Uenuku is partnering with the organisers of the Ring of Fire, one of the most challenging alpine adventure running events in the Southern Hemisphere.
Hundreds of competitors are gearing up to circumnavigate Ruapehu in the new volcanic relay, marathon and ultra event on Saturday, April 7.
As tangata whenua, Uenuku Charitable Trust has been working with the Ring of Fire team from the early stages of organisation, along with other tangata whenua Ngāti Rangi and Ngāti Hikairo. Tangata whenua have provided cultural and environmental impact advice, and will host Aid Stations for each section of the race to provide welcome, warmth and comfort for the runners.
Nick Reader, one of the event organisers, says the Aid Stations are vital and contribute not only to safety but to the event experience. On the finishing line, the Uenuku team’s job is to look after runners “who make it to the finish”.
“Congratulate them, feed and water them, high five them, catch them, get them to a chair. Some of these people will be exhausted,” Mr Reader said. “The fastest individual solo/relay athletes are expected to complete the Ring of Fire in a mind-blowing eight hours – the slowest (but equally worthy) will take 20 hours to reach the Chateau Tongariro, arriving well after nightfall.”
The race begins at 4am outside the Chateau Tongariro Hotel and officially ends at midnight. However, the Uenuku Aid Station team at the Chateau Whakapapa finish line will operate two shifts over the course of the long day to ensure there is support for runners who are expected to finish in the early hours of Sunday morning. “They will not be recorded as an official finisher, but they still need lots of support.”
The Ring of Fire is a unique combination of distance, altitude, views, night and day running and terrain, with a mix of desert, scoria and lava fields, native bush, tussock, mountain streams, climbs and descents. The full course for the solo ultra is 72km. Relay teams will traverse the course in three 24km legs. The 50km solo covers two-thirds of the mountain from the Ohakune Mountain Road to the Chateau Tongariro Hotel.