Showers cleared in time for the annual Round the Clock Race followed by the Mardi Gras which ended with a spectacular fireworks display. Race winner Patrick Stoll (22) took 9min 1sec to complete the course.
Competitors started near the Manuherikia River in the Linger and Die reserve and then went through the river and up a steep hillside to the Alexandra Clock before returning. Stoll, a German atmospheric researcher working in Clyde, sported cuts after misjudging his entry into the water.
''I was shocked how cold the river was and the run was really hard work.''
The first woman home was Gabriela Schmidt-Morrell, of Alexandra, in 12min 44sec. The race attracted seven individual competitors and many teams.
Festival chairwoman Clair Higginson said the race and the Mardi Gras were pitched mostly at the locals, before the main festival day today. Moving the Mardi Gras this year from Tarbert St to Rivers St worked well, she said.
Festival event manager Martin McPherson is hopeful the ''weather gods'' will be kind to the event again today. He was ''a very happy boy'' after last night's activities, especially the fireworks.
