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Great Response Already For The Tauranga Half & Mount Festival 2021

The 2021 edition of the Tauranga Half Triathlon and Mount Festival is shaping to be the strongest in its 32 year history, with record entries being received for the events which take place at Mount Maunganui on Saturday, 23 January.

While COVID-19 has led to cancellation of many events in 2020, the Mount Festival is bucking the trend, and receiving strong entries for all the multi-sport events on the festival programme.

The 2021 Mount Festival has four key events, which will transform Mount Maunganui into a multi-sport mecca on 23 of January. Headlining the festival is the iconic Tauranga Half, which is being held for the 32nd time next year. For athletes wanting a longer challenge, there is the Enduro event, while for athletes keen to avoid running there is the increasingly popular Aquabike event. The Mount Run has distances for runners of all abilities with 5km, 10km and half marathon (21.1km) options.

Mount Festival General Manager Lauren Watson is staggered at the response to next year’s event, describing it as – “incredible. We have the highest entries ever at this time of the year, and the online banter for the event is phenomenal. Everyone is so excited to race.”

When asked what has led to the incredible response for the 2021 event, Watson said – “we started our athlete communications several months earlier than normal, and ran some virtual events during the first lockdown. This helped build interest and a strong culture around our event. There is also the fact that people can’t travel overseas to race at the moment, so are looking to well established NZ events such as the Mount Festival. As the country’s long running triathlon, we have become to go-to event for triathletes this summer.”

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The pinnacle event of the Mount Festival is the Tauranga Half, an event with a rich history in NZ’s triathlon community. The 2021 field is the strongest in over a decade with several former champions set to be on the start line at Pilot Bay. Defending champ, and race record holder Kyle Smith is back, and faces incredible competition from the likes of 2019 winner Mike Phillips, former race record holder Braden Currie, ten time champion – Cameron Brown, and former world champion – Terenzo Bozzone.

In the women’s field for the Tauranga Half – defending champ Hannah Wells is seeking a threepeat of wins on her home course. Other elite woman athletes already confirmed are 2020 runner-up Rebecca Clark, and the strong performing Melanie Burke & Emily McNaughton.

Lauren Watson says that the elite field for the 2021 Tauranga Half is “the strongest it has been in over a decade. The pro triathlon community in NZ has been very supportive. With the quality of entries received to date, it is shaping as an absolute showdown on the 23rd of the January.”

The start-line for all Mount Festival events is Mount Maunganui’s picturesque Pilot Bay. The festival is an iconic one for the triathlon and Bay of Plenty community, with crowds lining the café filled streets of Mt Maunganui to cheer on the athletes. Over 1500 athletes are expected in Pilot Bay for the various events.

For athletes wanting to challenge themselves with an athletic endeavor in the new year, entries can be made at www.mountfestival.kiwi

In looking at the events available to enter, Lauren Watson said - “the programme is designed for people of all athletic abilities. We have a range of running and multisport options which provide a great incentive to stay fit over summer, or start the year with a sporting challenge.”

Entries:

www.mountfestival.kiwi

Mount Festival of Multisport – 23 January 2021
Pilot Bay, Mount Maunganui

Events

Tauranga Half 2km Swim 90km Bike 21km Run

Enduro 3km Swim 120km Bike 25km Run

Aqua Bike 3km Swim 120km Bike

Mount Run Run – 5km, 10km or 21km

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