Rising traffic management costs forcing sporting bodies to find alternative event venues, may have actually been grey clouds with silver linings.
St Paul’s Harrier Club president Lillian Tudor said the club was now holding events away from the highways and byways because it became too expensive to host them in those public areas.
Sports clubs were constantly fundraising to cover operational costs.
"It [costs] too much and it goes into your profit margins."
The club’s mile run and half marathon run were annual fundraisers to pay for electricity, insurance and other operational expenses, she said.
Sports clubs worked hard at keeping costs low so younger people were not discouraged to join.
It took about six months to find an alternative site after the decision was made to move it away from public roads.
The traffic management plan had to be signed off by someone qualified in that field and included multiple road cones to be in place.
The club’s 10km challenge had been moved to the Teretonga raceway track.
"We just can’t afford to pay for the management plan for it to run on the road again."
The alternative Teretonga track had proved a big success for the 10km event.
Each lap was about 2.5km which made it easy to calculate the distances needed for each of the clubs age groups.
"So it worked out good because we had our finish line inside the pit, so the guys just went around the track and then they turn into the pit to the finish line."
Race management was also more time efficient for the different age groups participating, which meant "time poor" parents could still be be involved, but not for an entire day.
Having additional facilities on site had also added to the event.
"So in a way, it’s been positive. It’s more a community thing.
"We actually ran a barbecue for the guys [at Teretonga] afterwards."
The club’s 40th street mile event had runners doing laps of the Ascot Park Hotel’s carpark on Saturday.
The event was open to runners aged 5 and upwards.
It was the second time the family event had been held at the Ascot venue, which had been successful last year.
Other events, such as the club’s half marathon at the end of the month, would be held at the Oreti Sands Golf Club.
By Toni McDonald
