World-ranked Smit on starter’s hooter for UC Tower Race

university-of-canterbury

Tue Mar 11 2014 13:00:00 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)

World-ranked Smit on starter’s hooter for UC Tower Race

Tuesday, 11 March 2014, 11:46 am
Press Release: University of Canterbury

World-ranked Smit on the starter’s hooter for UC annual Tower Race

March 11, 2014

World-ranked New Zealand 800m runner Angie Smit will be on the starter’s hooter for the annual University of Canterbury (UC) Tower Race tomorrow (Wednesday, March 12).

Smit, who is a UC student, will set runners on their way to the top of one of the tallest buildings in Christchurch, UC’s James Hight Library building. Smit will compete in the international Sydney Track Classic in Sydney on Saturday.

She won her first international track race of the season in Christchurch last month and has qualified for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, being held from July 23.

Among the Tower Race starters at noon tomorrow is UC College of Education student, Black Fern and New Zealand Sevens rugby player Haile Hurring, lining up in her first Tower Race. The event was postponed last week because of bad weather.

The inaugural race was held nine years ago and tomorrow’s race, starting at noon, will be the first since the February 22, 2011 earthquake.

The record up the 264 steps, 11 floors and around half the building was set by Matt Harris in 2008 with a time of 1 minute 34 seconds. Alicia Evans ran the fastest women’s race in 2010 in 1min 51sec.

One of the organisers, Kat Henderson of the UC RecCentre, says the competitors will race from the Science Block lawn in groups of 10. They will go around the library building and enter on the opposite side. They will then go up the west end stairs to the 11th floor.

The event is organised by the UC Library and the RecCentre, which is free to students. A total of 8800 people joined the centre last year and membership is expected to rise to up to 10,000 this year.

ENDS

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