A new Māori endurance event centred around the elements of the Māori Gods is set to take place in Auckland in November.
Hawaiki Toa includes a run, swim and obstacle course at the world-class Vector Wero White Water Park, Manukau.
Organiser Beez Te Waati, of haka theatre group Hawaiki TU, says on each leg of the course, participants will encounter uniquely Māori challenges.
“Hawaiki Toa is a six-kilometre km obstacle course. The first course is the one-kilometre swim and all you have to do is dive into the water and your mission is to find a pounamu. That’s your ticket out. You go into the second course which is Te Hauhake o Aotearoa.
“You will run three kilometres and your mission is to find a taura here, or neck brace. The neck brace is to go through the pounamu. You tie it around your neck. That is your ticket through to the pātūwatawata of the fortress within Hawaiki Toa.”
He says the event was designed to allow people to feel the vibrations and the energy of the land.
“We want Māori and non-Māori to experience the life force within us which we call mauri and where we raise a frequency so high it just matches the ability to be able to live a prosperous life with purpose and potential.”
Events at Hawaiki Toa on November 17 will cover three levels of fitness; beginners, intermediate and advanced.