Clocktower Race returns after Covid break

Not a race against time, but a race against the chimes.

The annual Clocktower Race returns today. It was postponed 12 months ago.

It is part of the University of Otago Orientation Week festivities, which were canned last year because of Covid-19. 

The race was first held in 1990 and was inspired by the Great Court Run at the University of Cambridge, as depicted in the 1981 film Chariots of Fire.

The event had an eight-year hiatus when a previous organiser moved on. But it was resurrected in 2019 and had a three-year run until Covid squashed the fun last year.

It is now back again and organiser John Gerber said the prize pool had a couple of hundred dollars in it, and some meal vouchers and other prizes were also on offer for the competitors.

But the main challenge is to beat the chimes.

The competitors race around the University of Otago registry building with one aim: to get to the end before the final chime rings out from the clocktower.

To do that, they need to cover the 370m course in under 53.5sec.

Gerber won the race in 2021 in a rapid time of 48.23sec, while fellow organiser Shay Veitch is also a previous winner.

Gerber, who is a 400m runner, may run in the race but is not planning on taking it too seriously, as he is nursing an Achilles injury.

Registration starts at 11am, and the race gets under way on the first chime of noon.

"Quite a lot of people come along on the day ... so we are unaware how big it’s going to be," Gerber said.

"But it does garner a bit of attention."

The race attracted between 50-60 competitors in 2021, which was about double the previous year, and well up on the eight runners who contested the 2019 race.