🏁Upcoming Races: South Island Ultra, Akunamatata Backyard Ultra
⛰️💊Mountain Skag Pic Of The Week
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There were no events on over the weekend so this week it’s a chance to catch our collective breathe before spending a week dot watching Cocodona 250 which got underway over night.
No fancy intros this week, lets kick into it.
Auckland The New Mecca Of Elite Trail Running?
There I was.
Innocently minding my own business.
Beer in hand, sitting on the couch after a long week at work.
I think I’ll see what Dirt Church are going on about this week …
“Hot take #1, Auckland is now the elite trail running mecca of trail running …”
Now, if that doesn’t grab your attention, I don’t know what will. My first reaction was a big WwwwwwTtttttttFffffff😮.
I cleaned up the beer I spat across the lounge and had a longer think about it.
I’ll give them credit that they’re talking about running talent, not trail network talent … specifically how Aucklanders dominated the top 10 of Faultline.
Which got me thinking more about who would be our top milers? 🤔
Impromptu Power Rankings Time!
I’m going out on a limb and putting in my top 5 Female and Male Kiwis (Well, people who reside here, I’m not doing Visa checks, I’ll leave that to the politicians.)
Now, a couple of parameters - This is based on recentish form, like the last couple of years and this is actual 100 mile races, no backyard resting for a cup of tea type stuff.
🏃♀️Top 5 Female
Ruth Croft
Caitlin Fielder
Konoka Azumi
Naomi Brand
Emma Timmis
🏃Top 5 Male
Dan Jones
Sam Harvey
Simon Cochrane
Simon McLean
Louis Schindler
Now, I was never good at showing my workings in Math class, so I’ll leave it at that😝.
Who’s on your list?
Fire away in the comments of email through.
The State of 100 Miles In NZ
Now that you’ve got your T8 undies in a twist because I left your mate off my silly list, let’s talk 100-mile races in NZ.
It was also brought up on DCR, the small field in the Faultline miler, and I’ve got to be honest, it was on my mind all weekend.
The Faultline had a great big event vibe, the finish at the waterfront is unreal, and the courses have a good balance of challenging terrain while still allowing it to be a running race. You can fly in, race and leave; logistics are fairly simple with aid stations in very accessible areas.
You get a chance to run point to point which, outside of Tarawera and The Spectacle (to a degree), you don’t get anywhere else. Why was the field so small? I just don’t get it.
But then I took the time to look deeper at 100-mile races in NZ. Historically, 50 people lining up to run 100 miles is a good turnout. When you see a group of 50 people at a start line ready to run for the next 16-36 hours, it’s actually pretty mind-blowing🤯.
I think we suffer from some media-driven globalism where we hear how big trail running has become and how massive the sport is, so we presume everyone is running 100 miles. It’s simply not the case.
Here are the numbers for our main 100-mile races over recent years, from most recent left to right:
Northburn: 70, 58 … gets a bit ropey with broken links but about 40-50
Krayzie K’s: 12, 15, 13, 10, 4
Old Hanmer 100: 19, 18, 18, 14
Out of all those race fields, only Northburn has had one or two slightly bigger years, and they’ve got years of Terry Davis marketing prowess compounding behind it😂.
Now, what effect have Backyard Ultras had on entries into 100-mile events? It’s a bit like wondering if you ever walked in on your parents banging when you were younger and stopped them from conceiving another sibling, then wondering if you’re missing out on the best sibling ever or escaped a hellish childhood. Impossible to know.
Since Backyard records began in NZ, 165 individuals have a PB of 100 miles, although the data looks a couple of months out of date. But how many people between 120-154km set out to run 100 miles and failed? Who knows.
You could also view it the other way around. They’re more like a gateway drug. It gets people into the sport, and when they’re sick of running in circles, they spread their wings and find things like Naseby, Northland 100, etc.
“But Bradley, what about Tarawera?”
Ding ding. Yes, Tarawera is much bigger. Starting in 2018, there were 122 starters in its first year, but after several years of being the premium big event ultra in the country in a captive market, you’d say that wasn’t exactly an instant success either.
But look at it now, 508 entries this year and well into the 400s the last three years before that. What those totals don’t tell you is the NZ vs rest of world split. Now the data is a bit iffy because I couldn’t be bothered spending any more time on it, but out of the 307 finishes this year, 142 people selected NZ as their country. I’ve never worked out how to view the DNFs on the UTMB website, but I’m going to presume the proportion is similar, so out of 508 starters, let’s go with 233 who selected NZ.
Suddenly jumping from 50 odd to 200 doesn’t sound out of this world. I can see a world in 2029 where Faultline has 150-200 NZ starters and, with some savvy marketing, 100-odd internationals from Straya, Japan, China, etc. who would jump at the chance to run a point-to-point 100-mile race in the capital of NZ.
Now, where was I going with all of this? I don’t really have any farking idea to be honest, but it’s definitely time to wrap this ramble up. Maybe the field wasn’t small. Maybe we’ve just been gaslit by UTMB highlight reels into thinking every race should look like a music festival. The reality is 100 miles is still a long way to run, and most people don’t actually want to run that far😂.
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Things You May Have Missed
Old Ghost Ultra 2026 Race Video Is Out
Old Ghost sets the standard for live streams in the country, and they always make a bloody good race video. This year's out now, there’s lots of people in it, so see if you can see yourself!
Last week I posted that there was a petition going to Dunedin Council concerned that access to the Dunedin trail network in the Silver Stream and Silver Peaks areas was going to become restricted.
The council has responded, saying they’re only seeking to formalise existing arrangements. That sounds positive, but what that exactly means is anyone’s guess. Watch this space.
Tarawera Announced As 2027 Golden Ticket
Western States has announced its Golden Ticket races for 2027, and Tarawera once again makes the grade. It’s been fantastic to see in recent years our top local talent beat out international athletes to secure tickets and race on the big dance. Hopefully, 2027 is no different.
Jim Walmsley’s Bigger Than Western States?
Speaking of Golden Tickets … Jim Walmsley announced this week he’s going to be on the start line of Western States, thanks to Hoka, the naming sponsor, who made sh💩t happen. I’m in two minds on this one. Yes, as a viewer, it’s great to see a stacked field, and if someone else wins, they don’t have to have an asterisk after their name saying *Jim Walmsley didn’t run this year.
But on the other hand, doesn’t it water down the Golden Ticket race system? Walmsley couldn’t get fit enough to chase a Golden Ticket and now gets to race anyway. You’ve got other pro athletes fighting tooth and nail, risking injury and, in some cases, their livelihoods to make the race. I think it sets a dangerous precedent.
Who else is a big enough name to get a pass? I’d say Courtney and Kilian would get to jump security. What about our very own Ruth Croft? We like to think trail running is a “pure sport”, but public reach arounds are a bit on the chin for me.
Mission Desk
It’s been a bit quiet on the Mission Desk as of late, but this week it was busier than the sandbag department at Bunnings the night before a big race.
The Masterton Kid, AKA Brendan Varty was back at it over the weekend. Don’t worry you lot who get sick of me spouting on about SK’s, this time it had nothing to do with an SK … but it was still in the Tararua!
For the first time ever (AFAIK) I present to you …’
The Southern, Middle and Northern Tararua Crossings all in one push without sleep.
Brendan has taken it from pub map banter to an actual living, breathing thing. I only know of one other previous attempt.
The route came in at 126 odd k and 11k elevation over what is considered about 11-12 days tramping in a time of 36h 36m 37s … to think he was that close to 36:36:36 and he blew it!
Anyway, I’ve gone on enough about it, here are a few questions I got through to Brendan on his lunch break.
Ready for action
How long has this been on the matrix, and what was it like planning for something that hadn’t yet been achieved?
“Well, funnily enough, you were the first person to ever mention the Triple Crossing to me back in 2024. Having done all eight SKs and then the 1500s at the end of the 24/25 season, the Tararua Triple Crossing immediately became my #1 goal for the 25/26 season, with the sub-20hr SKMR being the “B mission” for the year.”
“Planning something that had never been done before excited me more than anything and heightened my desire to get it done.”
“Back on April 1st and 2nd, I attempted it with a perfect weather window and a full moon. I fuelled poorly and paid the price, needing to stop at Anderson’s for a rest and then “quitting” at Otaki Forks.”
“Quitting is something I can’t stomach, so of course, the fact that I had failed was eating away at me, and I was looking for every opportunity to have another crack.”
“With a huge snow dump last week, I honestly thought the ship had sailed, and it was going to have to be next season’s mission. But the Tararua weather gods, as well as the farming gods—and even the moon gods—presented me with another opportunity on Saturday, the 2nd of May. So I was back at Poads Road at 4am more determined than ever to get it done.”
The weather in Wellington and the Waiarapa was mint- but how was it up in the range? Was there still decent snow?
“Saturday’s weather was perfect, with enough of a cold breeze to keep the temperature spot on. Saturday night was also perfect, with a huge full moon beaming down as I made my way through the Middle Crossing.”
“Sunday was an absolute bluebird day without a breath of wind, meaning it was a bit hot for my liking. But with some leftover snow between Bridge Peak and Hector, I was able to use ice to cool myself down by shoving it down my back and under my cap. I was too hot between Hector and Alpha, but for 36 hours spent in the range, it was close to ideal.”
Did you get close to pulling the pin at any time or were you tracking well the whole time?
“Unlike SKs and the 1500s, the Triple Crossing obviously sees you at road ends throughout the mission, making it easy to pull the pin if you’ve had enough. I asked myself some pretty big questions at each road end. At The Pines, it was an easy answer: keep going.”
“Holdsworth—not quite so easy, but yep, keep going. Otaki Forks, after that terrible Y2YY track, was a much harder answer, but I managed to talk myself into keeping moving.”
Mt Hector Summit, on the “Home Stretch”
When you look at all you’ve achieved - where does this sit for you?
“There’s no doubt about it—this is my greatest mountain running achievement.”
Mountain Skag Baby! Never enough for this man.
Any thing you’d like to say to the readers or TRnZ?
“I don’t want to hit your readers with any cliché b*******, but I’d like to think I’m an example of not giving up after one try. We all fail, we all make mistakes, but it’s only a real failure if you don’t go back, right your wrongs, and get it done.”
Thanks for your time Brendan. It’s immense what you’ve achieved in the Tararua in the last 3 years.
I’ve also caught wind that the pride of Eketāhuna, Hannah Lund and Molly Spark knocked off the Craigieburn Round over the weekend too - hopefully I can get some more info on that for next weekend.
Remember, don’t watch the dot. Be the dot!
FIFTY-TWO Paid Crew Giveaway
This month, 5 x Lucky Paid Crew will win Campbell Forlong’s new book “Fifty-Two” + I’ll have some codes to give away for the audiobook recorded by the man himself.
If you’ve never heard of Campbell, he became world famous in Waikato for running 52 marathons in 52 weeks in his 52nd year.
You might know him as the infectiously enthusiastic guy who can’t get enough of The Goat and The Ring of Fire.
Regardless, you don’t need to know Campbell do enjoy his book. I’m 3/4 of the way through, and it’s got me thinking about what big challenges I’ve been dodging.
What’s Campbell’s biggest lesson from writing the book?
To enter:
Become a Paid Subscriber below (if you’re not already)
It’s $5 a month. That’s less than a litre of petrol
Email your answer to trailrunningnz@gmail.com
Not sure what the differences between the tiers are?
A big CHUR👍 to all the Paid Subs who are keeping this silly dream of mine alive!
Upcoming Events
The South Island Ultra
Saturday, May 9
Man, the Best Coast punches above its weight for events. Old Ghost Ultra, Paparoa Ultra, Wild West Backyard Ultra, Rocky Point, and of course this week, the South Island Ultra.
It’s been three years since the race directors made headlines around the trail running world. In my eyes, they’ve done their time, and we can all just move on and remember that they made a $10,000 donation to Dan Jones’ Western States 2023 campaign.
Here’s what’s on offer at South Island Ultra:
📏100KM| Greymouth to Hokitika
📏54KM | Old Christchurch Road to Hokitika
📏24KM | Lake Kaniere to Hokitika
Now unlike OGU and Paparoa Ultra, which show off the rugged terrain and gritty nature of the West Coast, the South Island Ultra is a touch more refined. It’s mainly on a relatively flat cycle trail, gaining just 700m of elevation over 100km.
What should you expect to see on your stroll along the cycle trail?
“Runners will see Lakes, Reservoirs, Rivers, Streams, Water Races, Swing Bridges, Bridges from Historic Tram Lines, A Western Town, Forestry, Wetlands, Board Walks, Mountains and the Sea, just to name a few things”
SI Ultra Website
It’s not every race that you get to see a Western town!
As you’d expect from a cycle trail, the trails are well graded. Your finish time should be closer to your road-running time than in other trail races.
This would be up there for the fastest ultra in the country next to the new Wanaka Ultra, and definitely the fastest 100km.
Fingers crossed the famous West Coast weather holds off, and it’s another top year at the country's worst-named race, The South Island Ultra.
Last year 90 runners and crew descended on Otematatatata for the inaugural Best Dam Ultra, eating the town out of bananas and drinking the pub dry - and that was only Steve Tripp on Friday night!😮.
You’re not alone if you have no idea where Otematatatata is.
I’ll leave Steve Tripp to explain.
“Otematata is the middle of everywhere - smacked roughly halfway between Dunedin, Christchurch and Wanaka. In other words the only places that really matter.”
“It has a wetlands walkway which is not wet. It’s got almost no vert and covers an area between the pub and Lake Aviemore - both have scenic value.”
The metal Pterodactyl and the infamous Shannon Rhodes Photo: Brad Tripp
“There’s a day course (looping around the wetlands) and a night course (out and back towards Benmore Dam). Both courses have between 17 and 27m of vert (flatter but much prettier than Blue Lake).”
You might also remember it as the host of the last Backyard Ultra NZ Teams Satellites World Champs thingymabob.
Last year, Macee Latimer announced herself on the scene, knocking off old salty sea dog Glenn Sutton to take the win. Macee isn’t back this year after qualifying for the NZ team at M*A*S*H, but the line-up of lunatics still looks like one of the deepest in the country.
There are currently 10 runners with a 30+ PB on the start list:
Julia Chamberlain - 51
Glenn Sutton - 49
Hunter Wight - 38
TomTurtle - 37
Krisztian Kormos - 36
Brent Fletcher, Andy Smith - 35
Maya Edmondson - 34
Chad Gillespie. Jeremy Solakof - 33
Simon Cromarty - 30
Add in another 8 runners with a 100-mile PB, and there are enough bruised old bananas here for a lip-smackingly good banana cake.
Sponsor entries have been a thing at WSER for years - just happens to be Jim this year so everyone has noticed but the reach-around entry is part of the system I'm totally fine with it. Hardrock reach-arounds on the other hand....
Sponsor entries have been a thing at WSER for years - just happens to be Jim this year so everyone has noticed but the reach-around entry is part of the system I'm totally fine with it. Hardrock reach-arounds on the other hand....