knows his athletes pretty well, and has a unique ability to judge just how to get the best out of them. If Alan had been spot on this year, his two teams would have finished 1 minute apart. He boobed. They were actually 1 minute 22 seconds apart. This was not a case of a friendly easy pace with a token effort at the finish. It was cut-throat all the way, and the lead changed frequently. This was all part of Alan's plan. He used some dastardly tricks to get the two teams evenly matched. For example, he gave Vanessa Lowl two tough consecutive legs, just to slow her down and help achieve his target of two equal teams.
Alan expected that the Palmerston North Team would be in the lead with a few legs to go. That did not happen, but at the change from leg 14 to 15 (18 legs total), there was only a couple of minutes between the top three teams.
The final few legs were dramatic. The AlcoHolix Team should have been a few minutes behind the AlcoHoliks team, but had a small lead. When young Shaun Thompson came on for the second to last leg, he was scheduled to do 36 minutes for his 6.1km, but he had his own ideas and was nearer to 30 minutes. He nearly didn't make it, stopping for a little vomit going a his last hill, but at the last change he gave Eric Kemsley a handy 6 or 7 minute lead over Glenn Burrell. Glenn didn't accept that he had an impossible task, but despite churning out 4m 30s k's for his 7.5km leg, it wasn't to be.
As can be imagined, the teams' sponsors, Alco Ladders are delighted, and TOLD Alan he would be organising the Alco teams again next year.
Palmerston North Magic became only the second team to go under 16 hours for the race, and it could be a very close contest next year.
The Alco teams results in recent years are:
2001 2nd 17:45:57
2002 1st 15:36:43 (Race Record) Margin to 2nd 1:18:38
2003 1st 15:41:38 Margin to 2nd 1:26:49
2004 1st 14:57:14 (Race Record) Margin to 2nd 2:21:03
2005 1st 15:16:30 2nd 15:26:45 Margin to 3rd 0:58:35
2006 1st 15:21:20 2nd 15:22:42 Margin to 3rd 0:13:18
2006 RESULTS
1 15:21:20 Alco Holiks New Plymouth
2 15:22:42 Alco Holix New Plymouth
3 15:36:00 Manawatu Magic Palmerston North
4 16:54:47 Northpine Walkers Whangarei
5 17:04:49 Motley/Crazy Crew from Palmerston North
6 17:43:11 (11 + 1) Eleven Plus One Palmerston North
7 18:09:47 Walk Ys Upper Hutt
8 18:34:27 Just Amblin Te Awamutu
9 18:59:09 Bay Of Plenty Times Tauranga
10 19:07:44 Stubbs Topham Sears Ltd Taumarunui
