Taranaki Tri Festival kicks off in style

The Taranaki Tri Festival kicked off in great style on Tuesday with the annual hosting of the Sanitarium Weet-Bix Kids Tryathlon, at Ngamotu Beach, the same venue that will on Friday and Saturday see the very best perform in the WIL Sport New Zealand School’s Triathlon Champs and the star-studded ITU New Plymouth World Cup races on Sunday.

A full-house of 1,800 local and eager local children aged 7 to 15 years turned out on Monday for the Sanitarium Weet-Bix Tryathlon, with everyone earning a finisher medal at Ngamotu Beach, with smiles and high fives the order of the day as the kids had an absolute blast.

Friday and Saturday see town taken over by the best of the next generation with the WIL Sport NZ School’s contenders coming to town, with just under 700 athletes lining up across a variety of events over two days of racing. Schools from as far as Whangarei Girls High School in the North to Southland Boys High in the South are represented, with events looking to unearth champions, but also to foster fun and participation amongst the schools.

School racing will also feature athletes from around the Oceania region, in an initiative designed to grow the sport in those regions with Pacific 16 athletes aged 10 to 20 spending a week in New Plymouth attending a camp under the tutelage of local coach Graham Park, before many of them race on Friday and Saturday in the WIL Sport NZ School’s Championships.

For the first time a special NCEA event will also be hosted, with Year 13 students earning credits towards their NCEA for PE, again by racing in the WIL Sport Schools events. And in a bonus for Taranaki students, thanks to the support of TIL Freight (through local business subsidiary Hooker Pacific), 100 free entries have been made available to those entering from within the Taranaki Secondary Schools’ Sports Association (TSSSA) boundaries.

Sunday is then the domain of the best in the world, with the two ITU World Cup races over the sprint distance, making for fast and furious and often spectacular racing in front of traditionally some of the biggest crowds to watch a World Cup anywhere on the planet.

Global superstars such as Javier Gomez (multiple world champion, 2012 Olympic Games silver medalist) will line up against New Zealand’s best triathletes as many begin their qualifying pathway towards the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

Sam Ward, Ryan Sissons and Tayler Reid lead the New Zealand charge in the men’s race, while in the women’s watch for Nicole van der Kaay (second here last year) and Sophie Corbidge (backing up after a top ten in Mooloolaba a fortnight ago) to lead the charge for a podium finish.

In all there are over 30 nations represented this weekend as the focus of the triathlon world is well and truly on New Plymouth, the region and the event.

Locals will have a chance at an involvement beyond cheering from the sidelines though, with the hosting of the first ever Taranaki Tri Fest Fun Run – all comers can choose to walk, jog or run 2.5km or 5km distances, all on the same course as the elites and finishing down the famed blue carpet in front of the grandstands at Ngamotu Beach. Everyone that enters is in the draw for an amazing spot prize, with a draw to win a brand new Slumberzone Bed from House of Beds in Taranaki, but you must be there and have paid your $10 entry fee to be in with a chance.

50% of all entry fees collected for the event go directly to local charity Mellowpuff Charitable Trust, set up in May 2006 in loving memory of Melissa Long who passed away after a five-year battle with Cancer. Melissa’s dying wish to father Terry was to repay the support by using the funds in her bank to assist other Taranaki children going through similar adversity, out of that wonderful gesture was born the Mellowpuff Charitable Trust. The Trust is local and spends its money on local children.

Spectator entry is free right throughout the week, including for the ITU World Cup events on Sunday. For best advice on parking and course maps, visit www.taranakitrifestival.nz for all event information, including schedules and live streaming of all events, including the WIL Sport NZ Schools Championship.

• For course maps, CLICK HERE
• More on Mellowpuff Charitable Trust www.mellowpufftrust.co.nz
• For the elite men’s ITU New Plymouth World Cup field, CLICK HERE
• For the elite women’s ITU New Plymouth World Cup field, CLICK HERE

Taranaki Triathlon Festival Schedule
All events at Ngamotu Beach

Thursday 28 March, 3pm to 7pm
Athlete Registration, WIL Sport NZ Schools Tri Champs

Friday 29 March
10am WIL Sport NZ Schools Tri Champs,
3pm WIL Sport NZ Schools T1T2 Relay
5pm to 6:30pm Accreditation collection (unless earlier by direct arrangement), Quality Hotel, Plymouth International

Saturday 30 March
8am WIL Sport NZ Schools Tag Team Relays
12pm WIL Sport NZ Schools Prize giving

Sunday 31 March
10:45am Elite Women, New Plymouth ITU Triathlon World Cup
12pm Fun Run for Mellowpuff
1:15pm Elite Men, New Plymouth ITU Triathlon World Cup
2:30pm Medal Presentations

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