Typically following the winter cross-country season in New Zealand is the road racing season. Typically starting with shorter distances (3-miles) and gradually working up over the course of a 3-month period to longer distances (up to 25km). This road racing season will end shortly after the track season opens.
The main interest for the athlete is not the road racing season, but the subsequent track season…for this reason, the serious track-man would only partake in the first six weeks of the road racing season. After that, he must start conditioning again for the track season. The marathon-man would complete the road racing season.
The road-racing season in New Zealand brings the athlete into warmer weather and it is a good social ending to the cross country season.
Phillips Running 