2014 Lifestyle 5k Series Wellington Waterfront Tue 22 Sep

Results

Ben Twyman on his way to his event PB of 16.14 and the fastest overall time for the series.

The 5km series race has been operating on the waterfront for a number of years, 7 or 8 in total.

 

In the early days the series ran along the Hutt Road on an out and back course and for a shorter period of the year. Understandably it was a much more difficult start to get to which probably prevented a number of people from turning up.
 

The waterfront course is much more convenient and while it is not ideal its easy location to the Wellington CBD has no doubt contributed to its success. 
 

The course is an out and back 5km with the turn-around on Oriental Bay. Occasionally a 10km option is offered.
 

The big negative is that the race participants have to navigate their way across a crowded waterfront full of pedestrians, cyclists heading home after work.
 

For this reason I tend to regard the event more as a time-trial rather than a “properly organised” race. It can also be boring once you have done it a few times.
 

The series is run from August to April staring at 5.30pm each Tuesday fine weather or foul. It costs $8 to enter although bulk entry is now offered which seems sensible.
 

 Numbers turning up range from around 62 to 150 plus so it must t must be a major money spinner for the Scottish Club/Olympic clubs which share the organisation.
 

The prizes are good and it appears easy to manage from a time keeping and marshalling point of view. Safety is pretty good unless you consider runaway dogs and boy racer cyclists as a risk.  
 

For the current series which started in early August Ben Twyman has won the last 5 races which must be a record of some kind.
 

 

His times have ranged from 16.47  to 16.14 although how quick you can get around the course can be determined by weather and human congestion.  It will be interesting to see how he goes and lests hope that Scottish give him free entry from now on.

 

 

5km series Information