MTB: Wide Blue Yonder

Kiwi runner, Kerry Suter, heads past the Blue Lake just after dawn at the 2013 Tarawera Ultramarathon. PHOTO/GRAEME MURRAY

I've never been much of a runner. I did a bit of half-marathon distance training many years ago. These days, creaky knees mean a jog down a long driveway to retrieve the mail is about as far as I get.

So how about 100km, then? That's the daunting prospect for a big field of ultra endurance athletes on Saturday, March 15 - Rotorua to Kawerau, the Vibram Tarawera Ultramarathon.

With 60km and 85km options included, the total field for this extraordinary event will be more than 850, double the number last year. A big reason for that is the inclusion of the Tarawera in the inaugural Ultra World Tour.

Based in France the Tour includes 10 iconic endurance races in Asia, Europe, Africa, the Americas, Australia and New Zealand.

The race start is at the Redwoods Information Centre on Long Mile at 6.30am. Yes it's early, but with a surprise planned for 6.20am.

Before swinging east to the Blue Lake, the course will also wind up onto Tokorangi Pa into the open spaces that feature some of our best new mountain bike trails.

Mountain bikers will be an important part of the sweeper team - leading out the field and tailending competitors. They'll be there to check the course and for safety reasons. There's even a rumour a Tour de France veteran will be part of that crew.

There's a good reason to have some quick wheels leading out. The Ultra field includes some of the rock stars of the endurance running world, like defending champion, Sage Canaday and world No1, Rob Krar.

Twenty of the athletes run sub-2h 30m marathon times.

There are some impressive numbers involved.

That extends to our own media team. A full production crew will shoot a half-hour TV show that will go out on TV networks, worldwide. Other crews will shoot an online documentary and a series of short promos that will roll out through the winter.

A big team of photographers will shoot images from start to finish. They include locals Graeme Murray, Nick Lambert and Alick Saunders.

Byron Powell, from US website irunfar.com, will fly in to report live via satellite phone through the day. More impressive numbers: Powell has over 30,000 social media followers.

Which is pretty cool. However, what's even better is when he posts, big companies in the adventure industry, such as North Face, will repost. Up to 20 million people worldwide will see these.

I got involved with the event just before the 2013 race - with a few media releases. I also helped put together the media and marketing component of a sponsorship and funding proposal.

This was successful and made it easier to build a well-resourced and talented team. Though, it does bring its own set of challenges and any event of this nature is hellishly expensive to run.

The Tarawera Ultra-marathon will bring a substantial media spotlight on to our city and region. While there is a big team, that really is down to one man's vision. Paul Charteris started the race in 2009 with just 67 entries. He has carried the weight over the years and is doing so again in 2014.

We owe him a round of thanks ... and beers.

More: www.taraweraultra.co.nz