The Running Event Scene In New Zealand
Tim Rogers - 11/05/01

If you've recently taken up running and after weeks of training around the local domain you're ready for an event, what follows is a look at what's on around the country.

There are a number of different distances, with the most sensible starting point being a 5km or 10km race. These are regularly held all over the country and are often held during the week, so it won't eat into your weekend. From here you can progress to a half marathon and then to the ultimate running distance, the marathon. NZ has a huge number of these races with many marathons also hosting a half or 10km event. These are great places to start as you get all the build up and excitement of the marathon, without anywhere near the pain!

The biggest event is the Auckland marathon and half marathon held at the end of October. It now attracts more than 5000 people as it includes a run over the Harbour Bridge. I ran this one in 2000 and it was a fantastic experience going over the Bridge. It was a hard climb up it but the views at the top were spectacular. It's worth doing the race for that alone. In April is the country's biggest marathon only event in Rotorua, attracting around three and a half thousand. There are also big marathons in Wellington and Hamilton in January and in Christchurch in June as well as virtually every town and city in New Zealand. A big half marathon only event is held in Auckland in February, although this is different as it's a handicap race, where you start in groups according to your predicted finishing time. The idea is that everyone finishes at about the same time. It takes a bit of getting used to and because itís quite a hilly course and run at the hottest time of year, you shouldn't expect a particularly fast time. It's always good to run along Mission Bay though, one of Auckland's most beautiful areas.

The country's biggest half marathon is held each year in May in the mining town of Huntly between Auckland and Hamilton. I did this one in 1999, when it was made into a full marathon for that year only as a result of the cancellation that year due to bad weather of the Rotorua Marathon. It was a special race for me as it was there that I broke the world record for running a marathon on all seven continents in the quickest time - 99 days. The race organisers are amongst the friendliest in the country. I'd already travelled to New Zealand three weeks before that for the Rotorua event and had to head back 12,000 miles to the UK empty handed. To come back and finish the race at Huntly was a tremendous feeling. I'd started the campaign with a marathon in Antarctica back in February, followed by races in South Africa, Hong Kong, France, Chile and the USA, before heading to New Zealand for the last of the seven continents - twice! The best part of the whole campaign was opening the current issue of the Guinness Book of Records and seeing it there, which was a lifetime's ambition. I'll be doing an article on this in the future, so look out for it!

Tim with the Guinness Book of Records Photo source Tim Rogers