The Selwyn Stampede Running & Walking Festival Sunday 12 November 2023, Foster Park, Rolleston
 

The hugely successful Selwyn Running Festival will make a welcome return on Sunday 12 November after being cancelled last year due to the residual effects of Covid 19.  The festival has been renamed the Selwyn Stampede Running & Walking Festival and will take place around Foster Park in Rolleston on Sunday 12 November.

“We are so excited to have this event back on our calendar in 2023 as it was sorely missed last year. We’re thrilled to be able to confirm a new location and name that reflects the broad community focus of the event” Commented Doug McSweeney, General Manager at the Selwyn Sports Trust.

Selwyn Sports Trust Trustee, Emma Wilson, commented that the festival was the catalyst for the formation of the Selwyn Sports Trust 10 years ago, and it epitomises what the Trust is all about.

“The festival was established in Leeston in 2010 to bring the community together and give everyone an opportunity to participate, no matter their ability.  We want to continue with this ethos in 2023 and include some improvements that will make the event even more appealing” Commented Wilson.

A 1km Kids Dash and a 5km circuit was introduced in 2021, the last time the festival was run in Leeston, and both formats created some wonderful opportunities to build more fun and atmosphere around the course.

“It was so cool to see so many young people take on the 1km Kids Dash. We also found that the 5km loop created a real buzz for all competitors, particularly those running 10kms, 15km or the half marathon, as they run past their support crews and families on two, three or four occasions.  It also gave us the opportunity to open the event up to teams of four, who will complete 5kms each in a relay format” Added Wilson.

Renaming the event, and including ‘walkers’ in the name, was important for the Trust to ensure that the whole community could participate.

“Sometime running events are promoted for runners with a focus on half marathon or 10km distances, however the Selwyn Stampede Running & Walking Festival, as it’s now known, will be delivered equally for walkers and runners of all ages and ability.  We just want to get people out and being active in a fun festival kind of way” Added McSweeney.

The relocation of the event from Leeston was also a considered decision based on some important factors.

“We know Leeston has been the home of the event from day one, however we sought feedback from the key people involved from the local community and they agreed the opportunity to move the event around the Selwyn region is a wonderful prospect.  A broader consideration was also the cost and safety to run these types of events when traffic management and road crossing are involved” Added Wilson.

The new location will lend itself to a safer environment with the circuit following the paved paths around Foster Park and then into a section of Faringdon.  This will allow the event to be open to participants of all ages and for families to run or walk together.

A new exciting element of the Stampede is Road Runners & Walkers Training Challenge, which will involve the four local Road Runners & Walkers groups from around the Selwyn region.

“We have four awesome community running and walking groups who connect once a week in the four locations around the region. For anyone who enters the Selwyn Stampede, they will get free entry to join the road runners and walkers for the whole month of October to practice for the main event in November” Commented Ellesmere Road Runners & Walkers hub volunteer Pauline Lay.

“We want to encourage as many new people as possible to walk or run the distance safely, so joining the Road Runners & Walkers is a great way to start with a 3km walk or run, and build this into the 5km distance.  This would be extra special if you can get your whole team or family along, because it’s much more fun if you run or walk in a group or as a part of a community” added Lincoln Road Runner & Walker hub volunteer Andrew Gormley.

The four Road Runners & Walkers groups are located in Lincoln, (Tuesday evening), Malvern (Tuesday evening), Ellesmere (Wednesday evening), and Rolleston (Thursday evening).

The Selwyn Stampede Running & Walking festival has officially gone on sale today, and for more information visit the Selwyn Sports Trust website:  www.selwynsportstrust.org.nz or www.stampede.nz

Additional Information:

Categories - individual

• 1km Kids Dash
• 5km walk or run
• 10km walk or run
• 21km half marathon run

Categories – Relay & Family Categories

• 20km team run (team of four - 5km per runner)
• 5km family run or walk

Road Runners & Walkers

Lincoln, Tuesday evening, starting at 6pm from Te Whāriki Reserve, Lincoln.

Malvern, Tuesday evening, starting at 6pm from the Malvern Netball Centre, Darfield.

Ellesmere, Wednesday evening, starting at 6pm from the Leeston RSA, Leeston

Rolleston, Thursday evening, start at 6pm from the Selwyn Sport Centre, Rolleston.

For more information, please visit:  www.selwynsportstrust.org.nz or www.stampede.nz

Article added: Tuesday 08 August 2023