August · Efate
The Efate Round Island Relay: Teams in Stages Around the Ring Road
A relay around the whole of Efate on the sealed ring road, run by teams in stages over a single day.
The course
The ring road runs roughly 130 kilometres around the island, starting and finishing in Port Vila. Teams divide it into legs and hand over at fixed points, with support vehicles moving runners between them.
Who runs it
Local clubs, workplaces, schools and visiting teams. It is a community event rather than a championship, and the field reflects that.
When
August, in the middle of the dry season, when the road is reliable and the heat is at its most manageable.
How it runs
Teams divide the ring road into legs and hand over at fixed points around the island, with support vehicles leapfrogging their runners. The full circuit is about 130 kilometres and the event takes a single day, starting early to avoid the middle of it.
Who takes part
Workplaces, schools, church groups, clubs and visiting teams. It is a community event, and the field reflects that — serious runners and people walking their leg both finish.
Running the circuit
The sealed ring road around Efate runs through villages, along the coast and over the low hills of the north, with the only sustained climbs on the eastern side. It is a scenic circuit and a hot one, and heat, not distance, is what decides most legs.
When and how to join
August, in the middle of the dry season. Entry is through the organising athletics body in Port Vila, and visiting teams are welcomed — the logistics of support vehicles are the real constraint, not the running.
Common questions
How long is the course?
About 130 kilometres, the full sealed ring road around Efate, divided into legs between teams.
When does it run?
August, in the middle of the dry season, starting early to avoid the heat of the day.
Can visitors enter?
Yes. Visiting teams are welcomed; the real constraint is arranging support vehicles rather than the running itself.
Is it competitive?
There are results, but it is a community event. Club runners and people walking their leg both finish.
Why it is worth turning up for
It is one of the few occasions when the ring road is used by the whole island at once, and the villages along it treat the passing of the runners as an event in itself. For a visitor it is an unusually direct way to see rural Efate on a day when it is looking outward.
Practical points for a visiting team
Support vehicles are the constraint: a team needs at least one, ideally two, and hire cars are finite on Efate in August. Water and shade have to be carried, since the gaps between villages on the eastern side offer neither. Entries go through the athletics body in Port Vila, not online.
Watching instead of running
The handover points are spread around the island and are the places to see it, particularly on the north coast where villages turn out. Following the whole event by car is possible and is how most support crews spend the day, though it means starting before dawn.
The ring road as infrastructure
The sealed circuit completed in 2010 is the single largest piece of transport infrastructure on Efate and it changed the island. Villages that were half a day from Port Vila became an hour away, produce reached the market fresh, and the day-trip economy that now supports much of the north coast became possible. The relay is in part a celebration of that.
Conditions on the day
August mornings are around 20°C and climb quickly. There is little shade on the eastern side, the surface is good throughout, and the only sustained climbs are in the north. Support vehicles carry water because there is nothing between villages.
Running in Vanuatu generally
There is an active running community in Port Vila with regular club events, and the Vanuatu Athletics Federation organises the national calendar. Heat and humidity are what limit a runner here: even in the dry season, anything after mid-morning is hard work, which is why events start early.
Other events on the calendar
Independence Day on 30 July brings sports meetings across the country, and school and provincial athletics run through the dry season. None of it is heavily publicised internationally, and the way to find out what is on is to ask locally instead of searching before arriving.