Visitors to Te Kopua Domain may have noticed some structures going up around the skate park area and last week, the final touches were made on the Te Kopua Fitness and Exercise Course — a series of training stations made for the community to use as part of their health and fitness routine.
Part of an initiative by the Te Kopua Camp Board to develop the park to support outdoor activities, the training course features 13 stations, starting from warm ups and stretches and going on to the centerpiece, a three-sided structure with different activities on each face.
Local fitness guru Jack Grace in collaboration with the Camp Board and Te Kopua camping ground management designed the course to be “as easy or as hard as you want to work.”
“The course is designed to transition from different body bits so you get a full range of everything. It’s free for the community and the best thing is it fits into an already wonderful outdoor lifestyle,” says Jack, noting the course’s ideal placement at the domain.
Te Kopua Camp Board Chairman Colin Chung says the board has been planning to build the course “for some time now,” so the community and everyone that walks and runs has something to enhance their exercise routines.
“Part of the deed for the gifting of this land was that it be used for the benefit of the community, something like this course gives people a chance to get out and be more fit without costing them anything,” says Colin.
While the Board had “nowhere to put it at first” recent felling of he trees that bordered the soccer fields at the domain created the perfect empty space for the course.
Colin says sustainable materials were used where possible, using locally milled macrocarpa that contains no preservatives. “It was harder and more expensive but we tried to make an extra effort.”
Now finished and passed on to Rob Clark, Te Kopua campground manager, the team stress that the training and exercise course is an asset for the community to use but not abuse. Each station is signposted with instructions to guide you through the course and while the stations accommodate any level of fitness, commonsense is needed to avoid getting hurt.
Te Kopua fitness and exercise course is now officially completed and open for the community to use and Raglan residents can further look forward to a new BMX track to open in the space next to the skate park where the trees used to stand.
Maki Nishiyama
