Weāre 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 whatās in the drop bag this week:
ššāāļøFull Kiwi Results At UTMB
š«Scenic Circles Backyard Ultra Results
šÆThings You May Have Missed
āļøStrava Segment Showdown
ā°ļøšMountain Skag Pic of the Week
šUpcoming event: Kinloch Off-road Marathon
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Kiwiās At UTMB
Say what you like about Ironman, but how good is the coverage at UTMB now?
What a fantastic week of racing. If youāre anything like me, you were up late frantically pushing refresh, willing the Kiwis homeš„±.
It started with watching the āelitesā go hammer and tong. Then ended up watching everyday people achieve what they once thought was impossible.
Then thereās the other side of the coin. Seeing peopleās dreams get crushedš„ (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.
Itās a cruel business, this ultra-running thing. But I guess thatās why weāre drawn to it. If we wanted easy, we would be down at the bowling green.
Below, Iāve put everyoneās result that I could find as a Kiwi (apologies if Iāve missed anyone.)
Top 10, middle of the pack, dead last, or DNF. It doesnāt matter.
Hold your head high regardless. You chose to chase your dream and have an experience that you will never forget. Thatās 94.8% further than 97.8% of people ever get.
UTMB: 172KMš | 10,000mšļø
Katie Wright (I know she ran for the UK, but we can all agree weāre happy to claim her) paced this perfectly. She moved up spots took soulsāļø on all but 2 of the 23 sections. After a DNF at TDS last year, the smile says it all.
š„Kiwi Women
šāāļøKatie Wright - 29:26:54 - 18th
šāāļøAnna OāByrne - 34:40:33 - 43rd
šāāļøSara Winter - 41:11:08 - 94th
šāāļøKirsten 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 Iām sure heās 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.
š„Kiwi Men
šāāļøDanny Jones - 21:55:59 - 12th
šāāļøScotty Hawker - 22:13:58 - 15th
šāāļøWilliam Bielby - 32:05:31 - 224th
šāāļøIan Morgan - 40:01:28 - 772nd
šāāļøCallum Morrison - 41:39:34 - 936th
šāāļøChris Atkinson - 42:00:12 - 969th
šāāļøGlen Browne - 43:15:34 - 1106th
šāāļøAndrew Winslade - 46:05:39 - 1502nd
šāāļøChris Carl - 46:18:47 - 1529th
šāāļøCameron Ker - DNFšŖ
šāāļøLouis Schindler - DNFšŖ
šāāļøScott Bougen - DNFšŖ
šāāļøTony Ashcroft - DNFšŖ
šāāļøSimon Neale - DNFšŖ
CCC: 100KMš | 6100Mšļø
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.
š„Kiwi Women
šāāļøBrooke Thomas - 15:38:28 - 39th
šāāļøRoxanne Shahtahmasebi - 18:29:19 - 78th
šāāļøDeborah Brown - DNFšŖ
š„Kiwi Men
šāāļøShawn OāLeary - 20:26:27 - 564th
šāāļøJames Rigby - 20:42:05 - 598th
šāāļøJamie McGregor - 21:27:50 - 683rd
šāāļøBenjamin Eitelberg - 24:33:02 -1072nd
šāāļøErnest Caballero - 25:14:51 - 1147th
šāāļøSean McWilliams - DNFšŖ
OCC: 55.0KMš| 3500šļø
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. Sheās 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.
š„Kiwi Women
šāāļøCaitlin Fiedler - 05:53:39 - 4th
šāāļøIsla Smith - 07:10:40 - 50th
šāāļøLouise Kerr - 11:00:20 - 284th
šāāļøWei 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.
š„Kiwi Men
šāāļøDavid Haunschmidt - 05:53:39 - 78th
šāāļøMatthew Beex - 07:54:52 - 306th
šāāļøTim Cable - 08:23:00 - 391st
šāāļøGraham Gove - 11:09:48 - 937th
TDS: 145153KMš| 9100Mšļø
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 Kās! Just what the doctor ordered.
š„Kiwi Women
šāāļøKirsten 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. Iām not sure how many they expected, but it sounds like a good turnout (Pigās backyard started with 60).
Unfortunately, I canāt find any listed results, so Iām operating off Instagram stories and Facebook. Apologies if Iāve got it wrong.
Menās & Overall Champion:
šGlen Sutton - 248.3km 37 laps
Top DNFs - Men šāāļøšāāļø
ā ļø Jayden Anker - 241.2km - 36 laps
ā ļø Ben O'Carroll - 221.1km - 33 Laps
Glen Sutton was the pre-race favourite. However, he didnāt have it all his way. Ben OāCarroll 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.
Iām sure heās 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.
Womenās Champion:
šJulia Chamberlain - 194.6km - 29 lapsšŖ
Top DNFs - Women šāāļøšāāļø
ā ļø Helen Waterworth - 180.9km - 27 laps
ā ļø 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 PBās, but it wasnāt enough for victory.
Well done to Paul and his team of volunteers for putting on a great debut event.
If youāre 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 HellsššGiveaway(Paid Subscriber)
Have you been having one Hell of a time?
Maybe youāve 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 āreal foodā you like to eat on a long recommendation.
The 8th entry will win a $50 Hells Pizza voucher, announced next week.
ššššššššššššššššššššššš
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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. Thatās 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 donāt 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
šāāļøšKelly Davenport - 2:16
ššTom Peck - 1:45
Sarah Mackay - Local Legend - 9 effortsš
Pukehīnau (Kiwifoot) Reserve - Run up
ššAllira Hanczakowski 2:41
šāāļøšTom 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 youāre 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 youāre 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 itās 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-barš«.
Standard entries close on Thursday, but you can also enter on the day.
#Mountain Skag Pic Of August
Itās 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 ā.ā) 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 - Iāve been working on a new home for the newsletter. www.trailrunningnz.com is now live. Itās 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.