Relay

The final race of JWOC! The girls' relays started 1 hour before the boys' with Kate and Selena running first leg. Kate would hand over to Jaime and then to Angela, while Selena would hand over to Anna and then to Laura. Kate had a very strong start in the fast terrain but a small mistake just after the spectator control put here back a few places but still finished in 14th. Jaime and Angela both had good runs making for a consistant team performance. Angela crossed the line in 11th but placed 9th because nations may only count their first team as an official placing. The 3 consistant times made for NZ's best female result in the JWOC relay. As the girls' exciting race came to a close as the boys' was heating up with Matt just coming through the spectoator in 2nd place.

Both Gene and Tim had good starts to a very close relay. The good visability meant it was hard for the front runners to escape the pack and the bunch was still very close at control 5. A long leg to the spectator control allowed for a long line for form with the faster runners pushing the pace. The racing remained close all the way to the line with Gene finishing in 7th handing over to Matt and Tim handing over to Scott. Matt caught and passed all the runners in front of him to be leading the relay until he was passed just before the spectator. He handed over to Toby in 3rd just ahead of some other very hot runners. Toby hadn't been feeling great before the race and could not replicate his running form from the previous races. But his very clean race gave NZ a respecable 13th across the line but 12th in the final results. Scott and Nick both had good runs and the NZ boys second team placed well with 28th across the line.

A great finish to New Zealands most successful JWOC!

Written by Gene