On Sunday 31st March the sun rose at 7.33am and continued to shine through a clear blue sky that was the perfect back drop for an amazing day of walking or running along the Kāpiti coastline.
There were 271 people participating in the Web Genius Kāpiti Run for Youth 2019 either as individuals or within 21 different business and community groups. The atmosphere was kind, generous and fun as people got on with the event to raise money for Kāpiti youth through official Fundraising Partners who were all represented on the day.
“At this point it looks like we are going to raise more than last year which was $19,787,” says Richard Calkin, Founder of Web Genius. He goes on to say, “sponsorship remains open until Tuesday 9 April, so we are now on a mission to pass that amount before we reconcile and pay-out to Fundraising Partners.”
Fundraising Partners this year included: Challenge for Change, Kāpiti Basketball Association, Kāpiti College, Kāpiti Youth Support, Paraparaumu College, The Shed Project Kāpiti and ZEAL Kāpiti. The Shed Project Kāpiti also brought along a group of musicians to liven-up the registration before the starting siren at 10.30am.
Winners on the day achieved some amazing person bests and all in the name of charity:
12km run Alvirg Busa in 42 mins
12km walk Sonya Jackson in 89 mins
6km run Brent Atkins in 28 mins (and pushing a child in a buggy)
6km walk Kate Jones in 45 mins
Local business sponsorship plays a large part in the campaign with 2019 gathering 51 generous and community focused businesses to the value of $11,625. They were: GOLD: Affordable Granite Benchtops, Freemasons New Zealand (Lodge Waikanae #433), Mills Albert Ltd, Peter Jackson Plumbing, Steve Rose Electrical and Thai Lagoon Restaurant.
SILVER: allROOF Solutions Ltd, Autocrash @ Kāpiti, Capital Chem-Dry, Coastal Medical Rooms, Composting NZ Ltd, Crombie Lockwood (NZ) Ltd, Davis & Co Chartered Accountants Ltd, Deans & Associates (Kāpiti) Ltd, Essence Design Ltd, Fix It Roofing Ltd (Kowhai Guys, Gold Coast Mechanical Ltd, Integra Law Ltd, Jomp Hair Design, Kāpiti Island Nature Tours, Kāpiti Rest Home & Kena Kena Rest Home, Moneymax, New World Waikanae, Ōtaki Commercial Park, Perfectly Balanced, Proline Engineering, Spectrum Collision Repairs, The Remedy, Tu Ora Compass Health, Waikanae Chartered Club Inc; and BRONZE: Al Homes Kāpiti Horowhenua, Allan Gray Motors Ltd, Annie’s Gardens, Bens Buns, Carpet Court Paraparaumu, Coast to Coast Blinds, Columbus Coffee Kāpiti, Delaney Mitsubishi, Finman Services Paraparaumu Ltd, Finn’s Kāpiti, Haarlem Build , Kāpiti Hearing Ltd, Kāpiti Kruzer NZ, Kāpiti Tenpin Bowling & Family Entertainment Centre, Mulholland Construction, Nikau Foundation, One Agency – Kaz Deverill, PartyPerfect Catering, Raumati Sands Resort, Roofing Direct and Vanzeal.
Campaign Manager, Helene Judge says, “we also have a number of business that give their time, services and products to help make the event sustainable and fun.” The businesses involved are: Beach FM, City Fitness, Kāpiti Business Projects, Kāpiti Candy Co, Kāpiti Hire, Kāpiti Pure Water, Kāpiti Law, Kāpiti News, Peter Jackson Plumbing, R-Line, Shoe Clinic, SignCraft, 16Nine Photography and Web Genius. On the day, volunteer numbers swell with Web Genius staff, 49 Squadron Cadets, Paraparaumu Medical Centre and Kāpiti Youth Support all working to register participants or, who are acting as Marshalls and emergency medical on the beach at the start and turnaround point.