Palmerston North recently played host again to the 2019 edition of the Hilux New Zealand Rural Games, an annual 2-day sporting event organised by the non-profit New Zealand Rural Games Trust. The aim of the event is to get everyone of all ages active and involved.

More than 30,000 people attended the annual games in The Square in Palmerston North over the weekend of March 9-10, which attracted a participation of more than 200 top athletes (including national and world champions) across New Zealand and Australia battling for the prestigious Hilux New Zealand Rural Games titles.

In association with Sport New Zealand, the Games Trust developed competitive formats for ‘rural’ sports (or fondly known by the locals as “sports that built a nation”), such as gumboot-throwing, sheep shearing, speed tree climbing and speed fencing. But it was the Trans-Tasman ANZAXE Wood Chopping Championship, and the Highland Games ‘Heavies’ strongman competition that were the main highlights of this fun-filled event.

There were also several “have-a-go” events for the public, including speed-milking, coal-shovelling, barrel-rolling and hay-stacking. The events on olive stone-spitting, egg roulette, and cowpat-tossing (or throwing of cow dung) proved the most popular with the public.

As the accommodation partner for the games, the team from Copthorne Palmerston North dusted off the gumboots and got involved by operating a stand highlighting the benefits of the My Millennium loyalty programme.

Located just off The Square, the 89-room Copthorne Hotel Palmerston North is ideal for explorers and business travellers. Palmerston North is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatu-Wanganui region.

For more info on this unique event, visit www.ruralgames.co.nz