It is relay season in old Nu Zulun for runners and walkers. This weekend’s show is the Red Stag Relay in Rotorua. It is billed as an event “through the towering redwoods”.
As I gaze out of my window, the drizzle is palpable in Auckland town and I suspect these will be the conditions to greet us among those towering redwoods.
When I say us, I mean the 30 or so semi-distinguished Calliope athletes who will compete in the relay of 5 km laps.
In some cases, the athletes in question are probably more semi-extinguished. Many bear the scars of years of competition.
Indeed, there are two Calliopians who are featured in this photo above (from the very early seventies). We two, who will be competing in tomorrow's Red Stag some 40 years on are: yours truly and the towering figure of Bill Fell.
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I say 'towering' because Bill Fell has come to be known as Mr Calliope'. The title reflects Bill's incredible service to the club for forty years.
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The Red Stag event is perhaps one of the softer options on the season's relay menu. It's gentle, undulating, almost soporific 5 km laps hardly compare with the demanding, body numbing, hilly 10 km laps that other relays offer. Hence, I avoid such events.
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The Red Stag is a far more reasonable humanizing event, with the relay a seeming short interlude among the thrills and epicurean delights on offer on a spring weekend in Rotorua.
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