Readying for takeoff at Momona
Dunedin International Airport at Momona is a busy place, and some unusual flights have taken off from there, including the first flight to view the aurora australis. Now the airport is the venue for another first.
The “Run the Runway” event will take place on 22 January, providing a chance for people to run or walk Dunedin’s 1.9km runway from 6.15 am to shortly before 8am. The event has been enthusiastically supported by the airport management and approved by the CAA.
The event starts at dawn and the runway will be cleared of all people and equipment by 8am when the first commercial flight out of Dunedin is scheduled to take off.
Run the Runway is being organised by the Taieri Community Facilities Trust and the Mosgiel Rotary Club to raise funds for the building of an all-weather, covered aquatic centre in Mosgiel, not far from the airport. The existing aquatic centre in the town is over 80 years old and has come to the end of its useful life, according to trust chairwoman Irene Mosley.
The event will be open to people aged 16 years and over, and participation will be limited to 500 people at $100 each. Participants may choose to walk or run from one end of the runway at the airport and then back again—if they are not too puffed out!
Irene Mosley says those who want to be competitive may have their times recorded on a digital facility operating on the day, although there will be no prize for the fastest time. That prize for the community will be a new state-of-the-art aquatic facility in Mosgiel.
She says, “The organising committee hopes to raise $50,000 from this event. To stimulate interest we have included a business house challenge. This means people may pay to watch the event or seek out sponsorship as a way of raising money for the building of the aquatic centre.”
While there is no prize for the fastest time running the runway, the person raising the most money for the aquatic facility will receive a free flight with the Keane family’s Mainland Air, based at Dunedin International Airport.
Ms Mosley says the organisers have been working for 18 months on this project and are “very excited to have the CAA’s sign off on this event. We are all set to take off. This will be a New Zealand first and is one of only three runway runs held in the southern hemisphere.
“We think it brings a unique opportunity to the public, at the same time raising funds for the planned 12-month-a-year aquatic centre on the Taieri in Dunedin.”
Dunedin International Airport business development general manager Megan Crawford says the airport’s management team is “right behind” the event.
- Report by John King.
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