“I began running back in 2005 when I was living in Melbourne. My flatmate Simon was a mad runner, so I decided to give it a go and the addiction grew from there.
I only really got into trail running once I moved back to NZ in 2012 and I found my love for the trails around Wellington. I think my first real trail event in NZ was the Mukamuka Munter in 2013 – which was a good intro into the Wellington trail running scene. It was from this that I began to meet more and more local runners via the Wellington Running Meetup crew or Worm, and became a bit of a family.
And then in 2015 The WUU2k was born.
The WUU2K began with myself and running mate Stu Milne. We both wanted a local event that encapsulated all of the fine Wellington trails. I mapped it out, and Stu helped refine it. The first year it was a recce of the course with some local runners and it became the 43km and 62km run the year after. Next year we’re adding a 21km category to open it up to those wanting to be part of the fun, but also wanting a shorter version of the course.
And now I have relocated to the Wairarapa I have started a local run club called 5771 (Featherston’s postcode). The WAI Run Festival is my new event for 2020. It’s one I’ve been planning for over a year now and it’s all slowly coming together. I just really wanted to recreate an event similar to The WUU2K, which bands together a mix of trails with good access points along the way. That plus a nice grunty climb reminiscent of the Tip track in the WUU.
I think I’ve nailed the course. It’s called the WAI2k. We’ll see what the feedback is like after the run in November. If you don’t mutter ‘Fuck you Gareth’ at least once during the WAI2K, then I haven’t succeeded.
Happy running all!”
Gareth @thewuu2k @wairunfest
(Wairarapa)
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