⛰️3 Peaks Results & Worst Run Ever
"it was starting to rain and hail and I thought I am in the midst of 'madmen'"
Your weekly fix of NZ trail running news
We’re like that 2nd 🥔potato fritter when you only order one. Always expected, and extra tasty.
Here's what’s in the drop bag this week:
3 Peaks Mountain Race Results
My Worst Run Ever
Upcoming Events: Riverhead Relapse
Stuff You May Have Missed
Mountain Skag Pic Of The Week
3 Peaks Mountain Race Results
Dunedin turned it on☀️ for Sunday's NZ Trail Champs at the 3 Peaks Mountain Race. A chilly start made way for warm but not hot running conditions. Visibility was perfect, and there was only a gentle ‘breeze’ to keep supporters cool.
A warm welcome from the priest of Pulpit Rock Photo:Aerobic Edge
3 Peaks + 1: 📏55KM | ⛰️2700M
Men's podium:
🥇Weston Hill - 4:54:58 - NEW CR! 🔥🔥🔥
🥈Daniel Jones - 5:15:42
🥉Oak Jones - 5:19:40
Weston hill vs Daniel Jones 🤤 - What a match-up. Jones arguably coming off the performance of his career at Tarawera and Hill (2020 NZ Champ), backing up an impressive Motatapu Ultra win & CR.
As expected, Hill and Jones quickly asserted their dominance and gapped the field. They ran up and over Flagstaff with Hill, testing out the elastic down the summit leading into the first aid station (8KM). Jones hung tight, and the 2 continued to run together. Heading up the climb to Pulpit Rock, Hill managed to grind out a 2-minute lead. 🌳Oak Jones, from the US🌭 via the big smoke of New Plymouth, was another couple minutes back in 3rd.
Daniel Jones trying to figure out what 2nd place means Photo:Aerobic Edge
That would be as close as it would get as Hill continued to … run faster than Jones. At Swampy Summit (3rd of the day), the lead had blown out to 10 minutes. By the time Hill had gone over the small speedbump that is Mt.Cargill, he was a full 15 minutes ahead⏱️, and the NZ Title was all but laced up. Dan Jones might not have been able to catch Hill, but he needed to keep the hammer down to retain his hold as the #1 Jones. Oak🌳 was only 2 minutes back at Swampy.
Weston on the tops stretching out his lead Photo:Aerobic Edge
Hill took the 3 Peaks + 1 victory in a record 4:54:58 and the NZ Short Course Trail Championship Title (I would say NZSCTC, but that’s not much shorter). Dan Jones fended off Oak to retain the Jones title, and all 3 went under the previous CR of 5:22:02.
Hill had this to say to Athletics NZ:
“it was unexpected as I’ve been pretty flat all week so I was apprehensive coming down to Dunedin. I started slow but steady just to see how I was going to go, and it turned out alright.
I ended up breaking the record as I was running scared from Dan more than anything,”
Weston Hill
That’s back-to-back victories and CRs. Maybe he should enter the South Island Ultra… I heard they’ve got a cash prize up for grabs💰.
Women's podium:
🥇Katie Morgan - 5:48:29
🥈Margie Campbell - 5:54:53
🥉Naomi Brand - 5:59:49
Katie Morgan was the favourite in a quality women’s field. However, there were 5-6 names on the start list that had the potential to lift the title.
Margie Campbell and Naomi Brand set the early pace🔥. The duet became a 3 piece as Morgan caught them at the summit of Flagstaff. The 3 ran together for quite some time before Morgan made her move heading up Pulpit Rock✝️, putting a couple minute gap on Campbell and Brand.
Katie Morgan leading out of Pulpi Rock Photo: Aerobic Edge
At Swampy Summit, the lead had grown to 4 minutes over Campbell and a further 4 minutes to Brand. However, this was far from done; it was only a few weeks since Morgan’s calf blew🤕 out at Old Ghost Ultra👻. No such incidents today. All those pesky calf raises must have done the trick. Morgan took it easy across the flats of Mt.Cargil before giving it everything she had to the finish.
Naomi Brand in hot pursuit Photo: Aerobic Edge
Morgan took the tape 6 minutes ahead of Campbell and 10 ahead of Brand. This rounds out an impressive two years. 🥇Crater Rim 53K,🥇 Kepler, 🥈 Old Ghost, and now defending her NZ Title at 3 peaks + 1.
Here is what Katie had to say about the race:
“Really enjoyed the race - such a variety of trails and some stunning sea and city views. Had a plan of just running my own race to stay uninjured for this one so very happy with how everything went and for defending my national title! Very fun having such a competitive women's field, was real close for the majority of the race”
Katie Morgan
Three Peaks: 📏26KM | ⛰️1350M
Women's podium:
🥇Ruth Croft - 2:35:17
🥈Kristy Eyles - 2:49:51
🥉Rebecca Allnut - 2:51:14
Ruth Croft backed up last year's 3Peaks + 1 victory (and CR) with a win in the OG 26K. However, she didn’t have things all her way - Kristy Eyles was only a few minutes back at Swampy (narrowly missing out on the fake 5K🤑 cash prize I somehow made up last week), and Rebecca Allnut was only a matter of seconds back from her.
However, Croft showed her class and continued to pull away. At the small summit of Mt.Cargill, Croft had compiled a 12-minute lead over Allnut. Eyles had dropped a couple of minutes back but was still in the fight ⚔️for 2nd.
Croft came into the finish in what became a comfortable 14-minute victory. Eyles managed to turn around the 2-minute deficit at Mt.Cargill to edge out Allnut by the same margin.
Men's podium:
🥇Harry Wager - 2:08:46
🥈Leon Miyahara - 2:22:19
🥉Lars Winther Christensen - 2:24:40
Harry Wager took a gamble and went all in from the gun. At Swampy Summit (apx 10KM), he was close to 5 minutes clear of the pack being led by Leon Miyahara.
The pack never closed any ground and by Mt.Cargill, Wager had an 11-minute lead over Miyahara, who was closely followed by Alex Braun. Wager would continue to stretch out, claiming victory by over 13 minutes. Braun faded in the final stages, which saw Lars Winther Christensen storm into a podium position.
Wager had this to say about his race strategy:
You got to know when to hold 'em,
Know when to fold 'em,
Know when to walk away,
And know when to run.
Or was that Kenny Rogers?
My Worst Run Ever
This week’s story is from The Godfather of Wellington Big Sunday Runs.
Like his Sunday missions, it’s long, so refill your coffee now and enjoy.
This week’s AI masterpiece
My good friend Sam Raphael was a well-known Ironman💪. I had recently returned from UK and had known Sam for years. I was in very good shape sub 3 marathon at London Marathon🏃♂️ and was stoked to be back in NZ and getting into the outdoors. Sam invited me to a race called the Tararua Mountain Race⛰️ (I had previously done IM with Sam).
I had no idea what it was or where the Tararuas were but there were some hills north of Wellington. But he said it had to be done as pair for first-timers, so I was keen.
We were at the start line at Kaitoke the atmosphere was electric and as usual, when the gun went I hammered🔨 it at race pace like a half marathon. Sam was very fit and hung behind me ..the pace was fast and there were other people around us (we were second fastest to Alpha that year)
All I remember was 2-3 hours of high-intensity, unrelenting mud, roots and climbing🧗 (remember I had no real backcountry wilderness running experience and I had no real knowledge of the course). So I hammered it for 2 hours or something and we finally cleared the bush and arrived at a hut in the open beyond the tree line🌲 to a hut ...Alpha Hut
I was rooted after hammering it from the start gun. I remember sitting on a deck completely broken, at a hut in the clag thinking we are finally at the top...I've given my all🥵…
It was misty☁️ and quite cold up there and I turned to Sam and said Im f🤬🤬kd but at least we are at the top. We were out of the bush and in the open. I will always remember him looking at me and replying "We haven't started climbing yet mate" I laughed at the joke.
Then slowly I looked around and saw people putting on jackets and a feeling in my stomach I realised he wasn't joking😰. I looked up and the clag dissipated. I saw some ridges rise up and it was then I realised ...I realised this was not normal. At that time, it was starting to rain and hail and I thought I am in the midst of 'madmen' as no one made any comments or seemed at least bit worried and just got on with the job.
So up and up we went I was stumbling at some stages it was so cold I couldn't do up my jacket my hands were too cold. I remember Sam saying If we don't get a move on we will freeze🥶....I have to say now I realise the experience of someone who has that knowledge is invaluable to pull a newbie through.
Anyway, we made it to Kime...I got a great life-saving cup of tea☕. I felt revitalised...This was when Kime was a wooden hut .......nestled in a hollow now it's a big flash modern hut...
Finally, we were sitting in sun at Otaki Forks.
I was hooked for life.
Chris “Martini” Martin
Keep the stories coming in! Send them to [email protected]
They can be short or long. Funny😂 or sad😭. They can even have a happy ending.
Upcoming Events
Riverhead Backyard Relaps
Saturday 1st of April - ???
It’s that time of year again - When people travel around the country to Riverhead to trip out in the forest. No, it’s not a hippy music festival; it’s the Riverhead Backyard Relaps!
Hallucinations are commonplace at Riverhead Relapse, No shrooms 🍄required.
Shaun Collins(Race Director) received an early April Fools call this year.
“Ohhh… you mean THIS April?… Not 2024?”
Uh oh - no venue, no race.
Finding a new base camp and course 3 weeks from an event is challenging. Fortunately, Shaun Collins has plenty of experience dealing with sticky situations.
I managed to snag a slither of his busy schedule to get his thoughts before this year’s race.
Now that the panic of finding a new basecamp and course is over - Do you think it could be a better overall setup for the event?
After a massive effort by 20-25 helpers at a working bee last weekend, we created an awesome new clearing. It’s amazing how it transformed from an old forestry skid site full of slash to a mint clearing amongst the tall pine trees. The event base will be mint!
Before
After
The course is pretty cool and has quite a bit of variation, but it's still 175m vert per loop, which is too much, but it’s the best I could manage in this restrictive area. The normal course we usually use has a great flow with the climb (135m vert per loop), mainly on gradual hills in the first 1/3 of the course. The new course has shorter hills, so it doesn't flow as nicely. People who have run it have rated it harder but really nice. It's a great mix of winding single track and open gravel road. The fastest lap someone's recorded to date in training is 35mins. All up if given a choice - we'll be back to the old venue next year for sure!
Do you think the addition of the night loop will take the race deeper than in previous years?
I've introduced a night look because of my comments above - the technical nature and vert are much more than I'd like, so a night loop will give them a rest. It's gravel roads out and back, so there are no technical trails to expend brain power on. Physically, it's still 145m vert, but there will be the ability to go a little faster for the same effort to allow more time to sleep/eat/rest. A different loop also creates something to look forward to - just two more laps until we change to the night loop - just 2 more laps to daylight and a more fun loop. All great in theory, but we'll see how they handle it.
You've raced in backyards, and you've organized backyards - What is the most common mistake you see people make?
Probably the most common mistake is eating/drinking too much. They get suckered into thinking because they come back to their tent every hour that, they need to eat and drink heaps every hour. But you don't do that in a normal long run, so people start to get bad guts from taking in too much. Better to try and stick to normal meal times for bigger feeds and snack in between.
Who do you think on the start list has the potential to go 300K+?
300+ might be an ask on this course with 175m vert per loop! 7 people have done more than 24 loops in the past NZ backyards. 16 have done more than 20 laps. People that could give it a nudge are the current NZ record holder with 46 loops Sam Harvey. 2023 Pigs Backyard Ultra winner Shannon Rhodes 25 loops), Fiona Hayvice (37 loops), Andrew McDowall (30 loops).
My money would be on 8-time world adventure racing world champ Stu Lynch who has tried this once before in 2021, cruised 16 loops doing hot laps once he was warmed up and claiming it was a bit boring but continuing. He stopped only because he had an adventure race the next week, so thought he shouldn’t beat himself up. He then proceeded to cycle home. I reckon with his AR pedigree of sleep deprivation, managing everything (food/drink/feet etc.) for heaps of hours and knowing how to continue when in the hurties. If he was keen on it, then he'd go for a long, long time!
Anything else you would like to add?
One of the buzzes I get out of putting this event on is seeing people turn up to do a few loops and run a cheeky 100km or something - the furthest distance they have ever run! It’s amazing, and the format aids this so much.
You can follow along with the live leaderboard at home here. Coverage might be a bit patchy at the new base, but keep an eye on the Insta & FB also.
Westie Runner, Gareth Morris has produced this awesome video of the NZ team competing in the covid affected Big Backs Yard. It’s not Riverhead Relaps, but it should get the fire burning regardless.
Things you may have missed
Camille Herron set the new 48-hour record at the Sri Chinmoy running festival in Straya🦘 over the weekend - Unofficially 435.2KM
Grant Pritchard, Martin Sedy & Joe Murphy made it down the SK MR 2 weekends ago. Check out Grant’s report. (Ya’ll want to hear more about big missions?)
Zane Robertson did a naughty thing. Read about it here. Listen to him talk about it here.
Mountain Skag pic of the week
Daryl Ross and Gwenan Riley are coming up Puffer Saddle. You can almost smell the glory.
This week's Mountain Skag pic was submitted by Craig Blacklock on behalf of Daryl Ross. Daryl took on the SK Valleys for the 3rd time - after a few swims down the Ruamahanga river, making a few creative route choices, he found himself about an hour behind where he wanted to be and ready to pull the pin.
Enter Gwenan Riley and Emma Pescini. Encouraging messages were sent, and operation #3rdtimesacharm was underway. These 2 extraordinary ladies went in and found Daryl and joined him for the remainder of his Mission. Job done in 24:45H
Tag @trailrunning.nz and use #mountainskag on Instagram or email [email protected] to enter.
Every entry goes into the monthly draw to win a Mountain Skag T-Shirt or hat.
We will be back next week with potentially the Riverhead Relaps winner (Who knows, they might still be going) & more.
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PS- Where is everyone buying their soft flasks from? I can’t bring myself to pay $50