Spectacular racing this weekend

More than 1500 people from elite athletes to primary school children are due to take part in a running event in Nelson that is expected to bring a festival vibe to the city ahead of Christmas.

Runners will take on trails spanning 10km to 100 miles (160km) in the hills behind the city, with others running shorter races on city centre streets as part of The Spectacle event, which kicks off on Friday.

Organiser Michael Cochrane said the races in the CBD would take place on Saturday, on a course near the Church Steps, starting with a “mass participation”, 5km run at 4.30pm

They culminated in an international elite mile at 8pm, with Olympian Sam Tanner leading the Kiwi contingent.

Wellington band, The Black Seeds, was set to play at the Church Steps at 9pm.

Nearly 3000 people had expressed an interest on social media in attending the free-for-the-public Saturday night gig, Cochrane said.

“It’s very exciting.

“[I] can’t go anywhere in Nelson, on a plane, the airport, a cafe without somebody approaching me and talking to me about The Spectacle, and how excited they are for it, for Nelson.”

Cochrane and fellow Nelsonian, 1500m Olympian, Julian Matthews, thought up the event about 18 months ago, largely inspired by the mile races held on Nelson city streets in the 1980s.

Around 1500 people had registered by last Wednesday December 4, and more Nelsonians were expected to sign up with registrations open until the event day, Cochrane said.

Around half of entrants were from outside of Nelson, with about 100 from overseas, he said.

While separate road running races and trail races existed elsewhere in New Zealand, an event combining the two – and a festival – was rare, Cochrane said.

He hoped the event would become an established annual festival, with registrations for 2025 being launched on Saturday night of the first event.

“Very seldom do you have somewhere like Nelson where you can connect your central city to an amazing trail network.

“Certainly the mix of community mass participation, road and trail races as well as Olympians is pretty new.”

Other street races included a kids’ mile, a mile for athletes with disabilities, corporate relays and an elite high school mile.

The CBD races would take place on a loop along Selwyn Place, Hope St, Hardy St and Church St.

The roads would be closed from 3pm on Saturday, and re-opened between 10pm and midnight.

The timing of the event had been moved back after concerns from some retailers original plans to close roads earlier in the day could impact retail spend, two weeks before Christmas.

Cochrane hoped the event would help give the city an extra boost.

“We’ve had so much support; hospitality, tourism providers, accommodation, and also retailers.

“We’re expecting a good result and a good buzz for them.”

Top Australasian trail runners were among those running the trail races, which started from Waahi Taakaro Golf Course in the Maitai Valley at 5pm on Friday, Cochrane said.

The 100-mile ultra took athletes through Maitai Valley, Mt Richmond Forest Park and Dun Mountain trails, with a combined elevation of around 9000-metres.

Trail runners would finish in front of Rutherford Hotel, coming down the Grampians and Trafalgar St.

Some trail competitors were expected to be running through to 12pm on Sunday.

Cochrane encouraged more children to sign up to the festival street races.

Events cost $15 for under 18s, and included a medal and t-shirt.

People could register for The Spectacle races via the event website or in person at Matthews Sports Vision on Hardy St, Nelson.

By Warren Gamble, Nelson Mail