Hatching plans…Cromwell & Districts Promotion Group chairperson Janeen Wood talks outdoor sport with event organisers Terry Davis(centre) and Bill Godsall.
An agreement on the running of five popular Cromwell events has given organisers “surety to start building the events going forward”, according the Cromwell & Districts Promotion Group chairperson, Janeen Wood. Longtime sports administrator, Bill Godsall and Highland Events, run by Terry Davis, were each granted a three year contract last year(2017)to run the well-known fixtures, collectively known as the Cromwell Summer Series. Owned by the Promotion Group, the series has been running for over twenty years. The first race held was the Bannockburn Classic mountainbike race in 1996. “We have signed a three year contract with our enthusiastic event organisers which has given us all security in planning for the Half Marathon 10k Run and Walk at Labour Weekend, the Pub to Pub Gutbuster in November, Bannockburn Classic in late December and triathlon and Lake Dunstan Cycle races in January,” she said. The first two will be run by Highland Events, the remaining three by Bill Godsall. Both the organisers and the Promotion Group had some fresh ideas to continue to improve and evolve the events. A major change already put in place was a new course for the half marathon, which has helped eliminate traffic issues and improved safety for runners. “Due to recent growth in Cromwell and Central Otago it has become apparent that our streets are too busy to comfortably and safely hold a running event over them,” Terry Davis said. The start and finish location for the October event, moved from Anderson Park to the Alpha Street sports field. “Runners head north around the lakeside track under the Cromwell Bridge and around towards Pisa Moorings. The 10k runners turn around at Lowburn and run back. Half marathoners turn around at Pisa Moorings, run back around the lake and on to Butchers Drive Boat Ramp then back to the Alpha Street finish line.” Bill Godsall said a date change for the Lake Dunstan Cycle Challenge in January was likely, also in response to increasing traffic volumes. Further discussions would be ongoing as the popular Summer Series grew, to look at more ways of improving all of the five events.