Brent Eastwood sport thought: Bay of Islands Beast finds a home

The Beast is one of Northland's most revered physical challenges, as Brenna Forsythe, seen here crossing the finish line in 2017, can attest. Photo / File

Sport Northland has secured a farm.

And no, we are not getting into farming or the rural real estate investment game, but we have secured access to a rural property just outside Paihia to be able to hold the 2019 Fullers GreatSights Bay of Islands Beast on August 24.

As such, Sport Northland is very happy to announce that the first 200 super early bird entries are now being accepted at very discounted rates – but that comes with a warning that these 200 places are likely to be snapped up very quickly.

Four-hundred early bird entries will then be taken, after which the standard prices will apply. Due to the Beast being held on a new farm this year we have chosen to limit entries to 800 participants to ensure there is minimal congestion on-course.

This is the fifth time Sport Northland will be staging this event, which will be held on Saturday, August 24, starting at 11am at Black Bridge Rd, Haruru, which is approximately 5km inland from Paihia.

Given that there will be no parking at the venue, all participants will catch free buses departing from the Fullers GreatSights Bay of Islands Maritime Building in Paihia and will be returned to Paihia after the event.

Participants can walk, run or crawl the super tough 6km course over rolling countryside, and will need to navigate swamps, river crossings, mud, some very steep hills as well as traversing rugged, uneven terrain.

And of course, being in August, in all likelihood The Beast will be held in cold and wet weather. The Fullers GreatSights Bay of Islands Beast is designed to be tough but also fun – and we at Sport Northland know you wouldn't want it any other way!

The event itself has some unique and special features:

• While there are no showers available on site, the Paihia Volunteer Fire Brigade will once again be hosing participants off once finished (entirely optional of course!), before catching the shuttle bus back into Paihia.

• Upon finishing, given participants are likely to be wet, cold and sapped of energy, they will be treated to something different this year – a nice warm mug of soup with fried bread and a sausage sizzle.

• The Beast is definitely about having a good time, so participants are encouraged to have some fun in the lead up by getting set with fancy-dress costumes (past years have seen some amazing costumes).

Like previous years, we are encouraging groups of people to join in and take on the challenge together – what better way for a workplace, a community group or just a bunch of friends to challenge each other and have a heap of fun at the same time.

A minimum of three people is required to make up a team to enter, or you can enter as an individual.

The provision of fun and achievable events is one of the key strategies that Sport Northland employs to attract more Northlanders into sustainable physical activity.

As such, this is a great chance to challenge yourself (and your family and friends) by taking on something a little bit different and testing yourself against the elements and terrain that Northland offers.