The latest event in the total sport line-up is the Love Taupo Trail Festival, and is 100% about bringing a wide range of people to participate in a quality line-up of trail-based events.
Beyond the events, it’s about connecting with others (and ourselves) on and off the trails, to make new friends, to catch up with old ones, to capture valuable whanau time, to make new memories, and to celebrate and cherish the magic of nature and outdoors, and the benefits we get by being outside in nature.
A space and place to celebrate all the good things about being outdoors in nature
Fri 26th to Sun 28th April 2024
An awesome line-up of events that’ll get you into nature and onto some amazing trails!
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Kids Craters MTB Event
Fri 26th Apr
(2pm start @ The Hub)The perfect entrée to Saturday’s Craters Classic MTB event. On Friday afternoon, Bike Taupo will organise a multi-lap MTB event, aimed at getting the little (and big) ones onto bikes, and heading into the forest for a super-cool bike adventure!!
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Evening multi-lap trail run/walk event
Fri 26th Apr
(5.30pm start @ The Hub)After the Fri MTB event finishes, we’ll get in there and set up an awesome multi-lap course, which will head into the evening and the darkness – bring your headlamp! Designed for individuals and/or teams, this one will be a great warm-up for the rest of the weekend’s trail festivities.
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Craters Classic MTB Event
Sat 27th Apr
(9am start @ The Hub)Taupo is home of some of the best old school XC single track mountain biking in the NZ. Craters Classic courses are designed to showcase some of the 80km of single track network available in Craters MTB Park. The event is run by Bike Taupo and that means all profits are returned to track building and maintenance. Nice one!
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Individual or Team Rogaine
Sat 27th Apr
(1.30pm start @ Spa Park)Not the sexiest name on the planet, however, rogaines are the best events ever! It’s basic navigation, where you set off (by yourself or in a team) with a map and your running shoes, and try and find as many markers as possible in a set time. No course, so there’s some strategy involved. Get back within the designated timeframe, or you start getting penalties for every minute your late back.
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Craters Forest Trail Run/Walk
Sun 28th Apr
(9am start @ The Hub)Run or walk the best trails in the Craters forest, some old and some new. Big ups to Bike Taupo, who have been in there rebuilding tracks and trails following that pesky cyclone, Gabrielle. Hit the trails and run or walk a variety of distance options; from a 2km kids dash to a quality 21km half marathon, and everything in between.
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Kid's Activity Zone
This spot is going to be so awesome and will be open at all times the Hub festival site is open. We’re working with the super-cool Sarah from Stepping Stones, who has put together an amazing line-up of kid-focused activities and entertainment - with a focus on nature and the outdoors of course.
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Tales from the trails - a fireside chat
One of the themes we’re proudly standing behind at this festival is the conversation around our mental health & fitness. It’s a really big deal and great to see it becoming somewhat normalised. We’re partnering with the good people at Movember, who are doing such great mahi in this space.
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The Wellness Spot
I think we all know secretly that if we hit those trails reasonably regularly, that we should supplement all of this fun stuff with equally fun exercises that restore and rejuvenate our bodies - we only get one of them, so best we look after the one we got given! We have a great selection of local Taupo folk, all super knowledgeable in the areas of stretching, pilates, yoga etc.
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Festival Party @ 2 Mile Bay Sailing Club
We can’t have a festival without a party now can we?! And when we party in Taupo there’s really only one place to go, and that’s the single coolest spot in town - the 2 Mile Bay Sailing Club, the only bar that sits on the lake!
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Earth Day Tree Planting
Throughout the Love Taupo Trail Festival we are celebrating the magic of being outdoors in nature, doing the things we love with our friends and whanau. These trails we love, they’re very often surrounded by beautiful trees. So we thought, let’s create trees as the ‘currency’ of the festival - for every pair of shoes (big or small) and wheel that cross a finish line in any of the events on offer, we’ll plant a tree.
Joy · Connect · Nourish · Gratitude · Escape · Inspire · Achieve · Energise · Breathe · Smile · Aroha ·
Joy · Connect · Nourish · Gratitude · Escape · Inspire · Achieve · Energise · Breathe · Smile · Aroha ·
The Wi-Fi’s not so good in the forest,
but you’ll find a way better connection.
What’s the Love Taupo Trail Festival all about?
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We at Total Sport have been thinking about this concept for a few years now, and are beyond stoked to be in a position to finally be able to deliver this event to you! Here at Total Sport, we feel really privileged to be able to put on events that get like-minded people off the couch, and into some stunning, natural locations, to participate in these types of participation events. To be able to connect (with others, and ourselves) outside in nature is 100% where the magic happens. So, to be able to extend our philosophy into a 3-day trail-based festival is ridiculously exciting, for us, and hopefully you too!
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It’s really easy to be a part of the Love Taupo Trail Festival, just come along and throw yourself into any (or all) of the 5 trail-based participation events on offer. To do it best you’d head along for the whole weekend (Fri-Sun) and immerse yourself in any of the offerings that appeal. There’s heaps to do beyond the participation events too. The event hub (based at the Hub ) will be a good place to be throughout the weekend. You can dive in deep and buy a festival pass, which will pout heaps of goodies into your little mits, or you can pick and choose the bits you want to do.
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