Kayak Krazy 10km Race - Karapiro

Despite waking to heavy rain, competitors from Waitara, Waitemata, Bay of Plenty and North Shore travelled to Karapiro for today’s CRNZ Kayak Crazy 10km event.

The race commenced with a mass start and a mad scramble to get on the best possible wash. Sam Newlands and Adam Fraser jumped ahead of the field and turning at the pylons 3km up the lake they held a narrow lead over a chasing bunch of masters competitors including the Steve’s Smith and Brown, Andrea Bunn, and Brendon Metcalfe. Ron Cole, Brad Hayes and Rebecca Cole missed the train and followed in the next group, followed by the remainder of the field.

After returning to the club house from the pylons the scenic part of the course was complete and at the business end of the race, the course could be broken down into just four 1000m sprints with 180 degree turns in between and no recovery. What fun!

The race between Sam and Adam lasted right to the line, with Sam prevailing by 2 seconds.

The rubber bands holding the next group together snapped during the 1000m sprints, with Andrea breaking away to take third place overall. Continuing the weekend’s Girl Power theme, Rebecca Cole raced well to beat her dad Ron, although maybe it was just the camera angle.

It was good to see so many under 19 competitors battling it out competitively in what were cold and wet conditions. Brendon McLarin (Simon’s son) showed true grit, being only 12 and paddling one of his dad’s huge tippy skis to complete the race despite an unplanned swim.

KKRC really appreciate the efforts made by the other clubs to travel so far to our event on such a mucky morning, and look forward to hosting a bigger event in fine sunny weather next time!

Despite the rain, Imelda was able to photograph some of the action - more photos are available on http://kkrc.squarespace.com/crnz-10km-hamilton/ (click on the link for 27 frames). Many thanks to Imelda and Mark for manning the safety boat, and to Caroline and Jo for time keeping.

Race Results