Tarawera Ultramarathon is a trail running event which includes a 21 km, 50 km, 102 km and a 100-mile ultramarathon trail race, with the inaugural event held in 2009, it is part of the Ultra-Trail World Tour.[1] It is held annually in February and takes place in Rotorua, New Zealand. Awards are given to top men and women finishers in each category.
The race was created by Paul Charteris.
Event history
The inaugural race was over an 85 km distance and was won by New Zealanders, Kerry Suter and Jean Beaumont. Kerry backed up his 2009 win with a further win in 2010, this time over a new distance, 100 km. In 2017 the 100 km race was extended by 2 km to a complete distance of 102 km. In 2018 the inaugural 100 mile race[2] was added to the event.
The 2023 edition is hosted as part of the UTMB World Series.[3]
Course records
The 102 km course ran from Rotorua to Kawerau from 2009 to 2017. The old course records were set in 2017 by Americans Camille Herron (8:56:00) and Jim Walmsley (7:23:32). The course changed direction in 2018, starting in Kawerau in and finishing in Rotorua. In 2018, 100 miles was added to the events. The courses have had deviations over the years due to inclement weather. The records for the current course are held by New Zealanders Ruth Croft and Daniel Jones, both set in 2025.[4]
Results and past winners
| Female | Nationality | Time | Male | Nationality | Time | Note | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009[a] | Jean Beaumont | 
|
Kerry Suter |
|
|||
| 2010 | Fleur Bromley | Kerry Suter |
|
||||
| 2011 | Amy Campbell | Sam Wreford | |||||
| 2012 | Nicola Gildersleeve | Mick Donges | |||||
| 2013 | Ruby Muir | Sage Canaday | |||||
| 2014 | Jo Johansen | Sage Canaday | |||||
| 2015 | Ruby Muir | Dylan Bowman | |||||
| 2016 | Fiona Hayvice | Jonas Buud | 
|
||||
| 2017 | Camille Herron | 
|
8:56:00 (Course Record) | Jim Walmsley |
|
7:23:32 (Course Record) | Rotorua to Kawerau course |
| 2018 | Kelly Wolf | Dylan Bowman | Course changed from Kawerau to Rotorua | ||||
| 2019 | Courtney Dauwalter | Reece Edwards | |||||
| 2020 | Manuela Soccol | 
|
Tom Evans | 
|
|||
| 2021 | Ruth Croft |
|
Rhys Johnston |
|
|||
| 2023 | Nancy Jiang |
|
Dan Jones |
|
|||
| 2024 | Ruth Croft |
|
Dan Jones |
|
|||
| 2025[4] | Ruth Croft |
|
8:24:34 (course record) | Dan Jones |
|
7:17:42 (course record) |
| Female | Nationality | Time | Male | Nationality | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Sally McRae |
|
Adrian Prigent | 
|
||
| 2019 | Camille Herron |
|
Jeff Browning |
|
||
| 2020 | Ailsa Campbell | Vladimir Shatrov | ||||
| 2021 | Katie Wright | Matt Urbanski | ||||
| 2023 | Katie Wright | Zach Miller | ||||
| 2024 | Konoka Azumi | Adrian Macdonald |
References
- ^ “Herron and Walmsley smash 102km Tarawera Ultra records with speed off the mark”. www.taraweraultra.co.nz. 11 Feb 2017. Archived from the original on March 20, 2017. Retrieved 2023-04-20.
- ^ SD-Beau (2019-12-10). “The Mighty Tarawera Ultra”. ExpandaSign NZ. Retrieved 2025-08-20.
- ^ “UTMB World Series Events”. UTMB World Series. Retrieved 2022-12-08.
- ^ a b Horanyi, Eszter (15 February 2025). “2025 Tarawera by UTMB 102k Results: Kiwis Daniel Jones and Ruth Croft Defend Titles”. iRunFar.
Notes
- ^ 85km course