The Moonlit Milford Mile, a night-time track race held for the first time in Te Anau on Saturday night, was both a novelty and a success, says race winner Dwight Grieve.

The event was run at 9pm in darkness, posing a challenge for competitors and added entertainment for spectators. 

Grieve, a police officer in Te Anau and member of Fiordland Athletics Club, says the event was a reimagining of the Milford Mile race; historically run from mile marker one on the Milford Road, through the town centre to the Te Anau Lakefront.

“This year our track events have been Covid-assassinated and hijacked.”

“I’ve been training with a small group of people here and we just thought ‘why not?’. We decided to hold it at night for a bit of a laugh.”

“It was really cool; we had glowsticks and flashing lights around the course, we had people watching from their balconies. The times weren’t overly fast. It’s a bit difficult when you can’t see 100% of the track,” he says.

“It generated a lot of talk and interest around the town, and I say we would definitely look at doing it again.”

Competitor Sagar Khemani. Photo: PRO Focus - Photography by Chris Watson

Fiordland Athletics Club President Shaun Cantwell says the night race was pulled together at short notice to give runners a track event despite many Covid-19-related cancellations. 

“We thought we could try out something a bit different. We had about 30 people watching, and we hope we can expand on that for next year.”

Cantwell has raced alongside famed New Zealand track legend Hamish Walker in front of crowds of up to 30 000 people. 

“I’m dead keen on those kinds of events and I wanted to see something of that nature here.”

He says the traditional Milford Mile event was poised to happen last year, with New Zealand Olympians Sam Tanner and Hayden Wilde booked to attend. 

However, Covid-19 had other plans, and the event had to be cancelled. 

Cantwell says he hopes a similar event is not off the table for the future. 

“It’s still on the cards for the future. We do have the contacts to get them here. We’ll just wait for this whole Covid situation to change before we start organising anything,” he says.