Ultramarathon: Running group to take on challenge

Rotorua's Kerris Browne will attempt the longest run of her life this weekend at the Tarawera Ultramarathon.

Rotorua's Kerris Browne can be very persuasive.

Just ask her running group.

Browne will tackle the 85km event at the Tarawera Ultramarathon on Saturday - which will be the longest distance she has ever run.

Browne has also encouraged 22 others, from her running group Jogging the Powerpoles, to do the same and attempt the longest run of their lives.

"I have dragged 14 other first-timers along to do the 60km distance, as well as five to do the 85km event for the first time, and three to do the 100km."

She said you didn't have to be a fast runner or good athlete to do an ultra, and most of her group just wanted to make it to the finish line.

Browne started running ultra-marathons in 2014 at the Tarawera Trail Marathon and 50km event in Rotorua.

"After that 50, I went on to do the 60 last year and this is going to be my first attempt at the 85km."

She said her running group was made up of "normal people", herself included, who juggled running with the rest of their lives. She said the time to complete the race didn't matter so much as getting to the finish.

"The time is irrelevant. It is not about the time it is about finishing and talking to people along the way, helping people out, avoiding the wasps, having a swim and making new friends, and getting in under the cut-off."

Browne's husband Chris is also taking on the Tarawera Ultramarathon in the 100km event.

Another Rotorua runner taking part is Mead Norton who is looking to complete the 100km distance for the first time.

Norton is a freelance photographer and writer and will be documenting his run for a six-page feature in Say Yes to Adventure Magazine, taking his camera along for the race. He said he had fallen in love with trail running.

Rotorua's Mead Norton will be doing the 100km Tarawera Ultramarathon with his camera. Photo / Alan Ure

"I first got into running through doing triathlon. I've done the Rotorua Xterra events for nine years and started to get into larger distance triathlon like Ironman stuff."

In recent years, he has also tackled the 60km and 85km events at the Tarawera Ultramarathon. Norton, who has been living in Rotorua for four years, said this event was massive for New Zealand.

"It is one of the biggest ultras in the world and being a photographer and talking to all the elite athletes who come each year, they are blown away by the trails we run on and those are the people that run on trails all over the world. They are just stoked at the quality and amount of trails that we have - it has become a bucket-list destination for elite athletes."