| The
North Island Masters Track & Field Championships are held
every year. They are usually held in mid to late November or
occasionally in early December (exceptions noted below). They were first held in 1986,
five years after the South Island equivalent was founded and
eleven years after the first New Zealand Masters Track and
Field Championships. Hosting rotates between the seven
centres of the North Island.
Unlike the winter harrier events, Athletics New Zealand
championships do not provide for masters. The first
Athletics New Zealand North Island Track & Field
Championships were held in Palmerston North in 2014. Masters
were welcome to enter but had to compete in the senior
grades, in practical terms limiting masters to the youngest
and more talented athletes.
The North Island Masters Track & Field
Championships are open to entry for all members with no
qualifying performance thresholds.
With the North Island Champs taking
place relatively early in the track season, the level of
competition is relatively relaxed in comparison to
Nationals. As with all masters championships, there is a
high level of camaraderie.
From 2014, a standard programme was
trialled and adopted. The 3000m has been
moved from being the last event to being one of the first.
To accommodate the change, the 5000m has moved to Sunday
morning and the 10km Road Run removed. The 10km Road Walk
was dropped in 2015, temporarily replaced with a 10000mW and
in 2016 a 5000m Track Walk was held for the first time in
six years. Those championships
known to have taken place on grass tracks are marked [G]. |
Wellington
Masters Athletics
