Photo by elpinto007 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
New Zealand › Auckland › Races
Round the Bays
8.4K in Auckland, normally held in March. A mixed 10K course — Waterfront run from the CBD to St Heliers; one of the largest fun runs in the world.
The Round the Bays at a glance
| Distances | 8.4K |
|---|---|
| Main distance | 8.4 km (10K) |
| Usually held | March |
| Course | Mixed |
| City | Auckland, New Zealand |
| Typical conditions | 21.7°C high / 16.5°C low, rain on ~36% of days |
Waterfront run from the CBD to St Heliers; one of the largest fun runs in the world.
Entering the Round the Bays
Entry fees, closing dates and start times are set by the organiser and change every year, so they are not reproduced here — a stale deadline is worse than none. The organiser’s own site and its social channels are the authoritative source for the current year, and are where entry opens.
What is stable, and what this page covers: the month the race is held, what the course is like, the conditions you should expect, and how long a build-up the distance needs.
Weather at previous Round the Bays races
Across the last ten years, Auckland in March has averaged a daily high of 21.7°C and a low of 16.5°C, with at least a millimetre of rain on about 36% of days.
These are recorded observations for the race month averaged over ten years, not a forecast and not a single past race day — race dates move, so one day’s figures would mislead. Source: Open-Meteo historical archive.
How to prepare for the Round the Bays
How long to train
Build for 8 to 10 weeks from a base you already hold rather than from nothing. For 10K the block should peak at a longest run of 12–14 km, reached at least two weeks before race day so there is time to taper. Ten days of reduced volume is enough of a taper at this distance; keep one short session at race pace in the final week.
Training for this course
The course mixes surfaces and gradients, so build a training block that does the same rather than repeating one flat loop. Vary where you run week to week so nothing on race day is unfamiliar.
Conditions in March
Conditions are usually good for racing: highs average 21.7°C and lows 16.5°C in March, which is close to ideal for 10K running. Dress for the temperature about ten degrees warmer than it actually is, since you will warm up within two kilometres. Rain is common — around 36% of days that month see at least a millimetre — so do some training runs wet and know which kit does not chafe.
Race week
Sleep matters most two nights before, not the night before, so protect that one. Keep eating normally with a modest tilt toward carbohydrate, lay out kit the night before, and do nothing new: no new shoes, no new breakfast, no new socks. Plan to arrive at the start with time to spare — 10K fields move slowly through bag drop and security.
Distances and where the race is run
- 8.4K — 8.4 km
The pin marks Auckland city centre, the area the Round the Bays starts and finishes in. This is not the course line: the route is set by the organiser and changes between editions, so the official course map for the current year is theirs to publish. The routes below are for training on the same roads.
Train on these roads: 10K routes in Auckland · long runs in Auckland · GPS art routes
Other races in Auckland
- Auckland Marathon — Marathon, Half marathon, 12K, 5K, October or November