Great Lake Relay
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The Great Lake Relay is an annual team running event over approximately 160 km. It is held at Taupo, New Zealand on the third Saturday of February. Each team consists of ten to eighteen members, either running or walking to complete the eighteen 4.7 km to 14.4 km legs around the largest lake in Australasia, Lake Taupo.
In 2009 this event, currently sponsored by New Balance, will be held on Saturday 21st of February, and will be celebrating the 14th running of the event which started back in 1995.
With over 5000 registered[1] amateur and professional runners from all over Australasia taking part in the race each year, it is the biggest event of its type in the Southern Hemisphere. While there are prizes awarded to the winners of the relay, and $150,000 worth of spot prizes given away, most of the runners take part just for the joy of team building and participating.
Following the prize giving, a post-race party is held in the Great Lake Centre, overlooking Lake Taupo, with plenty of drinks available.
Contents |
[edit] Race
[edit] Qualifying
The Great Lake Relay is open to all runners and walkers, both male and female, of any age, ability and from any nation. For safety reasons however, the event is limited to the first 450 teams to complete an entry form, and pay the entry fee.
The Athletics New Zealand 100km Championships, and the New Zealand 100 Mile Ultra Runners Road Championships are also incorporated into this event.[2].
[edit] Grades
Teams or individuals may choose to participate in any one of the following five grades.
- Runners: Running teams consist of 10-18 members. Each team member must run one or two legs.
- Walkers:Walking teams consist of 10-18 members who must walk one or two legs.
- Composite Teams (Runners and Walkers):Composite teams consist of 10-18 members who must complete one or two legs each. Legs 1, 3, 4, 9, 10, 15 & 16 must be completed by walkers. Team members may walk or run legs 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17 & 18.
- Two Person Team (2x50km):Both members of this team must complete 50km of the relay course, consecutively. This course starts 5km into the fifth leg.
- Individual (100km):Competitors must be current members of Athletics NZ to be eligible for the NZ championship title. Each individual competitor must start 5km into the fifth leg, and complete 100km of the course by 6.00pm of the race day.[3]
[edit] Start time
The relay uses a staggered “wave start”[4] beginning at 9.00pm Friday night for the walkers who have an estimated team time greater then 18hrs. At 10.30pm, the walkers who estimate to finish in less then 18hrs, along with the composite teams with an estimated team time of more than 17hrs 30mins begin. The rest of the composite teams commence the race at 11.30pm.
The first batch of runners starts at 2.00am Saturday morning. These are the running teams who have an estimated team time greater than 14hrs. The final wave starts at 3.00am. This includes the rest of the running teams, as well as the individuals and two person teams.
[edit] Course Description
| Leg Number | Brief Leg Description | Stage Classification | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leg 1 | Start outside the Tennis Club on Redoubt Street. Proceed to State Highway 1 then uphill for 1.0km. Undulating and gradual uphill. Flat for 1.2km, then gradual uphill for 1.0km. Undulating to finish. | Average | 14.4km |
| Leg 2 | Flat with gradual downhill's for 5.0km. A long 2.2km uphill, followed by long uphill and downhill sections for the remainder of the leg. | Hard | 14.1km |
| Leg 3 | Large rolling hills for the first 3.8km, then easy gradual downhill for the remaining 6.3km. | Average | 10.1km |
| Leg 4 | Very gradual uphill with some downhill's for 4.0km, followed by an easy 3.0km downhill section with some flats. Undulating to finish. | Average | 8.3km |
| Leg 5 | Easy uphill for 0.9km followed by rolling hills for 4.1 km. Slight rise then downhill 1.0km, over bridge, then hard climb for 4.1km to finish. | Hard | 10.1km |
| Leg 6 | Flat for 1km with an easy downhill for 1km. A small rise followed by another 1.1km downhill. A steady climb then downhill for 1km and undulating to finish. | Average | 8.4km |
| Leg 7 | Undulating for 5.0km with a 500m climb to finish. | Average | 5.5km |
| Leg 8 | 2.0km downhill and 500m flat. Long gradual downhill and flat sections. Finish with a couple of hills. | Easy | 7.0km |
| Leg 9 | Gradual downhill for 1.5km followed by undulating hills. A hard 3.0km climb up the Kuratau Hill, followed by a small dip and climb to finish. | Hard | 7.4km |
| Leg 10 | Steep downhill for 2.0km followed by an undulating section of 1.0km and a climb for 0.9km. Easy undulating section to finish. | Easy | 7.1km |
| Leg 11 | An undulating section for 1.3km followed by a long downhill section of 3.2km to the Tokaanu flats. All the rest of the leg is flat. | Average | 10.9km |
| Leg 12 | Flat to State Highway 1 for 500m. Turn left, stay on the right hand side of State Highway 1, flat to finish at the Motuoapa Reserve. | Average | 10.2km |
| Leg 13 | Flat for 3.0km to the Tauranga-Taupo River Bridge and flat to finish. | Average | 8.6km |
| Leg 14 | Leg is flat and undulating. The last 4.3km of are very dangerous due to narrow and windy sections of road. | Dangerous | 7.4km |
| Leg 15 | Flat to Hatepe for 2km, then a steep hard climb up the famous Hatepe hill for 2.7km. Flat to finish. | Average | 6.1km |
| Leg 16 | Very easy downhill for 6.0km followed by a steep downhill for 1.3km into Waitahanui. Flat for 600m to finish. | Easy | 8.0km |
| Leg 17 | Flat for 3.7km passing through Five Mile Bay. 1km climb to finish. | Easy | 4.7km |
| Leg 18 | Gradual downhill to Taupo, and into Tongariro Domain to finish. | Average | 7.5km |
Note: All distances are + or - 0.2[5]
[edit] Event Records
The race organizers keep a standard time clock for all entries, though official timekeeping ceases after 6.00pm on Saturday.
Current course records, as of 2007, are:
Relay
| Grade | Team | Town | Time | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runners | Adidas Adistars | Auckland | 8:42:47 | 2002[6] |
| Walkers | Team New Balance | Whangarei | 13:47:00 | 2007 |
| Composite | Bush Survivors | Woodville | 12:49:08 | 2002 |
| Two person team (2x50km) | Riverhead 50k | Riverhead | 8:56:18 | 2005 |
| 100km Solo Walker | Peter Baillie | Plimmerton | 12:25:00 | 2005 |
New Zealand
| Grade | Winner | Time | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| NZ 100km Championships: Solo Men | Mark Bright | 8:09:23 | 2007 |
| NZ 100km Championships: Solo Women | Carrie White | 9:45:37 | 2007 |
| NZ 100mile Championships: Solo men | Vesa Murto[7] | 16:49:03 | 2002 |
| NZ 100mile Championships: Solo women | Carolynn Tassie | 18:48:30 | 2002 |
International
| Grade | Winner | Country | Time | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100km: Solo Men | Colin Oliver[8] | Australia | 7:44:41 | 2004 |
| 100mile: Solo Male: | Yiannis Kouros[9] | Australia | 12:35:48 | 2002 |
[edit] References
- ^ Registration Form
- ^ Great lake relay entries flood in. (2002, January 21). Stuff. Retrieved, march 21, 2008 from Newztext database.
- ^ It's relay time again. (2006, February 16). Taupo times. Retrieved march 21, 2008 from Newztext database.
- ^ 13th Great lake relay, Team Managers Book
- ^ Full course description
- ^ Willan, H. (2005, February 22). Three in a row for the legless. Taupo times.Retrieved March 18, 2008 from Newztext database.
- ^ Greek breaks another record. (2002, February 18). Stuff.Retrieved March 18, 2008 from Newztext database.
- ^ Blank, P. (2004, February 24). Event that had just about everything. Taupo times.Retrieved March 18, 2008 from Newztext database.
- ^ Makker, S. (2002, February 19). Relay records tumble. Taupo times.Retrieved March 18, 2008 from Newztext database.
[edit] External links
[edit] General Reference
- Official Great Lake Relay website
- Course map
- Great Lake Relay Results
- Sportzhub website
- Training program
