Watch the world’s fastest mile runners blast past in the Nelson Road Mile in December

A far-sighted bunch of eyecare professionals (ECPs) are gearing up to launch a new global trail- and road-running festival in Nelson this December, which offers a special discount and prizes for Kiwi ECPs.

Dubbed The Spectacle, this ambitious multi-event is the brainchild of a community of passionate runners including Matthews Eyecare CEO Michael Cochrane, co-owner Julian Matthews and former high-performance sport administrator Kurt Tyson, Essilor Luxottica’s New Zealand sales director.

Matthews Eyecare CEO Michael Cochrane, here doing the Bondi to Manly ultra in Sydney

“It has always been my dream to host a large, global scale trail event and Julian, as you may know, has had a little bit to do with running,” said ultra-runner Cochrane. Matthews represented New Zealand at the 2016 Rio Olympics in the 1,500m and has a sub-four-minute indoor mile under his belt. “So, when I shared my little vision for a big trail run in Nelson, Julian said, ‘I think what would be even better is if we got some of the best Olympic 1,500m runners around the world and we had a road mile on a Saturday night in the summertime with the streets lined with spectators’.”

Oakley then came on board as a sponsor and, after partnering with Athletics New Zealand, the team is now set to create a globally recognised Nelson running event, said Cochrane, offering a unique combination of high-energy road racing and adventure-trail running for everyone from world-class runners to everyday joggers. “Our goal is to create a halo effect for the local community, drawing people to the region at other times of the year to run on these courses and enjoy the beauty it has to offer,” he added.

Inviting industry colleges to join the fun, the team has affectionately labelled the event ‘The Unofficial NZ Running Championships for Optics’, with award categories and prizes for fastest optometrist, dispensing optician and more, said Cochrane. “Optometrists and dispensing opticians are quite a competitive bunch and I can’t wait to one day go into an optometrist’s room and see a trophy saying ‘Fastest optom in New Zealand’.”

Tyson will participate in the 10km trail run and the road mile, alongside his family, and said he hopes to see many avid optics runners joining him. “Being a lifelong sports fanatic, I was drawn immediately to The Spectacle and its unique approach to the typical running event. Combining both trail and road-running disciplines, including some of the world's top distance runners, creates a truly remarkable festival of running!”

Whether you're a casual jogger or an elite runner, the event is about bringing runners of all levels and backgrounds together to forge new heroes and inspire personal bests, said Cochrane. “We all came to love running from different backgrounds and run at different levels, but what unites us is our love for the run. Together, we aim to breathe new life into Aotearoa's running community and make running fun for everyone, regardless of where you are in your running journey.”

Event categories include the road mile, road 5km, road relays, 10km (trail), 21.1km (trail), 50km (trail), 100km (trail) and 100 mile (trail). Eyecare professionals will receive a 10% discount if they apply using the code ‘NZ Optics’.

For more information and to sign up, click here https://www.thespectacle.co.nz/ - and don’t forget the discount code ‘NZ Optics’!