On Sunday 31st March the sun rose at 7.33am and continued to shine through a clear blue sky that was the perfect back drop for an amazing day of walking or running along the Kapiti coastline.

There were 271 people participating either as individuals or within 21 different business and community groups. The atmosphere was kind, generous and fun as people got on with the event to raise money for Kapiti youth through official Fundraising Partners who were all represented on the day.

“At this point it looks like we are going to raise more than last year which was $19,787,” says Richard Calkin, Founder of Web Genius. He goes on to say, “sponsorship remains open until Tuesday 9 April, so we are now on a mission to pass that amount before we reconcile and pay-out to Fundraising Partners.”

Fundraising Partners this year included: Challenge for Change, Kapiti Basketball Association, Kapiti College, Kapiti Youth Support, Paraparaumu College, The Shed Project Kapiti and ZEAL Kapiti. The Shed Project Kapiti also bought along a group of musicians to liven-up the registration before the starting siren at 10.30am.

Winners on the day achieved some amazing person bests and all in the name of charity:
12km run – Alvirg Busa in 42 mins
12km walk – Sonya Jackson in 89 mins
6km run – Brent Atkins in 28 mins (and pushing a child in a buggy)
6km walk – Kate Jones in 45 mins

Local business sponsorship plays a large part in the campaign with 2019 gathering 51 generous and community focused businesses to the value of $11,625. They were: GOLD: Affordable Granite Benchtops, Freemasons New Zealand (Lodge Waikanae #433), Mills Albert Ltd, Peter Jackson Plumbing, Steve Rose Electrical and Thai Lagoon Restaurant.

SILVER: allROOF Solutions Ltd, Autocrash @ Kapiti, Capital Chem-Dry, Coastal Medical Rooms, Composting NZ Ltd, Crombie Lockwood (NZ) Ltd, Davis & Co Chartered Accountants Ltd, Deans & Associates (Kapiti) Ltd, Essence Design Ltd, Fix It Roofing Ltd (Kowhai Guys, Gold Coast Mechanical Ltd, Integra Law Ltd, Jomp Hair Design, Kapiti Island Nature Tours, Kapiti Rest Home & Kena Kena Rest Home, Moneymax, New World Waikanae, Otaki Commercial Park, Perfectly Balanced, Proline Engineering, Spectrum Collision Repairs, The Remedy, Tu Ora Compass Health, Waikanae Chartered Club Inc; and BRONZE: Al Homes Kapiti Horowhenua, Allan Gray Motors Ltd, Annie's Gardens, Bens Buns, Carpet Court Paraparaumu, Coast to Coast Blinds, Columbus Coffee Kapiti, Delaney Mitsubishi, Finman Services Paraparaumu Ltd, Finn's Kapiti, Haarlem Build , Kapiti Hearing Ltd, Kapiti Kruzer NZ, Kapiti Tenpin Bowling & Family Entertainment Centre, Mulholland Construction, Nikau Foundation, One Agency - Kaz Deverill, PartyPerfect Catering, Raumati Sands Resort, Roofing Direct and Vanzeal.

“We also have a number of business that give their time, services and products to help make the event sustainable and fun,” says Campaign Manager, Helene Judge. The businesses involved are: Beach FM, City Fitness, Kapiti Business Projects, Kapiti Candy Co, Kapiti Hire, Kapiti Pure Water, Kapiti Law, Kapiti News, Peter Jackson Plumbing, R-Line, Shoe Clinic, SignCraft, 16Nine Photography and Web Genius. On the day, volunteer numbers swell with Web Genius staff, 49 Squadron Cadets, Paraparaumu Medical Centre and Kapiti Youth Support all working to register participants or, who are acting as Marshalls and emergency medical on the beach at the start and turnaround point.

KR4Y is a fun walk or run on the beach between Paraparaumu and Raumati Beach raising money for Kapiti youth. There are four options: 12km or 6km walk or the 12km or 6km run. It’s free to register as an individual or group and we encourage every participant to achieve a minimum of $20 sponsorship that can be done easily and securely online. “Since inception in 2011 we have raised $100,000 to support youth in Kapiti so we hope to significantly add to that once we close sponsorship and reconcile very soon,” says Helene. The fundraising model focuses on returning as much money as we can back to the Kapiti youth community. All funds raised are split 70% to the Fundraising Partner chosen by the participant at the time of registration and 30% is retained to run the event.

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