Tarawera Ultramarathon is a

trail running Trail running is a sport-activity which combines running, and, where there are steep gradients, hiking, that is run "on any unpaved surface". It is similar to both mountain and fell running (also known as hill running). Mountain running may, h ...

event which includes a 21km, 50km, 102km and a 100-mile

ultramarathon An ultramarathon, also called ultra distance or ultra running, is any footrace longer than the traditional marathon length of . Various distances are raced competitively, from the shortest common ultramarathon of to over . 50k and 100k are bot ...

trail race, with the inaugural even held in 2009, it is part of the Ultra-Trail World Tour. It is held annually in February and takes place in

Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. The city lies on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authority encompass ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. Awards are given to top men and women finishers in each category. The race was created by Paul Charteris.

Event history

The inaugural race was over an 85km distance and was won by New Zealanders, Kerry Suter and Jean Beaumont. Kerry backed up his 2009 win with a further win in 2010, this time over a new distance, 100km. In 2017 the 100km race was extended by 2km to a complete distance of 102km. In 2018 the inaugural 100 mile race was added to the event and was won by Frenchman

Adrian Prigent Adrian is a form of the Latin given name Adrianus or Hadrianus. Its ultimate origin is most likely via the former river Adria from the Venetic and Illyrian word ''adur'', meaning "sea" or "water". The Adria was until the 8th century BC the main ...

and American Sally McRae. The 2023 edition is hosted as part of the

UTMB World Series The Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB) is a single-stage mountain ultramarathon, first held in 2003, that follows the route of the Tour du Mont Blanc. Since UTMB Group's partnership with IRONMAN Group in 2021, UTMB World Series will formally launch ...

Course records

The course record in the 100-mile race is held by the Australian Vladimir Shatrov and was set in the 2020 edition in a time of 15h 53m 30s among a field of more than 1,450 entrants.

Results and past winners

Past 100km race winners include American

Jim Walmsley Jim Walmsley (born January 17, 1990) is an American long-distance runner. An ultra-trail specialist, his wins include the JFK 50 Mile in 2014, 2015 and 2016, the Lake Sonoma 50 in 2016 and 2018, the Tarawera Ultramarathon in 2017, and the Wester ...

, who described the course as “extremely hot, but beautiful” upon finishing the 2017 edition which was held in February of that year; seasonal rivers, chirping cicadas, and green tree canopy decorated the course.

References

Notes

Athletics competitions in New Zealand Sport in Rotorua Ultramarathons Ultra-Trail World Tour {{Running-stub