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May 1, 2027
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The Red Stag Rotorua Marathon is a road marathon around Lake Rotorua in New Zealand's Bay of Plenty, first run in 1965 and billed as the country's oldest major marathon. It is organised by Athletics New Zealand with Red Stag Timber as naming partner, and is held on a Saturday in early May. The marathon is a single lap of the lake with a gently rolling profile and about 270 m of total climbing, on a course certified by World Athletics and AIMS. Since 1977 the lap has run clockwise; from 2027 it runs anti-clockwise, the direction of the first race in 1965, and the organisers say this puts runners closer to the water with longer views of the lake and Mokoia Island. In 2027 the whole event is based at the Rotorua lakefront, with the start and finish around the event village outside the Novotel Rotorua Lakeside. The same day has a half marathon starting at Hamurana Springs, a 10 km starting at Te Puia, a 5 km, and a Kids Mini Marathon the day before. The marathon has personalised drink-bottle stations along the course, and official timing for all events closes at 5 pm on race day. Around 6,000 runners and walkers take part across all distances each year.
Typical climate for the race month — an estimate, not a forecast or a race-day record
Early May is autumn in Rotorua: afternoons average about 15°C and mornings about 7°C, with rain on roughly ten days of the month.
Rotorua
The Rotorua Marathon was first run in 1965 and has been held almost every year since. The only cancellation was 1999, when flooding washed out parts of the course, and the 2020 event was postponed because of Covid-19. The 2026 race was the 62nd annual edition.
The 42.2 km lake loop has run clockwise since 1977, a change organisers made to keep road crossings manageable. For 2027 the organisers reversed it, calling it the biggest change in about 50 years, and the race returns to the direction in which it was first run in 1965.
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