The Kāpiti Half will have views of Kāpiti Island along the way. Photo / Rosalie Willis
The Kāpiti Half will have views of Kāpiti Island along the way. Photo / Rosalie Willis
With views of the coastline, Kāpiti Island, and taking entrants along river trails and over boardwalks, the Kāpiti Half Marathon is set to be one of the most picturesque new sporting events this year.
Created by Wellington event organisers Barefoot Sport who also run the Xterra Wellington Festival, event director Bengy Barsanti believes the Kāpiti Half on November 14 will fill a gap in the market in the wider Wellington Region.
"There's a gap in the market in Wellington for flat runs.
"We love the trail runs we already run with Xterra but they are intense trails.
"There's a gap in the market for a more enjoyable run than running around the Wellington harbour and we think Kāpiti is the place to start.
"It's great to be able to celebrate Kāpiti and utilise the beach and the beautiful paths that we have."
Kāpiti Half event director Bengy Barsanti.
Starting and ending at Maclean Park, Paraparaumu Beach, the course will take runners along Manly St to the Waikanae Estuary with the half marathon distance heading to the Waikanae River and back.
"We are all about inspiring people into the outdoors.
"What we've created is a flat traditional half marathon but is also beautiful, different and unique.
"We want people to love running."
The event is designed to be accessible to all people, from experienced runners to those who are pulling on their running shoes for their first event.
"All our events are all about people enjoying themselves. We want to portray this event is for everyone.
"If you're a hardcore runner we want you to come and challenge yourself and enjoy these trails, but if you've never run before we want you to come and try it."
The Kāpiti Half will follow trails through the Waikanae Estuary. Photo / Rosalie Willis
With 21km, 10km, 5km and 2km distances, there is something for everyone.
Bengy is also keen to get community groups from Kāpiti involved and helping out, with the Trailblazers (Porirua Kids Run Club) already volunteering to help out at aid stations.
With Bengy and his team giving the club free entry to their Xterra events, the club are keen to give back and help out at the Kāpiti Half.
"We're not a cold clinically produced event, we want people to come and be part of our whanau and enjoy it.
"We're always looking for ways to provide others opportunities they wouldn't normally get, that's what we're doing with these kids from Porirua and we want to do it in Kāpiti too.
