Smurf seen running into Hamilton

Smurfs, superheroes and men with fake breasts were seen running the streets from Cambridge to Hamilton.

Opus hosted their annual Pub to Club relay event recently and set their employees a course from Cambridge Raceway, finishing on the River Path.

This year 18 teams of six, including two New Zealand Transport Agency teams from Tauranga and Hamilton, took part to compete and win the Pub to Club Trophy.

Central Regional Manager of Opus, Gary Dela Rue said the run  was popular with both competitive and social teams.

This year the Alex Taylor Memorial Cup went to Rob Swears as the most dedicated, enthusiastic volunteer and the Kevin Whale Cup to Andre Langeveld for the runner who went the extra mile.

“Kevin was training for this event but sadly died on Thursday after a short illness. We showed him the cup on Monday.”

The Hamilton Environmental team beat Hamilton Civil by two minutes. Defending Champs since 2009 Whakatane was not far behind.

The event was started in 1974 by road safety engineer Keith Moyes, who was training for  Outward Bound.

Finalising the training, discussions led to the idea for the Pub to Club run.Back in the first days of the event, social teams sunk compulsory jugs just before commencing the race and partied into the night. Gary said he is proud to be able to host an event that involves runners from the age of 18 to 70.

“I think staff appreciate the chance to mix with each office, the comradeship, the competitiveness and fun,” he said.