Te Araroa is a 3000 km long route that runs the length of both islands of New Zealand. This is a new route that was opened on December 3, 2011. The route to requires some kayaking to complete, including a 120km descent of the Whanganui River, and there are "hazard zones", including some dangerous rivers and the Cook Straight, where trampers are advised to fine another way around (such as by hitch hiking, or taking a ferry across the Straight).
The trail changes regularly so if people want the most recent and accurate route they are best to get it from the Te Araroa website. The latest GPS and maps for Te Araroa are here: https://www.teararoa.org.nz/before-you-go/maps-and-notes-download/
The FKT should be for the CURRENT route.
theadrenalist.com reports that Richard Bowles ran the entire Te Araroa, from north to south, from Oct. 13 to Dec. 17, 2012. The complete report from that site is as follows:
"On Monday, Aussie ultramarathoner Richard Bowles stomped a worn-down running shoe in Bluff, New Zealand, completing an epic 1,898 mile one-man race down the length of the islands. 'It’s absolutely stunning; every day is another bit of paradise,' Bowles told Grough in mid November, while he was about half-way through his trek. Bowles set off on the journey on Oct. 13 from Cape Reinga, the northernmost tip of the North Island, pacing himself at just under 29.2 miles per day. On day 65, he hit the end of the line, becoming the first person to ever run the length of Te Araroa, a world-class cross-country trail which opened just last year."
Other links relating to more recent holders of FKTs for Te Araroa:
Comments
I will be attempting to set a new self-supported FKT in the coming days, starting at Cape Reinga. I will play by the self-supported rules (no outside support, no hitching etc) and will aim for a ~65 day hike. Due to the nature of the trail and official TA guidelines it will however be necessary to use publicly-available transport as follows:
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-Ferry from Opua to Okiato, road walk detour due to starting late in the season and no kayak operators willing to rent kayaks to single persons.
-Ngunguru river crossing via James, as per the official TA route and trail notes (tide dependent)
-Marsden Point river taxi via Blair, as per the official TA route and trail notes
-Kayak section starting from Whakahoro rather than Mangapapa due to kayak rental availability as a single persons. This is in line with what the current FKT holder did.
-Water transport from Picton to Ship Cove
-Rakaia braided river bypass, via Shuttle
-Rangitata braided river bypass, via Shuttle
-Lake Wakitapu hazard zone/not officially part of the TA trail, via shuttle or taxi
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TBC locations that I’ll send a box to once in Wellington:
St Arnaud
Boyle River
Arthurs Pass
BirchwoodÂ
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I will track the hike on my public Strava account, using a Coros Apex Pro 2 watch:
https://www.strava.com/athletes/40506007
I take that all back - ha! I already knew this trail absolutely wasn’t for me after day 4. Preserving the body for some other fun adventures. I know there’s a couple others attempting an FKT right now, so best of luck to them!