The day Auckland ran… walked… and wheeled

Today’s winners in the Ports of Auckland Round the Bays 8.4km run include fastest man Jonathan Jackson from Auckland winning the event for the seventh time and finishing in 27 minutes and seven seconds. The fastest woman was Olivia Burne from Auckland with a time of 29 minutes and nine seconds.

The fastest wheelchair athlete was Lee Warn who crossed the finish line dressed in a fluffy squirrel suit.

Among the fitness fanatics aiming to achieve personal goals, were participants entering for charity fundraising, families taking on a fun challenge and corporate teams banding together for a group activity.

More than 26,000 took part in today’s event - winding through Auckland’s CBD, along the waterfront and finishing at St Heliers.

Stuff Events Operations Manager David Blackwell said a record number of more than 1100 teams signed up this year. The largest corporate team participating was Fletchers Building with over 1500 staff and family signing up for the charity event.

Jucy Rentals were the lucky winners of the $1,000 Ostro Gift Voucher awarded to a team hospitality site. Rachel Greenwood, Jucy’s Communications Executive accepted the prize on behalf of the team.

“This really was a day for all Aucklanders - it’s a fantastic day for our communities and shows the event is a bedrock in the city’s events calendar” said Mr Blackwell.

For 2018, the three official selected charities were Lifeline, Riding for the Disabled and Spirit of Adventure. All three received a share of the $50,000 donation from the event. Additionally, racegoers collectively fundraised more than $100,000 for charities of their choice across more than 446 charities.

Ports of Auckland CEO Tony Gibson said, “For the past nine years, we’ve been proud to support Round the Bays as a fantastic way of celebrating Aucklanders' love of our waterfront and getting groups of family and friends together. This year though, the big winners are the local charities and schools we were able to support.”

Charity walker, Rosemarie James, and her group, NIG Nutritionals, raised more than $1,400 in support of the Mental Health Foundation. “Mental health affects everyone and every family has someone or knows someone that is affected by it. So, it’s great that there is more awareness of it today” she said.

Participant Gareth Miller said this was his fourth time and partner Mona Ho’s third time completing the Ports of Auckland Round the Bays fun run. “It’s an awesome community activity and lots of fun. Feels a bit longer but we’re getting a little bit faster each year.”

First time participant, Flora Snape said “It was a last-minute decision this morning to join in the fun on a beautiful Sunday morning. I just landed in New Zealand and wanted to experience the awesome active community of Auckland. Everyone here is so fit!”

Fastest 2018 male winners
• Jonathan Jackson (Auckland) - 27:07
• Dave Ridley (Melbourne) - 27:15
• Tom Moyes (Auckland) - 27:23

Fastest 2018 female winners
• Olivia Burne (Auckland) - 29:09
• Juliette Foley (Auckland) - 32:40
• Zoe Garrett (Auckland) - 35:17

ENDS

About Stuff
Stuff is a collection of digital-first products and services that connect Kiwi communities to the stuff that matters, the stuff they love and each other. With storytelling at the heart of Stuff, the company is leveraging its audience scale to diversify into new categories and revenue streams, ensuring it can continue to deliver quality local journalism that Kiwis look for every day. Click here to see a full portfolio of our events - including sport, agricultural, business and lifestyle events.

About Ports of Auckland:
Ports of Auckland is New Zealand’s largest container port, supporting trade and growth and contributing to the smooth running of the country’s economy. It is proud to support the community through sponsorship of events like Round the Bays.

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