The Kauri Run
Defending Champion Faces NZ Champion In Coromandel
Stan van Jaarsveld / 14.11.2007
When mountain running enthusiasts from all over the country line up for the Great Kauri Run next week in Coromandel, they’ll be meeting more than just personal goals. Their very presence will make a positive impact because for every person who lines up at the Waikawau Beach start line organisers will plant a new Kauri tree.
In its fourth year, the Kauri Run is catching on as a unique challenge with a cause. Organisers have attracted more than 200 people for the challenging traverse of the Coromandel Peninsula’s Main Divide; some running for a good cause, some running because it’s a great challenge in a great place, and some because it has become one of the country’s most prestigious mountain races.
Defending champion Mark McKeown is returning. Last year the Tauranga runner beat Commonwealth games marathoner Craig Kirkwood, but this year he faces a deeper field with challenges from al aspects of the endurance realm.
World ranked adventure racer Chris Morrissey from Whakatane is well known in adventure racing and multisport circles, but has also represented New Zealand at the world mountain running championship. McKeown has also performed well at New Zealand and world level, so their match up is much anticipated. However, both men would be well advised to keep an eye on Tauranga twins Iain and Kykle Macdonald, and the ever-green Colin Earwaker.
The Macdonald’s are new to the Great Kauri Run, but the 52 year old Earwaker won the inaugural Kauri Run four years ago and has never finished outside the top three.
Most attention, however, will be on Tauranga’s Ben Ruthe. Ruthe, a former New Zealand representative and national champion on track, cross country and road, hasn’t taken to the mountains since he was a teenager. That was 10 years ago in Malaysia when he finished fourth in the world junior mountain running championships. More latterly the former four-minute miler has turned to marathon running and enjoyed an encouraging second place in his debut on the Gold Coast. He’ll be hoping his newfound strength will lend itself to his first win in the Great Kauri Run.
The woman’s race will also be keenly contested as Auckland’s Oksana Isinana famd Thames Jo Donnelly continue their close rivalry. Last year Isinana led all the way but tired in the latter stages and only held Donnelly at bay by 40 seconds.
Starting at Waikawau Beach on the shores of the Pacific Ocean, participants run across the spine of Coromandel Peninsula to finish in Coromandel Township. Along the way they experience 30km of native bush, stream crossing and over 800 vertical metres of climbing. This year a new 15k option will allow more people to experience this spectacular part of New Zealand.
The concept behind the Kauri Run came from co-race directors Andy Reid and Keith Stephenson of Adventure Racing Coromandel. They organise several major Coromandel events such as the Moehau Man multisport race, ARC Adventure Race, The Intrigue mountain bike race and last month’s K2 Cycle Classic. Their hope is that the Great Kauri Run might become the Kepler Challenge of the north and that with their Kauri concept they might help regenerate the region’s greatest asset.
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