Plans to bring ultra into city

Tim Day (second from left) and race organiser Paul Charteris (right) at the Ultra Trail du Mt Blanc Expo in France. Also pictured are Kylie Day, Mike Wardian (USA), Sarah Rosenbaum.

It might be an adventure race featuring some of the most beautiful trails in the world, but the Tarawera Ultramarathon race could, in future, also feature the streets of Rotorua.

Race organiser Paul Charteris and race director Tim Day have just returned from Europe, bringing back with them ideas about how to make the event bigger. They were at the UTMB, the French race in the Ultra-Trail World Tour.

''This is our sister race, the Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc. There are 55km, 100km, 120km and 170km races,'' Charteris said.

''There are a few reasons to go. We were advertising the Tarawera Ultra Marathon and the (Tarawera) Trail Marathon and 50k to a global audience. There were about 50,000 people at the race and that's a really, really huge audience for us to be in front of.''

Charteris said there were several ideas that could be incorporated into the Rotorua event, most significantly, bringing the race into the heart of town.

''Chamonix is a little mountain town of probably 20,000 people and they bring the runners right through the town. They do a circuit and go past every shop and restaurant and the crowd in the middle of town at the peak would have been 5000-6000 people watching the runners coming in.

The crowds are in town for three days for the different events.

''So what we've realised is that you've got to bring these sort of races into the city and I think that's something we'll start planning on.

''We've got an amazing event that goes over some incredible terrain but now, how do we bring it into the city and incorporate the whole community into the event because it really adds a whole new level of atmosphere?''

Charteris said the visit already seemed to have boosted the overseas entries for next year's event.

''Pretty much all of the world's best runners were at this event and a lot of them approached us to run Tarawera next year so I think that means we will have yet another stellar field coming here.

''And a lot of the general runners, not the elite ones, knew all about Tarawera. They knew it was in Rotorua and knew of its reputation and it's a real bucket list event for many of the runners we spoke to.''

Already overseas entries are sitting at just under 50 per cent of the total number of entries. Last year, 40 per cent of the field came from outside New Zealand.

''So that's another bump up again which we are really pleased about because it's genuine new money coming into Rotorua as well. The international runners spend a lot more time here and a lot more money here.''

The visit also provided an opportunity to meet other event organisers to compare notes, to meet sponsors to plan marketing campaigns and to meet the world's running media.

What: Tarawera Ultramarathon
When: February 11 2017
Distances: 62km, 87km and 102km
Two-time ultramarathon world champion Camille Herron has signed up for next year's event.