Waikanae Beach Playground, Grey St, Gisborne, 4010
Type of Course – Two out and back laps, one long, one short
Shoes Required – Road
Things to know
There are toilets, outdoor showers, a playground and benches at the Waikanae Beach Playground start area. There is a grassy area where children can play at the start/finish.
Parking is free and there is space for motorhome parking.
Forgotten your barcode? The library on Bright St has a printer.
Outdoor showers at the surf club by the start/finish, otherwise head to Bright St public toilets for shower facilities.
Very low risk of cancellation
Not permanently marked
Cafe: There is no post-parkrun coffee venue.
Location of start:
The event starts by the Waikanae Beach Playground.
Getting there by public transport
There is no public transport available for this parkrun.
Getting there on foot
From Gladstone Rd/Roebuck Rd roundabout:
Head southeast on Gladstone Rd toward Carnarvon St. Go through two roundabouts before turning right onto Reads Quay. Continue along the riverside walkway for 800m.
From Balance Street Village:
Head southwest on Balance St toward Stout St. Turn left onto Stout St, then turn right onto Fitzherbert St. Continue onto Peel St. Turn left onto Reads Quay then continue along the riverside walkway for 800m.
From Kaiti Mall:
Head northwest on State Hwy 35, toward Craig Rd. Turn left onto Reads Quay, continue along the riverside walkway for 800m.
Getting there by road
Enter Waikanae Beach Playground, Gisborne 4010 into SATNAV or google maps.
From the Gisborne i-site:
Head south on Grey St. At the roundabout, take the 2nd exit and continue along Grey St.
From Wainui (North of Gisborne):
Head southwest on State Hwy 35 toward Oneroa Rd. Turn left to stay on State Hwy 35. At the roundabout take the 2nd exit and continue along State Hwy 35. At the second roundabout, take the 1st exit onto Grey Street.
From Hexton:
Head southeast on Back Ormond Rd toward Glenelg Rd. Continue onto Ormond Rd. Turn right onto Lytton Rd. At the roundabout, take the 1st exit onto Gladstone Rd. At the roundabout, take the 3rd exit onto Stanley Rd. At the roundabout take the 1st exit onto Childers Rd. Continue along Childers Rd to Grey St. At the roundabout take the third exit onto Grey St. Continue along Grey St.
From Makaraka (State Hwy 2):
Head northeast on Main Rd, continue onto Gladstone Rd, at the roundabout take the 3rd exit onto Stanley Rd. At the roundabout take the 1st exit onto Childers Rd. Continue along Childers Rd to Grey St. At the roundabout take the third exit onto Grey St. Continue along Grey St.
Stats
First run: May 12, 2018
Inaugural attendance: 43
Record attendance: 124 (28/12/2019)
Course records
Women: Nicole Van Der Kaay 16:53 (09/01/2021)
Men: Ronan Lee 15:32 (02/01/2021)
The Story Behind Gisborne parkrun…
Megan Costello, founding event director
I was one of the Run Directors at Batemans Bay in NSW. The funny thing is I helped Batemans Bay get started but I didn’t really know what I was doing. They were setting it up and I was asked to come along.
My first ever parkrun was Merimbula in New South Wales. I found it because I was googling triathlon in the area and every time I googled it kept coming up.
I registered and we showed up with a stroller each. We were late and I needed the toilet but we started.
We started way behind everyone else. We were like ‘what do we do with this barcode?’. We finished.
It’s a boardwalk with mangroves, quite narrow out and back. You’ve got to be careful with people running towards you so we never made it back there again with all the young kids, it was too difficult getting out the door for 8am.
We moved to Batemans Bay and I joined a group of women who were training for various events, like triathlons or ultras. They do the City to Surf year after year in Wonder Woman costumes.
I joined them through a friend and I did a couple of test runs [at the new parkrun]. Then I started doing more and more volunteering and the next thing you know I was an RD.
We left when the parkrun was about one and a half. Because I was a regular RD I was halfway to milestones 50 [runs] and 25 [volunteers].
I didn’t want to quit there and Rotorua and Anderson were a long way to go from Gisborne.
We’ve lived in Gisborne previously and I had a lot of contacts. In the first week I talked to a couple of people about getting it started.
One was Quentin Harvey who works for Sport Gisborne Tairawhiti. The two of us worked to develop where the course was going to be.
Initially it was a bit confusing. I had the same name as the Event Director for Anderson!
We were a little slow off the mark. At first our course wasn’t going to meet the criteria. Doing the paperwork and the risk assessment we probably could have got it going earlier than we did but life got in the way.
We were all set to go and then Tauranga and Wanaka jumped ahead of us.
A lot of people have said they can’t believe Nelson doesn’t have a parkrun but I had the confidence to set it up because I knew how easy it was once you got over the initial hurdles. It doesn’t take up much of your time.
We met up with the Gisborne Harriers before we started. Last year they got some funding and hired someone to revamp their programme. At the local sports awards they won the club of the year and parkrun won community impact.
I think it’s easy if you’ve been RD five times, you know it’s not that scary. Batemans Bay was pretty small.
I describe parkrun as a safe to fail environment. It’s safe, it’s free. If you screw it up you won’t have spent much money. And the people are really understanding.
We don’t get many parkrunners coming because we’re the most easterly, it’s usually because they’re coming to visit family or they’re wanting to tick off another New Zealand parkrun. We’re pretty hard to get to but that being said, Grant Lincoln from Barry Curtis parkrun has come enough times that we recognise him.
We don’t get as many Anderson parkrunners as we thought we would.
We’ve got a guy who ran his first parkrun here and he was from Napier. He did 16 minutes and we told him he should go to Anderson, he said he’d never thought about it.
The value I get from our parkrun is getting to know our community and seeing them away from parkrun.
While in Gisborne…
Farmers market Saturdays 9.30am
Makorori Beach
Whataupoko Mountainbike Park
Climb Kaiti Hill
Eastwoodhill Arboretum, biggest arboretum in the southern hemisphere.