Annual race finishes up after nearly 30 years
An annual race that enticed hundreds to lap a lake in a national park has held its last event after nearly three decades.
Nelson Events co-director Graeme West said tarseal running events had been in vogue in 1996, but trail running, not so much. That year, West and his wife Averil staged the first Loop the Lake, a 25km race around the perimeter of Lake Rotoiti in the Nelson Lakes National Park, hoping to attract fellow off-road runners to an area “special to us”.
But Nelson Events had decided 2024 was the time to call it a day, meaning Saturday’s Loop the Lake was the last one.
“We’re a family business, we’re getting older,” West said. “We’ve given it 30 years of hard work, for that and the other events that we have run.”
They used to run the Captain Cook’s Landing trail run on Marlborough’s Queen Charlotte Track, and their “flagship” Abel Tasman Coastal Classic event, a 33km dash along the Abel Tasman Coast Track, would have its finale in October.
“We’ve promoted the events to bring people into the region to get a taste of it, because there’s been a whole lot of people over the last 29 years who have never been or have never heard of Lake Rotoiti,” West said.
“They then discover what a brilliant place it is, and obviously a lot of them return to either run, walk or camp, tramp or enjoy it.”
West said the Lake Rotoiti Circuit was testing, lined with occasional mānuka and beech tree roots, and crossing the Travers River at the halfway mark.
The send-off for their final lake race on Saturday was “brilliant,” particularly considering It was a sell-out, West said. The capacity limit of 400 runners entered, though only 364 turned up.
“You can’t do any better than that. Biggest crowds I’ve seen up there,” West said. “It’s vibrant but low key, which is what the outdoors should be. We don’t want to make a big impact on the place ... let your footsteps do the work, leave no trace.”
Around half of this year’s runners were from Nelson, Tasman or Marlborough, but the field included people from Auckland to Southland, as well as seven internationals.
“Obviously being only an hour away from Nelson or Blenheim, that’s going to give you the bulk of your field, but the rest have come from beyond,” West said.
The last-ever winner was Callum Wilkie from Nelson, who clocked the course in 1 hour, 43 minutes and 19 seconds.
“A good runner is just over an hour and a half, or an hour 40; a slow jogger, runner, walker is probably 4½ hours. But completely doable, as long as you’ve done some mileage,” he said.
The Abel Tasman Coastal Classic would celebrate its 30th year on October 12, and had already sold out, with a waiting list of more than 100 people.
Considering it was Nelson Events’ final run, West expected it to be “probably even more bittersweet” than the last Loop the Lake. “That’s probably been the real flagship, but Loop the Lake has been right alongside there, and it’s special to us,” West said.