Ten Week Countdown is on Until the Taupo Half Marathon

The Taupo on-road half marathon kicks off in about 10 weeks time (on Sunday 7 August) and the Taupo off-road half and quarter marathon kicks off in about 14 weeks (on Saturday 3 September) so get your trainers out the back of the wardrobe and start training now!

The popular Mizuno on-road and off-road half marathon events are back for 2011 with online registrations open at www.taupohalfmarathon.org.nz - if participants enter before 1 July 2011 they go into a prize draw to win $500 worth of Mizuno gear. The list of spot prizes up for grabs this year are better than ever with the top prize – a 7 night trip to Adelaide including flights, accommodation and a rental car.

Every year over 4,000 people from Great Lake Taupo and around the North Island take part in one or both of the Mizuno Half Marathon events. Beth Mulligan and Cathy Braggins, who have entered all 18 on-road events, come from across the ditch in Queensland to participate.

Proceeds from the on-road event are put back into the Taupo community to support youth getting involved with sport. Event Director Wayne Reardon says the Mizuno Taupo Half Marathon’s are community-focussed events and wouldn’t happen without the support of local volunteers. “It is a privilege to work with our local community volunteers and a great outcome to be able to give back to our young sporting community.”

Each year the Taupo Half Marathon Society gives away as much as $30,000 to young sporting stars and sports clubs. $1,000 goes to Taupo Harriers for the 5km Series and to Waipahihi School for IronKids - the three schools with the most participants win money and the top school gets a trophy. The Society also supplies medals every year for the Interprimary Schools Cross Country competition and provides a celebratory chocolate fish for every participant.

“The goal of the Taupo Half Marathon Society is to encourage kids to give sports a go and to support those that want to take it further.”

For those individuals and clubs wanting to put their hand up for a sporting scholarship the next funding round closes on May 31 – application forms can be found on the website www.taupohalfmarathons.org.nz. There is also a second funding round for the year that closes on August 31.

Both Taupo Mizuno Half Marathons (on-road and off-road) will again be part of the prestigious Erin Baker and Cameron Brown awards with competitors able to choose the event they prefer. The two half marathons also make up the 63.3 challenge which includes three Taupo half marathons in three months. For more information on the 63.3 challenge go to www.633.co.nz

This year, the Taupo Mizuno off-road quarter marathon event will make up one of the four events in a new challenge – TryTaupo4, a series for those wanting to get off the couch and get active. TryTaupo4 offers achievable distances in four different sporting events in the Taupo region over a six month period.