Try time for Otewa

It was an early start for the Otewa School team who hit the road for the Tryathlon at Cambridge on Sunday at 6am but well worth the effort, says one of the parents who accompanied them.

Susie Woodward’s four children Kylie, 14, John, 12, Jack, 10 and Charlie, 7, all completed the Weetbix-sponsored event at St Peter’s School in Cambridge.

Isabelle Hepburn, 11, also from Otewa School 10km northeast of Ōtorohanga, was competing in her fifth Tryathlon and third this year.

“It’s a lot of fun,” she told The News.

Susie said everyone enjoyed having breakfast before the racing.

“Our last kid started racing at 11.05am so they all did well to cheer each other on.”

Principal Carolyn Roberts and teacher Annie Vandy were also part of the support crew.

Otewa travelled to the venue via Leamington and Cambridge and avoided long Waikato Expressway queues from the north.

A post-event review will be held to work out how to improve access and transit times to a huge competition at a Cambridge venue which resulted in long Waikato Expressway queues on Sunday.

The Weetbix Tryathlon attracted 2012 children aged 6-15 years to St Peter’s School on the western outskirts of Cambridge but the bulk of them used the Expressway to get there and the queues were described by many as horrendous.

Parents spoken to by The News said the biggest log jam came for south bound traffic at the first Cambridge turnoff rather than the Hautapu one.

Entrants were encouraged to get there early – the venue opened at 7am and a transition area for bicycles closed at 8.15am. The first races got underway at 9am.

Sanitarium NZ general manager Michael Barton said he understood some families experienced delays.

“We understand that despite every effort taken to prepare attendees for possible traffic impacts for the new venue, some families still experienced minor delays on the day.

“Although frustrating for those impacted, the event ran as planned and Sanitarium has received significant positive feedback from attendees and participants who shared they had a great time.”

Hamilton competitors dominated the entries with 45 per cent – about 900 – followed by Cambridge, Tamahere, Te Awamutu, Morrinsville, Matamata and Ōhaupō. There was even a contingent of 32 from Auckland.

This was the first year St Peter’s had hosted the Hamilton leg. Before that it was held at Waikato University but the closure of the pool there prompted organisers go look for another venue.

St Peter’s was chosen as the next best venue.

Since the event started in 1992, the event has attracted half a million participants.

Organisers worked with the school and traffic control staff to plan and manage the flow of traffic. They created digital display boards, told people to expect delays and allocated a large parking area adjacent to the school for parking.

“As part of our standard processes we will work with our event planning and execution partners to consider additional ways that access and transit times could potentially be improved should we explore returning to this venue in the future,” said Barton.