The Wensley’s Cycles Surf to City has celebrated one of its largest turnouts in recent memory in perfect Southland conditions.

Final numbers won’t be known until manual entries are processed, but organisers expect the tally to be well over 4000 participants.

Runners, walkers, bikers, pram-pushers and many others took advantage of the warm, calm conditions to enter one of the four category events including the 12km distance from Oreti Beach to Queens Park.

Active Southland chief executive Vanessa Hughey-Pol said the strong support from the Southland public showed how important the annual event is to the community.

“Today we’ve seen friends, family, work mates, gym squads, church and cultural groups coming together to celebrate a great day out. When you see the smiles on people’s faces as they cross the finish line and soak up the vibe as they enjoy the entertainment and food afterwards, it is a great example of the power of being active,” she said.

Putting together Southland’s largest participation event was no small task, Hughey-Pol said.

“It involves a massive effort across all of our staff at Active Southland. Loyal support from sponsors and community funders helps us to keep the cost of the event at a level which ensures most people can take part, but I really need to acknowledge the volunteers who come on board and make the event possible. We couldn’t do it without them.”

One of those volunteer groups, Ascension Church, has been manning the aid station at the 6km mark for nearly a decade.

Pastor Jason Sagmyr said church members initially got involved as participants, but soon realised it was also a great opportunity to give something back to the community.

“You just get to help people who are having a great time. We give out high fives and encouragement, it’s awesome, we love it.”

The Surf to City has become such a favourite part of the start to the year that the church reschedules sound checks, Sunday service and a shared meal from the morning until the evening.

“It’s 100 percent worthwhile. Everyone in the church is onboard with it, it’s great.”

Invercargill mayor Nobby Clark, who has been recovering from a heart attack on December 27, followed by double bypass surgery, completed the 6km walk ahead of a return to mayoral duties tomorrow (Subs: Monday).

“I was surprised today by the number of bikes and the number of young people on bikes, just phenomenal. It’s a really, really good event and the weather has been very generous.”

Clark, a long-time participant at the Kepler Challenge mountain running race, wanted to test himself as he looks to head back to the office.

“I was a bit tired in the second half. I’ve only been doing about 3km a day, so doing 6km was a bit of a challenge, but I like a challenge.”

This year’s event included a new Steps Forward initiative, backed by New Zealand Aluminium Smelters, which saw five Southland primary schools supported to take part. After a pilot last year, an inclusive 1.4km course, supported by Inclusive Activity Murihiku, within Queens Park for disabled people was also added to the event.

Article added: Tuesday 12 March 2024