Tonga Marathon 2021 (& 100km Ultra Run) 🏃♂️🏃♀️
The official film for the Tonga Marathon 2021, including me doing my 100km island run that took me 17hrs 20 minutes...
---- GoFundMe:
All donations go to TAWS (see below).
The Tonga Marathon is a race and fun run that takes place from West to East on Tonga’s main island, Tongatapu, passing through Tonga’s beautiful scenery, and famous sites such as Captain Cook’s Landing Site and the Three-Headed Coconut - ending at one of Tonga’s most famous sites; the Ha’amonga a Maui Trilithon.
According to legend, this monument was made by the hero Maui, as the stones are thought to be too heavy for mortals to handle. Historical analysis dates it around the 1200s under the 11th King of Tonga; it is said to be built in honor of his two sons, represented by the upright pillars and joined with one pilar on the top representing their strong bond.
On the 17th July 2021, it became the finish line for the Tonga Marathon.
The Tonga Marathon 2021 took place in July 2021 and had three different races; the 5km run, the 21km half- marathon run, and the 42km full marathon run - as well as the 100km completed a few days beforehand.
🏃♀️ 100km RUN
The 100km island run both starts and finishes in Hata’afu, going around the circumference of the island, starting down Loto Road, onto Taufa’ahau Road, around the airport and back down to Hatafu on Liku road.
The 100km run was completed a few days before the main marathon event, and the weather was a little wetter… It took over 17hrs to complete in total, finishing around 9pm at night.
🏃 42km RUN
The full marathon 42km run started in the early hours of the morning. The full 42km marathon goes right through the island from west to east, Ha’atafu to Ha’amonga.
🏃♀️ 21km RUN
The 21km run starts at the very eastern tip of the island before going through Kolonga to Hoi, then back up to finish at the Ha’amonga.
🏃♂️ 5km RUN
The 5km run starts in Kolonga and finishes at Ha’amonga.
🐶🐱 TONGA ANIMAL WELFARE SOCIETY 🐶🐱
The Tonga Marathon was set up by volunteers to raise money for Tonga Animal Welfare Society (or TAWS for short). This is a new animal charity in Tonga doing amazing work to help the animals of Tonga. They provide care for animals as well as advice to families who want to learn more about their pets.
This year, the Tonga Marathon had over 50 participants from all over the world, including; Tonga, Samoa, New Zealand, Australia, UK, US, Mexico, the Philippines, and Japan.
And together, we managed to raise both money and awareness for a worthy cause.
We hope you can join us next year.
TONGA MARATHON 2022
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RUNNERS;
Congratulations to ALL the Runners of Tonga Marathon 2021! Well done!
Congratulations to;
Full Marathon Race Winners
1st place - Nick Karr
2nd place - Gary Danaher
3rd place (tie) - Amy Halapua & Sheena Naik
Half Marathon Winners
1st place - Kathryn Hindle
2nd place - Yamada Yusuke
3rd place - Yutaro Setoya
5K Race Winners
1st place - Rebecca Taylor
2nd place - Matt Kemp
3rd place - Ayano Ito
Thank you so much to everyone who participated and BIG thank you to all our volunteers! You were amazing!
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Trying to organise something in a country where things come together only last minute has been difficult, to say the least!
Me, Kim and Phil have been bouncing around the idea of the Tonga Marathon 2021 since the last one in October last year. Then in January we sat down to properly get it moving forward. After LOTS of dead-ends, we kept on going and have hopefully created something that can carry on for years to come, putting Tonga on the map as an amazing marathon destination as well as raising money for TAWS, creating awareness of animal welfare, and promoting a healthy lifestyle at the same time.
Phil did an amazing job in getting sponsorships and raffle together and practical stuff like putting up signs and planning the route etc.
Kimberlyn is an absolute star and never ceases to amaze me. For someone who is pretty motivated and enthusiastic, I even look up to her for her motivation and enthusiasm.
Although the lead-up to it was full of a lot of things not quite going to plan and definitely a healthy dose of stress, I have been saying this for weeks and I’m glad that I proved myself right; whatever happens in the lead-up happens, and on the day it will all come together and work out because that’s Tonga. And we must’ve done something right because the feedback from everyone has been so lovely and it means a lot to us that we could bring everyone together for this event, have some fun, and create some long-lasting memories.
Thanks to all the runners, all the spectators, raffle ticket buyers, supporters... Malo!
#tonga #ultrarun #marathonevent