The inaugural Ruapehu Ring of Fire round the mountain event looms

A seven-time winner of Mt Ruapehu adventure racing, Sjors Coorporal, widely known as The Goat, will be one to watch at the inaugural Ring Of Fire in the Tongariro National Park on Saturday.

The inaugural Ruapehu Ring Of Fire Volcanic Relay, Solo Ultra and Marathon this weekend is a pre-cursor to a potential global event featuring the world's best adventure athletes.

The event is based at the Chateau Tongariro in Whakapapa Village in the Tongariro National Park, a dual world heritage area, and will include the 72km three leg relay, an epic 72km Solo Ultra and a 45km Adventure Marathon.

The Relay and Solo Ultra events will involve a full circumnavigation of Mt Ruapehu on the iconic Round the Mountain track starting and finishing at the historic Chateau Tongariro Hotel.

The event is run by The Event Collective, a collaborative of New Zealand's best off-road endurance event managers including Jason Cameron, Nick Reader, Paul Charteris and Tim Day.

Cameron, of Victory Events, draws on 15 years of event management experience with similar events on Mount Ruapehu such as The Goat Adventure Run and Tussock Traverse.
He said 625 athletes had signed on so far for the three events with 150 relay teams, just under 200 entered for the solo and just over 200 in the marathon.

"We have 36 internationals fro six countries, including Hong Kong, USA, New Caledonia, French Polynesia, the Philippines and the bulk from Australia," Cameron said.

"The event has been in the planning for a long time with support given by Iwi surrounding Mount Ruapehu including Ngati Hikairo, Ngati Uenuku and Ngati Rangi. It is the natural evolution of the two existing off road running events on the mountain – the annual Goat Tongariro and Tussock Traverse that take place on the iconic Round the Mountain track.

"Given the level of support and interest we believe the event will become an important part on the international (adventure athletics) scene- it will become a special event on the world calendar.

"Having organised events in the region since 2004, the Ruapehu Ring of Fire event will be the most challenging and exciting we have been involved with in the park and we are committed to developing this into a world renowned event for Ruapehu and New Zealand," Cameron said.

Tipping winners is as difficult as the event is challenging, but locals are backing a man with vast experience around the mountain terrain.

He's not called the Goat for nothing. Sjors Coorporal has dominated the 20km technical mountain run held on Mount Ruapehu for the past seven years making him the greatest of all time.

Coorporal has shown plenty of "goat like" strength and agility to maintain speed over broken uneven terrain and he will need those abilities as he turns his attention to this newest mountain challenge.

"Sjors will run the final leg of the relay with son Kaya also in the team and they will be ones to watch."