🥝Complete Kiwi UTMB Results
And the latest from Scenic Circle Backyard Timaru💫
We’re there for you like your favourite barista on a Monday morning. No queues, your coffee is made and your muffin is already heated.
Here's what’s in the drop bag this week:
🏃🏃♀️Full Kiwi Results At UTMB
💫Scenic Circles Backyard Ultra Results
🎯Things You May Have Missed
⚔️Strava Segment Showdown
⛰️💊Mountain Skag Pic of the Week
🏁Upcoming event: Kinloch Off-road Marathon
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Kiwi’s At UTMB
Say what you like about Ironman, but how good is the coverage at UTMB now?
What a fantastic week of racing. If you’re anything like me, you were up late frantically pushing refresh, willing the Kiwis home🥱.
It started with watching the ‘elites’ go hammer and tong. Then ended up watching everyday people achieve what they once thought was impossible.
Then there’s the other side of the coin. Seeing people’s dreams get crushed😥 (sometimes by mere minutes). People you know have worked just as hard, taken time away from their loved ones, and spent a decent chunk of cash.
It’s a cruel business, this ultra-running thing. But I guess that’s why we’re drawn to it. If we wanted easy, we would be down at the bowling green.
Below, I’ve put everyone’s result that I could find as a Kiwi (apologies if I’ve missed anyone.)
Top 10, middle of the pack, dead last, or DNF. It doesn’t matter.
Hold your head high regardless. You chose to chase your dream and have an experience that you will never forget. That’s 94.8% further than 97.8% of people ever get.
UTMB: 172KM📏 | 10,000m👆️
Katie Wright (I know she ran for the UK, but we can all agree we’re happy to claim her) paced this perfectly. She moved up spots took souls⚔️ on all but 2 of the 23 sections. After a DNF at TDS last year, the smile says it all.
🥝Kiwi Women
🏃♀️Katie Wright - 29:26:54 - 18th
🏃♀️Anna O’Byrne - 34:40:33 - 43rd
🏃♀️Sara Winter - 41:11:08 - 94th
🏃♀️Kirsten Rodeka - 43:14:32 - 122nd
Scotty Hawker was hunting in 7th and on track to better his 2019 time of 21:48 (3rd) when a stomach issue derailed his race somewhere before the last big climb. That is a brave finish, and I’m sure he’s glad to stick the landing after a DNF last year.
Danny Jones made a strong debut with the poles in hand. He bobbed between 10th and 20th for most of the race. Just as it looked like he was slipping backward, he would push his way back through the ranks.
🥝Kiwi Men
🏃♂️Danny Jones - 21:55:59 - 12th
🏃♂️Scotty Hawker - 22:13:58 - 15th
🏃♂️William Bielby - 32:05:31 - 224th
🏃♂️Ian Morgan - 40:01:28 - 772nd
🏃♂️Callum Morrison - 41:39:34 - 936th
🏃♂️Chris Atkinson - 42:00:12 - 969th
🏃♂️Glen Browne - 43:15:34 - 1106th
🏃♂️Andrew Winslade - 46:05:39 - 1502nd
🏃♂️Chris Carl - 46:18:47 - 1529th
🏃♂️Cameron Ker - DNF💪
🏃♂️Louis Schindler - DNF💪
🏃♂️Scott Bougen - DNF💪
🏃♂️Tony Ashcroft - DNF💪
🏃♂️Simon Neale - DNF💪
CCC: 100KM📏 | 6100M👆️
Brooke Thomas made it around in one piece without further injuring her broken humerus. Not only that, she finished 39th in one of the most highly competitive fields in the world.
🥝Kiwi Women
🏃♀️Brooke Thomas - 15:38:28 - 39th
🏃♀️Roxanne Shahtahmasebi - 18:29:19 - 78th
🏃♀️Deborah Brown - DNF💪
🥝Kiwi Men
🏃♂️Shawn O’Leary - 20:26:27 - 564th
🏃♂️James Rigby - 20:42:05 - 598th
🏃♂️Jamie McGregor - 21:27:50 - 683rd
🏃♂️Benjamin Eitelberg - 24:33:02 -1072nd
🏃♂️Ernest Caballero - 25:14:51 - 1147th
🏃♂️Sean McWilliams - DNF💪
OCC: 55.0KM📏| 3500👆️
Caitlin Fielder ran a patient race and surged through the back 1/3 to almost land on the podium. It's great to see her mixing it up at the top again.
Isla Smith (based in Mallorca) had a strong race in her first crack at UTMB. She’s been living and training in Spain, with a background in multisport; I wouldn't be surprised to see her name starting to climb the results table further.
🥝Kiwi Women
🏃♀️Caitlin Fiedler - 05:53:39 - 4th
🏃♀️Isla Smith - 07:10:40 - 50th
🏃♀️Louise Kerr - 11:00:20 - 284th
🏃♀️Wei Hu - 11:16:41 - 307th
A bung hammy and a poor starting position meant The Flying Doctor prescribed some chill pills and soaked in the views. Still not a bad result. Maybe next year, we will see what he can do in a top international field.
🥝Kiwi Men
🏃♂️David Haunschmidt - 05:53:39 - 78th
🏃♂️Matthew Beex - 07:54:52 - 306th
🏃♂️Tim Cable - 08:23:00 - 391st
🏃♂️Graham Gove - 11:09:48 - 937th
TDS: 145153KM📏| 9100M👆️
Kirsten Foley was the sole Kiwi running surviving TDS. And boy, did she get more than she signed up for.
A late summer storm moved in and brought snow down under 2,000 m. This made a technical course even more dangerous. It was the TDS where a runner from the Czech Republic fell to their death in 2021.
The course got re-routed, which resulted in an extra 8 bonus K’s! Just what the doctor ordered.
🥝Kiwi Women
🏃♀️Kirsten Foley - 39:13:47 - 65th
Well done, Kirsten. A great result on a monster course.
Scenic Circles Backyard Ultra Results
On Saturday, 59 runners headed off to run in circles at the latest Backyard Ultra in Timaru. I’m not sure how many they expected, but it sounds like a good turnout (Pig’s backyard started with 60).
Unfortunately, I can’t find any listed results, so I’m operating off Instagram stories and Facebook. Apologies if I’ve got it wrong.
Men’s & Overall Champion:
🏆Glen Sutton - 248.3km 37 laps
Top DNFs - Men 🏃♂️🏃♂️
☠️ Jayden Anker - 241.2km - 36 laps
☠️ Ben O'Carroll - 221.1km - 33 Laps
Glen Sutton was the pre-race favourite. However, he didn’t have it all his way. Ben O’Carroll had an impressive Backyard debut, posting 221.1km; not many people go over 200km on their first attempt!
Jayden Anker improved on his KMBU 23 total of 194.6 for a staggering 47km PB. Sutton saw off the challengers and looked like he had plenty left in the tank.
I’m sure he’s stoked with the win, but he was only 1 lap away from tying his PB. A tiny part of him might wish he got a few more laps.
Women’s Champion:
🏆Julia Chamberlain - 194.6km - 29 laps💪
Top DNFs - Women 🏃♀️🏃♀️
☠️ Helen Waterworth - 180.9km - 27 laps
☠️ Hadani Woodruff - 174.2km - 26 laps
Heading in, I thought Helen Waterworth or Hadani Woodruff would win this. Julia Chamberlain had other ideas. In what I THINK is her Backyard Ultra debut, she came tantalizingly close to joining Katie Wright and Fiona Hayvice in the 200km club.
Helen Waterworth and Hadani Woodruff posted PB’s, but it wasn’t enough for victory.
Well done to Paul and his team of volunteers for putting on a great debut event.
If you’re feeling inspired to run around in circles, your next opportunities are:
River Run Back Yard - 28/10/23
Arrowtown Backyard Ultra - 11/11/23
$50 Hells😈🍕Giveaway(Paid Subscriber)
Have you been having one Hell of a time?
Maybe you’ve had one Hell of a good time?
Or are you curled up in bed feeling like Hell after a weekend of dot-watching?
Either way, you could win a $50 Hells Pizza Voucher.
Paid subscribers only- Email trailrunningnz@gmail.com with your favourite ‘real food’ you like to eat on a long recommendation.
The 8th entry will win a $50 Hells Pizza voucher, announced next week.
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Things You May Have Missed
WUU2K Marathon Champ Thomas Barnes broke the Tip Track Marathon record (Full Results) in 3:34. That’s 10 minutes faster than Danny Jones*(his was a training run.)
If you missed UTMB over the weekend, this is a great place to start
Then, chase it down with this.
Strava Segment Showdown
I don’t think the first segment could have gone any better.
Multiple crown changes, lactic acid flowing down the trail, Strava police, and a lot of fun somewhere in there.
Final results for August.
Pukehīnau (Kiwifoot) Reserve - Run down
🏃♀️👑Kelly Davenport - 2:16
🏃👑Tom Peck - 1:45
Sarah Mackay - Local Legend - 9 efforts😎
Pukehīnau (Kiwifoot) Reserve - Run up
🏃👑Allira Hanczakowski 2:41
🏃♀️👑Tom Peck - 2:27
Congratulations to Allira, Kelly, and Tom, who held the crowns at the end of August.
Head to the Strava Club later this afternoon (Monday PM) to check out the latest segments.
Upcoming Events
Kinloch Off-road Marathon
Saturday, September 9th
If you want to run an event in Taupo but CBF running an Ultra - The Kinloch Offroad Challenge could be what you’re after.
What I like about this event is that they have 2 different courses for the full marathon and half marathon. The marathon takes you out of Kinlock onto the Great Lake Trail. This will give you a great chance to reccie a good chunk of the Taupo Ultra course if you’re running it in October.
The half marathon also runs on a large chunk of the Taupo Ultra course. If you intend to run Taupo Ultra, I would advise running the full marathon, as the Kinloch Head Track is probably the highlight, and it’s always a good idea to save the best parts for race day.
If you travel to Taupo for the event, enter at least the half marathon. The 5km will cost you more than emptying the mini-bar😫.
Standard entries close on Thursday, but you can also enter on the day.
#Mountain Skag Pic Of August
It’s time to decide the winner of #Mountainskag August.
Make sure you vote for your favourite below.
#Mountain Skag Pic Of The Week
This week's #Mountain Skag pic is from Brendan Varty. No alps, no glaciars. No Problem.
Tag @trailrunning.nz (NOTE THE “.”) and use #mountainskag on Instagram or email trailrunningnz@gmail.com to enter.
Every entry has a chance to win the monthly giveaway of a Mountain Skag T-shirt or hat.
We will be back next week with more trail-running news, yarns, and glory.
It takes hours to write this newsletter but only 8 seconds to forward it to a friend.
PS - I’ve been working on a new home for the newsletter. www.trailrunningnz.com is now live. It’s a bit basic at the moment but I will be slowly adding to the site so make sure you check in from time to time.