Records Tumble and Trees Grow At Kauri Run

Michael Jaques / 21.11.2006

Mark McKeown is better known as a one of New Zealand’s top track runners but last weekend he raised eyebrows with a record breaking run across the mountain tracks of the Coromandel Peninsula.

A record entry of 260 runners and walkers lined up at Waikawau Beach for the third annual Kauri Run, a 30k mountain race across the Coromandel Peninsula. The field this year was stronger than ever, with Commonwealth Games marathon runner Craig Kirkwood tipped as the favourite ahead of Mark McKeown, top multisport racer Stu Lynch, New Zealand orienteer Phil Wood and super-vet Colin Earwaker from Rotorua, who won the inaugural Kauri Run two years ago.

Established in 2004, the Kauri Run is one of the country’s fastest-growing adventure runs. Founded by local event organisers, Adventure Racing Coromandel, the challenging 30k traverses the Coromandel’s Central Divide between Waikawau Bay on the rugged Pacific Coast and Coromandel township on the Hauraki Gulf.

The course follows historic mining and Maori trails through what was once one of the thickest concentrations of Kauri trees in the country. It is these historic Kauri Groves that inspired this event. For every participant in the race organisers plant a new Kauri seedling, and co-race director Andy Reid hopes that one day competitors in the Kauri Run will be able to race through re-generated groves that they helped create.