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The Army is coming! 25 May 2017.

Grand Memorial and Old Members Day, Boom Rock Road, Ohariu Valley, 27 May from 1:30 pm

This year we welcome a contingent of Army Signallers who are from the same regiment as the founding members of Olympic who went off to World War One and did not return.   The brief history from last week bears repeating:

The Grand Memorial race was started to remember Olympic club members who died in WW1. Over half of the club members left to serve in the war, including two sets of brothers – Frank, Vince & Charles Byrne, and James & Hugh Wilson.

Frank –known to many as Darky – was Olympic’s first Club Captain. One of Wellington’s most well known runners; he won the Wellington Cross Country Champs in 1911, placed second in 1912, and won again in 1913 and 1914. His younger brother Vince was no slacker, beating him in a provincial selection test for the NZ Cross Country Champs in 1911.

All five men enlisted into the Divisional Signals Company. Vince, Charles, and Hugh in 1914, serving in Gallipoli. They were among the first to land and the last to leave. Darky and James enlisted in 1915, joining the others in Egypt just after the allied evacuation from Gallipoli. They all went on to fight in France and Belgium where Darky, Charles and James were killed. Vince was evacuated sick to England, where he died in Hospital less than a month before the war ended.

Hugh was seriously wounded in the same gas attack that killed Charles, and was evacuated to New Zealand shortly before the end of the war – too badly injured to continue serving. On his return, he went in with fellow soldiers from the Divisional Signals Company to raise funds for trophies to remember the three Byrne brothers, and his own brother James.

This year, soldiers from the army’s 1 NZ Signals Regiment – the descendants of the Divisional Signals Company – will join us in the Grand Memorial race. This is a great opportunity for us to remember club members that we have lost, and for them to remember those soldiers who have gone before them.

The races themselves  take in the varied terrain around the pony club and you can be sure to get your feet wet and shoes dirty!  The main race is a staggered start handicap race which means the person with largest handicap starts first and then the next person and so on until the fastest person finally leaves.  If the handicapper has done their job perfectly the whole field should cross the finish line at the same time.

We also need people to help set up the course -- 10:30 at the Club or 11:00 at the course

1.30pm: Boys & Girls 9 and Under (1km scratch race), Boys & Girls 13 and Under (2km scratch race)

2.00pm-ish: Walkers;
Senior Women, Masters Women, Junior Women (W-U18 & W-U20), Junior Men (M-U18 & M-U20) (4km open handicap);
Senior Men & Masters Men (8km open handicap)

Hot showers and afternoon tea at the Clubrooms following the final race – please bring a towel and a plate.

 

Awesome work at the Vosseler

Near perfect weather made for a great day up and down the hill.  Olympic had a stellar day as a club, with placings on the team podium in most divisions and heaps of fine individual performances -- too many to mention all here (sorry Men's 60+ I can't single your gold out for special mention), but do check out the results - they make good reading! 

Also a mention for Hannah Jurke who was 3rd women, 1st in age group, in 6km Xterra night run at Wainuiomata on last Saturday night -- awesome after a bad run with injuries.

 

Masters Classic Relay, Trentham Memorial Park, Sunday 28 May, 10 am
This is a great 5-lap relay race, traditionally for the more senior members of the club. It's mostly on flat grass at Trentham Memorial Park (saves our somewhat older joints a bit). Categories/prizes for men, women, mixed, teams with aggregate ages of 250 and 300 or more. There is a walkers event too which covers 3 laps of the 4km course as opposed to 5 laps for runners. The event has a ‘pre-vet’ category which allows teams to have a member in the 30-34 yr age group and also an open category for teams with members less than 30 yrs of age.
Tineke  is organising teams but needs names by This Thursday Night Tineke.Hooft@justice.govt.nz
 

North Island Cross Country at Taupo, 1 July

The Club likes to an away event where runners and their families can have a fun weekend of running, and this is it!  There is a fair bit to organise in terms of accommodation and booking spaces for dinner so it is really important to let us know who is going in plenty of time. The web portal is the way to do this, and has a few more details of what is coming up -- please do get in early and sign up now.  https://eventdesq.sportstg.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=main&EventDesqID=25117&OrgID=10499 

 

Club Subscriptions are due
May is here and your Olympic subs are due.  You won't be able to run in the interclub races if you are not paid up, so it is getting serious!    Sign up on the web page https://memberdesq.onesporttechnology.com/3228/org   The club depends on your support to keep things ticking over.  We also apply for a good number of grants from community funders (which we often get, thanks Brian) -- that extra money in the pot means you get even better return on your investment!

Next Runs

27 May Grand Memorial club run at Boom Rock - bring a plate afterwards
3 May Away day to visit our 'cousins' at Hutt Valley Harriers
10 May Dorne Cup - another classic race this time out at Trentham on grass

Sundays 8:30am: A group of keen runners go for a longer run, usually around 5 min/km pace.    Watch https://www.facebook.com/groups/797068523644426/ where they co-ordinate locations and transport etc

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