Tangimoana Half Marathon 2008
By CPL Chris Cubitt
Jostling at the start line
On Tuesday, 7 October 2008, the Ohakea Physical Education and Recreational Training (PE&RT) team looked out their office window to see dark clouds and torrential rain. They could only pray for a little bit of sunshine for the following days annual Tangimoana Half Marathon. They got the sunshine, however it was accompanied by 30-50knot winds. Despite the windy conditions, the event managed to attract 121 keen competitors on the day.
The event hosted six categories – Open Men’s, Open Women’s, Team of 2, Team of 4, Individual and Team Walkers. Some competitive times came from the Open Men’s category, with SLT Vix Marais claiming this years title in a time of 1:22:00, closely followed by CPL Nathan Hodgkinson (1:22:42) and SGT Dave Walters (1:23:21).
In the teams category, the Armourers – CPL Diesel Williams, AC Callum McPherson, LAC Brett Cunningham, and AC Lachlan Haddon) – dominated, and finished with a time of 1:27:43. AC Matt Mason and AC Leroy Simpson, from Avionics, were the first team of two over the finish line, with a solid time of 1:31:08.
The event ran smoothly, with the only ‘fail’ being CAPT Jane Webb and AC Josh Walby (Ohakea Medical Flight) teaming up to complete 10km each. There must have been a communication breakdown somewhere, because AC Walby ran the first 10km and turned up at the half way station to find his team mate was missing. Apparently CAPT Webb thought she was meant to be running the first leg as well, and was 2km from half way. After a quick round of paper, scissors and rank, AC Walby had no choice but to ‘man-up’ and run the second half for the team.
The PE&RT staff were delighted with the spirited turn out, which served to highlight Base personnel’s increasing enthusiasm for challenging events. Thanks to the participation from all competitors, PE&RT were able to raise over $700 for the Make-A-Wish foundation. This will go towards our annual tally and a cheque will be presented to Make-A-Wish at Village Green.