The Southern Crossing (formerly The Tararua Mountain Race), is widely renowned as one of the hardest mountain running events in New Zealand. It is also one of the oldest – and is now in its 21st year.
The 35 km course traverses from east to west through the Tararua Forest Park, taking in over 2250 metres of vertical ascent, with a total descent of over 2450 metres.
The scenery of the event is dramatic, from the deep mud, tree roots and steep climbs over the first 16 kilometres in the bush, to the exposed alpine conditions on the ridgeline of the Tararua Mountain range – the views are spectacular on a good day, but the weather conditions are highly changeable – it snowed the day before the 2010 race last March.
This is a mountain race not for the faint hearted, but it is highly achievable with a good base of training – first time participants are advised to enter as a two person team.
The Southern Crossing takes place on Saturday November 5 from Kaitoke, with the first wave of participants starting at 7:00am.
Saturday November 5, 2011
Kaitoke
Otaki Forks
Kime Hut
Mt Hector
Marchant Ridge
The course: 35km across the Tararua mountains
Alpha Hut
NEWS
Congratulations to Daniel Clendon and Fleur Pawsey, 2011 winners of the Southern Crossing. Full results are here
Thanks for the photos, taken during the extremely cold and inordinately slippery conditions that characterised 2011. Photos to be uploaded to the gallery soon, and eventually a small video about the crossing and its history.
Check out the Southern Crossing race trailer, made during the Labour weekend run-through: link