Multisport: Wild Kiwi to test mettle of committed Northlanders

Wild Kiwi event manager Mike Davis is looking forward to another great event. Photo / Tania Whyte

The Wild Kiwi will once again test the mettle of hundreds of committed multisport racers at Whangarei Heads.

Wild Kiwi features adventurous New Zealanders taking on several off-road events designed to get people racing on some of the top landscapes in the country.

Event manager Mike Davis said there have been only subtle changes to a formula that has reaped success in past years.

"We know what we have works really well. We've only changed a couple of things this year.

"Those have been having more bus transport and starting the multisport event slightly earlier.

"Because of daylight savings, there were people on the track while the light was fading so we wanted to change that."

The event, hosted in the picturesque Whangarei Heads area, offers competitors different options.

They range from the multisport event, which involves a 12km sea kayak, 25km mountain bike and 14km run, to run/walks and a 3km kids dash.

The multisport event starts at 8am.

Davis partnered with Ady McKenzie to realise his idea of getting people to head out to the Whangarei Heads area.

"The whole idea of the event was being a Kamo local, I knew we had an amazing region out there. Between me and Ady, it appeared we should be putting on an event for people to come and do.

"We came up with the name Wild Kiwi with the wild kiwi and the Backyard Kiwi programme and all the background work they do with the Bream Bay Trust, we built a lot of momentum and now it's known as an event people need to do."

Bruce Cole-Baker was 2017's champion though there are sure to be plenty of budding competitors looking to take the mantle.

While there are plenty of local runners, Davis said the event is a big draw for people from outside Northland.

"This has become a key event on the multisport event. Half the competitors are from out of the region and we want them to stay and check out the region.

"Some of the local people haven't even been out there so they're seeing something different."

Despite its success, Davis said they want to make sure they continue to develop the Wild Kiwi.

"We'd like to grow it. We've made it more inclusive and trying to get the community involved and we've given Whangarei Heads School the opportunity to use this as fundraising.

"We want to put more emphasis on kids doing the event. There is a kids dash already and Winnie the Pooh will lead that out this year.

"We're definitely looking to grow the event. We'd love to get up to 1000 entries a year."

Davis said there's some brilliant wildlife that could be seen, including kiwi.

"A lot of the tracks, particularly the mountain bike tracks, go near kiwi breeding areas which is really cool for those people doing that. It's unique to our event."