Pay What You Want running event coming to Tauranga

The Pay What You Want Tauranga Half Marathon will be held on April 15, 2018. Photo/ File

How much would you pay to enter a running event?

That is the question being asked by organisers of the Tauranga Half Marathon as what is believed to be New Zealand's first "pay what you want" running event will be launched in Tauranga this year.

The Pay What You Want Tauranga Half Marathon is on April 15 and includes 15km, 10km, 5km and the Matua Mile events.

Participants of the Pay What You Want Tauranga Half Marathon decide how much the event is worth to them.

Organiser Luke Garea said the move in pricing was a gamble but would help the event stand out.

"We want to stand out from the crowd – it's a pretty busy event calendar in the area and for us to continue to grow the Tauranga Half Marathon, we felt it was time for a more ballsy marketing move," he says.

Another reason for the pricing set up was to get more people active.

"The legacy of the event (previously the Half4Heart) is all about the promotion of health and wellbeing. It is important to us that the Pay What You Want Tauranga Half Marathon is a motivation to be active – now without cost being a barrier."

Entry to the event launched on January 5 and data is showing a much higher proportion of entrants new to the event, Garea said.

He said nothing would change in the quality and safety of the event.

"Our costs will be the same, if not more than last year because that's the nature of the beast. Clearly, Pay What You Want won't be sustainable if everyone pays $8 for a half marathon – we have to trust most people will pay the entry fee they would expect to pay for a professionally and safely managed on-road running event.

"On the other side of the coin, if a family might not have entered because that adds up to more than they can afford...welcome to Pay What You Want."