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The cancellation of one of the biggest sporting events on the Hibiscus Coast, the Orewa Beach Half Marathon, created a big hole in the calendar of local events.
The Half Marathon is normally held in April with a number of entrants returning year after year to take part.
At its peak, the event attracted close to 2000 runners and walkers. In 2017 there were 1996 entries, but this had dropped to just over 1500 last year.
The half marathon course along Orewa Beach and the surrounding area was originally held in the early 1990s and re-introduced to the Coast by Laraine Chase of Orewa Events in 2009. In 2016 it was purchased by Running Events, who made it part of a five-event series based in various Auckland locations.
Race director Rob Docherty says Running Events reluctantly decided to replace the Orewa event with a new one in Maraetai “to better reflect the geographic spread of the city”.
He says his company is actively seeking proposals to take the Orewa event over from 2020.
“We made a considerable cash investment to take the event on in the first place, so [the cancellation] was not a decision taken lightly,” Mr Docherty says. “If we can possibly assist a new owner to bring the event back, we will.”
He says the drop in entry numbers from 2017-18 was not the reason for the cancellation. “The running business is up and down,” he says. “Our Coastesville event had a similar pattern, but 2019 turned out to be the biggest ever.”
He says he fully appreciates that some people will be disappointed by the decision.
Business association Destination Orewa Beach operations manager Hellen Wilkins says the Half Marathon was a great part of the Orewa events calendar and it is shame it is taking a break this year.
“Bringing sports events to regional towns provides an opportunity for the local community to participate without having to head to Auckland city,” she says. “It would be interesting to see if the numbers at the annual Omaha Half Marathon increased this year with the cancellation of the Auckland Marathon Series event in Orewa.”
She says the benefits of the Half Marathon for Orewa are in exposing the large numbers of participants to what the area has to offer.
