KEY POINTS:
A bid to stage an off-road marathon in the Waitakere Ranges, where New Zealand's Olympic champion runners trained for endurance, has been rejected by the Auckland Regional Council.
A disappointed Aaron Carter, of Total Sport, said yesterday the council cited "social displacement" as one of the reasons for not approving the first-time adventure running race, the West Coast Marathon.
The event, planned for December 16, was to start at Whatipu at the north head of Manukau Harbour and traverse the length of walking tracks in the Waitakere Ranges, include the beaches of Karekare, Piha and Bethells (Te Henga) and finish at Muriwai.
About half of the event would be on regional park tracks.
Mr Carter said other land owners en route, including the Department of Conservation, Waitakere City Council and Rodney District Council, had approved their land being used for the event.
"Social displacement - the impact the event may have on other users of the parkland - would not have been a biggie," he said.
"I was the race director for the Auckland Marathon last Sunday which had 10,500 competitors, as opposed to the 300 to 400 runners in the west coast event who would have been well spread out over the 45km route."
A supporter of the west coast event, Auckland Art Gallery conservator of paintings Sarah Hillary, said she enjoyed walking in the Waitakere Regional Park and also ran in off-road events.
"It's great fun. I can understand they would want to minimalise the effect on other people, but it seems a shame not to look at other ways of doing that instead of saying no."
Another supporter, Chris Daniels, said trail running was now very popular.
"I did one at Whatipu ... They put up signs letting trampers know that there would be runners in the area on a particular day.
"Can't we all just get along and share the natural environment?"
Exercise advocate William Waite said Mr Carter was a meticulous organiser and the people who ran in his events would not harm tracks or litter.
ARC Parks chairman Sandra Coney said that for a major event with participants, supporters and spectators, the marathon was "the wrong route at the wrong time."
Some of the route was in areas heavily used on summer weekends.
The parks management plan required applicants to satisfy requirements to consult people along the route who might be affected.
This had not happened, although part of the route was the Karekare Falls Track which was promoted as an easy walk for families.
Ms Coney said the Waitakere Regional Park hosted a number of annual adventure and multisport events, but they used only a portion of the parks network, say at Huia or Piha. This event was over the length of the park and affected more people.
Mr Carter said he would try again for ARC approval for a May event for the next three to five years.
