Sat, 14 Feb 2026
Once again Maryanne and I made the annual pilgrimage to Westport (this year was my 34th trip to Westport) to
take part in the 43rd Buller Gorge Marathon weekend.
Over the years we have competed in the full marathon, half marathon and in the latter years as part of a team doing the marathon relay. Four years ago, a 10km was introduced and Maryanne and I entered this event which takes place on the newly formed Kawatiri Coastal Trail. Since the forming of this trail four years ago progress has been made and the trail now extends as far as Charleston.
Sadly this year I had some back issues the week leading up to the race and after having a terrible sleep on the Friday night on a mattress with a hollow in the middle and which probably should have been put out to pasture long ago, I woke with a terrible back pain and there was no way that I was going to be able to run, so for another
year I had to contend with being a spectator.
Again we travelled down on the 2am Bluebridge crossing Wednesday morning and drove through to Nelson where
we stayed with our friends in Stoke and then travelled down to Westport on Friday morning. As usual we stopped
in Murchison for lunch and after leaving Murchison we then struck heavy rain which accompanied us to Westport.
After a mad dash in the rain to pick up our race packs we then headed out to our accommodation at Carters
Beach.
Saturday morning and the weather was fine with a light breeze for everyone to contend with. At prizegiving we
were informed that the numbers were slightly up on the previous year with 1012 entrants up from the 900 in 2025.
In the full marathon there were 107 finishers,
half marathon run 411 and 89 in the half marathon walk,
50 four-person marathon relay teams and
in the 10km, 205 runners and walkers.
The attendance has dropped over the past few years, down from the early day when there were 900+ entries in the half marathon alone. As the event fell on Valentines Day this year every finisher received a special Valentine Day medal and a drink bottle.
Again the prize giving was well run with a good number of major spot prizes drawn out and this year our friend
Meryl from Nelson won one of the four $1000 travel vouchers.
Maryanne had a good run in the 10km with a time of 1:12:20.
Also taking part this year from Wellington Runners and Walkers were
Liz Morrison 1:15.08;
Carol Douce 1:25.07 and
Ann Stewart 1:26.17.
Next year is the 44th running of this event and will take place on Saturday 13th February 2027.
John Palmer