Rakiura trail run emerges as popular Southland event
"Hopefully it turns into something like the Kepler Challenge where you have a lot of people wanting to come back every year.”
Five years after its conception, the Rakiura Challenge trail run looks to have found its place on the southern events calendar.
The brainchild of Wānaka resource management planner Morgan Shepherd, the 32km trail run around the Rakiura track, New Zealand’s southern-most Great Walk, hosted its third edition on October 7 with a sold-out 250-strong field.
Great weather and support from around the country meant this year’s race had something special about it, Shepherd, who is the race’s event manager, said.
“Maybe it was the people that entered, but it really felt like a turning point for our event. The vibe was awesome, everyone was kind of blown away,” Shepherd said.
“For a lot of people it was just getting to Stewart Island, they hadn’t been before and they’d heard good things, but we had a lot of returnees as well who just love it. Hopefully it turns into something like the Kepler Challenge where you have a lot of people wanting to come back every year.”
The Rakiura Challenge was first run in 2019, but then had to be mothballed two years in a row due to the pandemic. It returned in 2022 and was run for a third time this year.
Aucklander Matthew Arnold, one of a number of Auckland track and field runners who made the trip south, broke the men’s record by just under a minute. It was his first attempt at a trail running event.
Southlander Virginia Pile won the women’s open category.
With another great weekend of weather - the event has been blessed in that regard since it started - a wide representation of the trail running community and having the likes of media personality Brodie Kane in the field, the race’s social media presence enjoyed a solid jump as well.
It was also becoming clearer just how positive the event’s impact was in terms of the local community and businesses, Shepherd said.
The event’s concession with the Department of Conservation for 250 runners is unlikely to change in the short term.
“Our biggest constraint is accommodation. We did have a couple (of people) pull out because they couldn’t find accommodation so that 250 is probably at our max until more accommodation options become available on the island,” Shepherd said.
“I don’t think we’d ever increase it that much - we might want to go to 300 or so, you also don’t know how many people each runner is going to bring with them, we are kind of at that sweet spot in the meantime.”
