Running on October 25, the Saturday of Labour Weekend, the Bayleys Brecon St Grunt involves head-to-head elimination races up and down the two flights of the Brecon St steps — one step at a time.
Open to anyone 18 and over, the winners of each category — female, male and mixed community or business teams of three — pocket $1000 cash on the day, thanks to local realtor Bayleys.
There’ll be a maximum of 32 entries in each individual category and 12 in the teams category.
Entries — $25 for individuals and $50 for teams — open via Eventfinda at 9am today.
Proceeds, including fundraising on the day, will be split between Hato Hone St John and local neurodiversity charity, Pivotal Point.
Dreamt up by veteran Mountain Scene chief news hound Philip ‘Scoop’ Chandler, the grunt was originally due to run in 2022, but was canned at the last minute due to Covid crowd restrictions.
Scoop says the aim at the time was to provide some stimulus to the beleaguered CBD, and the hospitality sector in particular.
"My aim’s still the same, but I’m also keen to recapture the flavour of those madcap events we used to enjoy during Winter Festival.
"I’m a bit of a CBD tragic myself, and with the likes of Winter Festival and Luma in the Gardens gone, there’s a lack of fun events to drag people back to town."
Ironically, Scoop points out, those same Brecon St steps are being employed tomorrow night by NZSki for the first rail jam there since pre-Covid days.
He adds his event’s being well supported by neighbouring hospo outlets Lone Star, Harry’s Pool Bar and The Locker Room Sports Bar, which will also provide good spectator areas.
Following registrations on the day, from 12pm, the first races kick off 12.30pm.
However, if there’s rain brewing, the event will run the next day.
