We’re stoked to be this year's charity partner for the Raglan Karioi Trail. It's an awesome event full of passionate, dedicated runners, walkers and volunteers!

Francois Mazet, organiser of the event and Karioi Project volunteer, started the race in 2013 inspired by his love of running on Karioi. He wanted to share “the pleasure, the adrenaline and the view.”

The Karioi Trail is no walk in the park! According to Francois, “There are not very many flat sections where you can run. It’s very technical with roots, mud, chains, and ladders. There’s lots of climbing to get the distance, and then the same downhill.”

It’s not an easy event to organise either. Francois, who had experience with organising snowboarding and surfing events as well as the French Open Tennis competitions, explained how much work goes into this event. Each year, the track has to be cleared, as it’s not all public DOC track, and many, many litres of water have to be hauled to the top of the hill for 450 event participants. With COVID this year, it’s been an extra challenge to run an event like this.

You can help! Come along and volunteer on the day. We’re keen to get some volunteer help at the Karioi Kids tent on the day. Or, if you’re entering the event, there are two ways to help out the Karioi Project. Sponsor your run with JustGiving. Or when you register to run, just click the option to donate $5 to the project!

“I’m very pleased to partner with the Karioi Project, and I’m super pleased when the Karioi team has run in the event,” says Francois. “I’m happy that you support me, and I think what you do is really cool. Francois helps out on our trap line as well. “I love trapping because I can try all of the different tracks that you guys trap along. When I get lost, I love it even more!”

http://www.raglankarioitrail.co.nz/