Russell Park, River Terrace, Waipukurau, Central Hawke’s Bay
Type of Course – Out and back
Shoes Required – Road
Things to know
Public toilets and water fountain by start/finish.
The course is not permanently marked.
There is parking suitable for motorhomes (not overnight).
Low risk of cancellation
Cafe: Zinc Café, 9 Northumberland Street, Waipukurau
Location of start: The event starts at Hamilton Park.
Getting there by public transport
There is no public transport in Gore, but a taxi could be taken (03) 2089444.
Getting there on foot
See below
Getting there by road
From the North: Travel down State Highway SH2, over main bridge into town. Turn left.
From the South: Travel State Highway SH2, take last right before passing over bridge. Turn left.
Plenty of parking available adjacent to the start/finish area.
Stats
First run: April 9, 2022
Inaugural attendance: 95
Record attendance: 95 (9/4/2022)
Course records
Women: Amanda Waldron 19:50 (11/6/2022)
Men: Grant Lincoln 18:48 (30/4/2022)
The story behind Russell Park parkrun…
Tony Valentine, founding event director
“I started running to help me get fit again after I injured my shoulder in a bike accident. I needed to do something and one of those things was running.
“I heard about parkrun and went along to Anderson and then the Flaxmere events.
“I ended up moving to Waipukurau and Philip Shambrook (Anderson and Flaxmere founding team member), who I knew from parkrun and other running groups, kept dropping hints about parkrun here.
“After a while he asked me to go on a recce of the course. The plans were already in motion and we had a route. A week later Covid happened and everything was parked up.
“I’d like to see the kids from school come along to supplement their athletics but also people who want to come along for a walk.
“There’s that post-Covid malaise so getting people active is good for their mental health.
“My son is into running and there’s no running clubs here so I thought this would be good for others like him. It’s also something we can do together.”
“We’ve had really good reactions from locals.”