The effort was part of the Mt Iron Mega Challenge, hosted by Kinisi Running — a running shop in Three Parks — and now in its third year.
The premise is simple, with members of the Wānaka community invited to come and do as many ascents of Mt Iron as they want to contribute to the overall total completed as part of the challenge.
Records for the number of ascents were set by both men and women this year.
Tom Smeeton completed 28 ascents, running over 143km in the process, while Kate Hollocks completed 24 laps.
About 25 dogs completed a climb, and the youngest human to get up and down the mountain under their own steam was aged 3.
In total, 767 ascents of Mt Iron were completed by 196 walkers and runners, totalling almost 180,000m of vertical ascent — the equivalent of about 20 Mt Everests, or just under half the distance to the International Space Station.
Ian Evans, the founder of Kinisi Running said, ‘‘the only parameter is that you need to get to the summit of Mt Iron, but you can choose to do it any way you wanted.
‘‘Some people did the loop, while people who were trying to be as efficient as possible, or to do as many ascents as they could, were going up and down the front face,’’ Mr Evans said.
This year, the event was supported by Mitre 10 in Wānaka, with a base set up in Three Parks for runners to register their efforts and put their feet up between ascents.
The result was an infectious atmosphere which saw people pushing themselves to new limits, and to take on new experiences, Mr Evans said.
‘‘What’s really great about the challenge is that so many people ran further than they’d ever gone before, and most had never run through the night before.
‘‘It’s a really great opportunity for people that have never run at night because there are other people around, it’s social, it’s safe.’’
The event represents Kinisi Running’s contribution to the Himalayan Trust’s Summit Challenge, a fundraiser run by the charity which encourages people to raise money by taking taking on vertical ascent challenges.
The Himalayan Trust was founded in 1961 by Sir Edmund Hillary in response to the poverty he witnessed in the Everest region in Nepal.
Today, the general manager of the trust is Sir Edmund Hillary’s grandson, Alexander Hillary, who said that the money raised this year will be primarily used to further the trust education programmes.
‘‘The Himalayan Trust has programmes around healthcare, menstrual health, reforestation and water systems, but this year the Summit Challenge has been more for our education side.
‘‘These are things like teacher training or scholarships for students that otherwise wouldn’t be able to attend school.
‘‘And then we’re also trying to rebuild a school in Thame which was destroyed in a big flood caused by a glacial lake outburst in August 2024,’’ Mr Hillary said.
As of Tuesday, when the Summit Challenge ends, participants had climbed 1,156,262m, raising over $75,000.
