Redwoods run on mountainbike tracks for charity | Rotorua Sport | Surfing, Rugby, Soccer, Football, Cricket in Rotorua

The mystique of the ultramarathon is enough to put some runners off but the Tarawera Ultramarathon organiser is putting on a run for all to enjoy - and with far-reaching benefits.

Paul Charteris has joined forces with the Rotorua Association of Triathletes (Rats) to hold a Christchurch earthquake charity run and walk.

The event is being held next Thursday at 5pm starting from the Redwoods Visitor Centre and taking in tracks normally dedicated to mountainbiking and horses.

Charteris said it was a joint idea between himself and Rats club president Kat Walbert to try to maximise the draw of the ultramarathon with social benefits. "We have so many runners coming from all over the world for the Tarawera Ultra we wanted to promote the Whakarewarewa Forest a bit more," Charteris said.

"The second goal was to bring more money into Rotorua by getting people to stay one extra night before race day.

"We want to showcase our forest and beautiful tracks and also give people a chance to mingle before race day."

Runners and walkers will be joined by legendary runner Barefoot Ted. He does all his running barefoot and has become something of a cult figure in the trail running community.

His appearance at the Thursday run has already been a drawcard for Charteris with one runner skipping university lectures in Wellington to run with Barefoot Ted.

"He has his groupies all over the world. I thought it would be like in Forrest Gump with people who just want to run with him. He's a very engaging and extremely talkative fellow."

Runners and walkers will be taken on undulating tracks from the visitor centre and the distance will be somewhere between 7km and 10km.

Tracks to be run on are Genesis, Rock Drop and Rosebank.

Charteris said he was grateful to the support of the Rotorua Mountainbike Club for allowing tracks to be used. Entry is by donation, which will go to the New Zealand Red Cross.

Barefoot Ted will be giving a talk on barefoot running at the Rotorua Convention Centre at 7.30pm that evening.