Brent Eastwood sport thought: Kaitaia Run/Walk entries building

The 2017 Beach 2 Basin Run/Walk from Onerahi to the Town Basin. This year's Run/Walk is in September. Photo / Supplied

Only three events remain on the Sport Northland Run/Walk Series calendar for 2019, with the next one being the Ray White Kaitaia Run/Walk on Sunday, August 4.

Entries are building nicely for this event, which features 4.6 kilometre and 12.5km options leaving from the Te Ahu Centre in Kaitaia.

Starting in March with the Chilltech Beach 2 Basin, seven events are held in the series through until November, giving a great opportunity for Northlanders to train and compete in some fun, yet challenging events.

The sixth event is scheduled for Sunday, September 22 – the NorthCloud Whangārei Run/Walk Festival, which will once again feature 4km, 9km and 21km options.

A significant portion of the courses are held off-road, adding hugely to the enjoyment factor while also giving competitors beautiful scenery to look at, much like the hugely successful inaugural Parihaka Trail Run held last month.

Northlanders also still have plenty of time to enter the ASB Kerikeri Half Marathon, to be held on Saturday, November 23, which will once again feature the Ray White 5km Run/Walk option starting in the Marsden Estate Winery.

This is the premier event of the series, and Kerikeri puts on a fantastic day, with the legendary street party once again being held – this is a free event for all locals and visitors, who will enjoy a fantastic line-up of entertainment and outstanding local food and beverages.

It's also worth mentioning that this is the 30th anniversary of the ASB Kerikeri Half Marathon, and for most of that time this event has been considered an iconic one for this region.

By competing, of course, you will also be getting your name in the draw for a wonderful Suzuki Swift that is once again up for grabs courtesy of our fantastic partner Pacific Motor Group.

One lucky Northlander who has competed in the seven-event series will drive the Swift away after the last event of the series, the ASB Kerikeri Half Marathon in November. And the more events you enter, the more times your name goes into the hat to win the car – this increases exponentially the more you enter.

Here's how it works – enter one event and you receive one entry in the draw, but after that your chances will double – participating in two events gives you two entries in the draw, three events gives you four entries, four events gives you eight and so on up to seven events that you will get a whopping 64 entries to win the Suzuki Swift.

Sport Northland is very thankful to loyal sponsor Pacific Motor Group, who will be giving away a car for the 14th year in succession in support of the Run/Walk Series; a truly amazing effort, which goes to show how community minded they are down at Pacific Motor Group.

You have definitely still got time to put in some training to get yourself prepared for the Kaitaia, Whangārei and Kerikeri events. You can enter at runwalkseries.co.nz