The Inter-Regional Cross Country Championships (IRXC) return to Nelson next week with 370 students descending on Saxton Field.
Tasman will be vying with Wellington, Canterbury and South Canterbury runners aging from Year 5 to 8.
The 139-strong local team will bring together competitors from schools all across the Tasman region, including Golden Bay, Marlborough and as far south as Kaikōura.
“Basically, we took the top 10 finishers from the local primary and intermediate championships and Marlborough did the same,” confirms Tasman team coach Phil Costley.
He put many of his local charges through a training session on the 1km course, behind the Saxton Athletics Track, last Saturday.
“That’s why we had the run today because you have to try and make the most of local knowledge of the conditions. We picked this weekend because a lot of other sports like football have just finished,” Phil explains.
The legendary distance runner has prepared a testing cross-country challenge with hills, jumps, and maybe even a little bit of water to negotiate.
There are 10 races scheduled for Thursday, 24 September, with the five-year-old girls first away at 10am over two laps, or 2000m.
The seven and eight-year-olds will then compete over 3000m.
There will also be a mixed team relay, the Dave Dixon Baton, featuring one person from each age grade running 1000m.
Tasman will have two starters in the 1000m Athletes with Disability race, with the other 10 competitors all coming from Wellington for the O’Brien Cup.
The IRXC has been going for 21 years ago and was last staged in Nelson in 2022.
Tasman has named two team captains – Tehilla Jijo (Nelson Christian Academy) and Mitchell MacLachlan (St Paul’s Richmond).
While all finishers will receive medals, teams will be chasing regional points to win the Phil Costley Shield.
Team placings will be determined by the combined finishing positions of the first four runners home from each region.
“That shield naming goes back to 2005 when I was living in Canterbury and at the top of my game,” says Phil, who is a Garin College teacher these days.
The race day will wrap up with a prize-giving at 1.30pm.
Wellington has won the shield for the past five years.
