There was a huge turnout of almost 50 runners, officials and supporters at the Whakatāne Harriers Arnold Campbell and Ron Price Memorial race on Saturday.

The race was around Awatapu Lagoon, with the start/finish at the western end. An array of courses were offered, with distances of 1.5, 3.7, 5.2 and 7.4 kilometres. The ground was reasonably hard after few recent rains, which made for great racing.

Congratulations to Glenn Ellery, winner of the Arnold Campbell Memorial Trophy, and Jabu Crouchley, inaugural winner of the Ron Price Memorial and Bev Trophy.

The first race completed was around the western 1.5km loop of the Awatapu Lagoon, for a new cup – the Ron Price Memorial and Bev Trophy.

Ron Price was a stalwart in setting out the Awatapu course over the years, and this was a great way to recognise him, with the cup presented by partner Bev Price-Palmer.

This year, thanks are due to Paul Jamieson, Kelly Shallow and Parker Shaw for setting out the long figure of eight course.

Amazingly, 18 lined up for the 1.5km loop race, with Jabu winning in 6.08, just ahead of El Shaddai Marshall, 6.19, first girl Musa Crouchley in 6.53, Parker Shaw in 7.20, Thomas Edmondson in 7.30 and young Jesse Hughes in 7.45. Tremendous running.

Ryker Hauser put on an excellent performance to win the 3.7km race in a fast 15.32, equating to a race pace of 4 minutes 12 seconds per kilometre. Peter de Feijter ran well for second in 20.28, ahead of good runs from the three women, Sisa Crouchley in 21.57, Melissa Hauser in 22.33 and Liv Hockemeier in 24.15.

Conor Milne also produced a great run to win the 5.2km in 23.11, ahead of Sarah Tomlinson in 32.57, Ian Martin in 37.02 and Jose Jones in 37.10.

A good field of 11 lined up in the 7.4km two full laps of the figure of eight course. This is the race that determines the Arnold Campbell Memorial winner, based on handicap times. These were close, with Mark Crouchley third in a sealed handicap time of 47.22, Kelly Shallow second in 46.39 and Glenn Ellery winner in 46.27. These runners all produced times far better than normal. Oliver Ashburn continued his rich vein of form with a fastest time of 27.11. That is an amazing 3 minutes 40 per kilometres. There were also top runs from Joel Stansloski in 27.50, Paul Jamieson in 28.05, David Milne in 29.37, Carl Edmondson in 30.29, Mark in 30.33 and Kelly was the fastest woman in 37.26, ahead of Di Matthews and Catherine Jones.

This Saturday’s run is the Matatā Ice-cream Challenge race on the hills behind. This is the second race in the club’s mountain tace series and is contested over a steep 6km course. There is a 2.2km race around the Matatāa Lagoon. Please assemble near Drifts Café for a prompt 1:30pm start. All welcome for these primo races, whether members or not.