Trail running has exploded in popularity across the globe, reaching into most wild corners of our spaceball (see what I did there? confused? does a ball have corners?), and now the last remaining outpost (perhaps) is about to fall to the sound of runners – or at east one runner – pounding the ancient soil at the feet of the giant Rapa Nui statues. 
The Inaugural N.U.T.R. (Nui Ultra Trail Run) has been launched, to be held on 25 April on Rapa Nui / Easter Island, adrift from its mother nation, Ecuador, in the Pacific. .
This new off-road running event follows the 65km Ara Mahiva trail around the circumference of Easter Island.
April 25th 2016 will see the running of the new trail event based in Hanga Roa, the sleepy capital of Easter Island (Rapa Nui).
Sydney based runner and travel writer Dan Slater will be launching the event, the NUTR, by running solo and unsupported around the coastline of this magical isle, a distance of approximately 65km.
Dan came up with the idea for the NUTR when he got the opportunity to visit Chile and needed a credible excuse to extend the trip to include Easter Island. He has since discovered that the route follows a traditional trail called the Ara Mahiva, and has only been run once in recent history (by Susie Stephen of longrunergy.com). If successful, the event may become a regular fixture on the trail running calendar.
As a journalist, Dan regularly writes for the Australian publications Australian Geographic Outdoor, Great Walks, Trail Run Mag and Wild, as well as numerous overseas magazines. His last running event was the 50km Wild Endurance in 2014, which he and his running partner won with a new course record.
Not wishing to lose that winning feeling, Dan is making the event an invitational and not inviting anyone else to participate.
“I hope to secure a win,” said Dan from his training ground in Inner West Sydney, “and I think my chances are good as long as I don’t fall off a cliff or run into a cow.”
Dan has a website and review blog www.thisisnotaholiday.com and has written a book about the trials of travelling through Africa on a budget of $10 a day.
Follow Dan’s run progress by visiting the official event Facebook page www.facebook.com/nutr2016 