Cougar Race Results & TMR changes hands
“First things first. Everyone gets a sausage. This is non-negotiable."
Your weekly fix of NZ trail running news
We’re here for you like that friend who only starts laughing AFTER they check you’re okay when you face plant.
Here's what’s in the drop bag this week:
Cougar Run Results🐆
TMR Back From The Dead🧟
My Worst Run Ever🤢
Things You May Have Missed📁
Preview: Wuu2k🏃♀️🏃
Sox Footwear NZ giveaway🧦
Mountain Skag Pic of the Month/Week⛰️
Note: Due to the length, some email browsers will hide some of the content - make sure you click ‘view entire email’ or click through to substack.
The Cougar Run Race Results
The Black Panther Cougar Run was on over the weekend in Tokoroa. Now, it’s no secret that Tokoroa doesn’t make my top 200 NZ holiday spots list.
But I’m willing to admit that Total Sport has a good thing going on with this event. Over 352 people turned up across 3 distances on a rainy Saturday to get their trail fix in Tokoroa.
There’s a tonne to pack in today, so I’ve kept the results brief.
Long Course 21KM:
Women’s podium:
🥇 Emma McCosh - 1:54:28
🥈 Nicole Sattler - 1:59:41
🥉 Maria Page - 2:00:39
Emma McCosh came away with a comfortable victory, but it was a fight to the bitter end for the remaining 2 podium spots. Nicole Sattler did enough for 2nd, with Maria Page edging out Maria Kroonenberg by just 14 seconds to take 3rd.
Men’s podium:
🥇 Logan Rodger -1:36:07
🥈 Dylan Logan -1:36:20
🥉 Devon Beckman - 1:36:54
Now that is some tight racing—only 13 seconds between first and second, with third place only 34 seconds back. You don’t often see a podium in a 5K race that tight, let alone 21 km.
Mid Course 14KM:
Men’s podium:
🥇 Andrew Beggs - 1:06:31
🥈 Sam Montgomerie - 1:07:57
🥉 James McTavish - 1:13:48
Women’s podium:
🥇 Alice Caskey - 1:16:06
🥈 Maia D'Andrea - 1:20:47
🥉 Hayley Dibley - 1:21:31
Short Course 7KM:
Women’s podium:
🥇 Melissa van Leeuwen - 45:46
🥈 Luci Montgomerie - 47:27
🥉 Ali Pottinger - 48:09
Men’s podium:
🥇 Seth Herbert - 32:41
🥈 Hayden Ballantyne - 34:25
🥉 Cam Edwards - 35:41
Overall it looked like a great ‘2 days in Tok’. Some super tight racing, and the weather mainly played ball.
BREAKING NEWS: Tararua Mount Race Under New Ownership
It was announced over the weekend that the Tararua Mountain Race is now under new management. Martini Events🍸 has outbid Ironman for the rights to run the Tararua Mountain Race😲.
This is MASSIVE news. The TMR has been sidelined by ongoing access issues at Otaki Forks and the Big C since 2020😥.
Martini Events is owned by Chris Martin (not that Chris Martin …not that one either.) He also operates the Mukamuka Munter, A100 & Aorangi Undulator.
He has the wilderness event experience. He has suffered his way to glory in this race too. No one may be better qualified to restore this epic race to its former glory.
I called Chris to hear his plans for the event.
“First things first.
Everyone gets a sausage. This is non-negotiable.
No one should experience the pain I did that day when I finished the TMR, and there were no sausages left …”
The news has traveled fast. Hellers LTD has seen a sharp rise in its stock price this morning.
The TMR website is currently down, but watch this space for an announcement on a race date and when regos open.
Worst Run Ever
I can 100% verify this is a Worst Run Ever. I was there to witness it. It was gritty, ugly, and looong. I have never seen anyone so wrecked at the end of a race under 100 km.
Mind you -it was the Mega Munter, probably the hardest 48 km trail race in the lower North Island💪.
You know the story, "I will never do that event again!" The only time I have stuck to that is the A100. I can still remember the pain of having to walk backward out of the caravan after day 1.
By day 3, the pain of trying to muster a slow shuffle was immense.
Perhaps a one-day event is easier to forget. Bring on the first Mega Munter. I can still remember the mind-numbing climb onto cattle ridge.
I was bonking badly. I managed to suck down one of my daughter’s diabetes low glucose treatments.
I found an old bar in my bag. They helped get me to the finish line in 3rd to last place. More importantly, ahead of Grant. I had taken at least an hour longer than I expected⌚.
It's a tell-tale sign of your lack of pedigree when the race director has a quiet word to you at the briefing about the cut-off times and the expected speed of travel.
Entries for 2022 opened, and I signed up. Using David Goggins debriefing, I came up with a few things I could do better.
I got into my training and found a few new steep climbs on Te Ahumairangi, or Tina as we used to call it.
I would need heaps more food for the expected 8-plus hours, and surely I could improve on my 9-hour debut.
Training went OK, considering I was now growing bone in my knee tendons. I got to the start line, and my mate Josh from Hawkes Bay made the trip down to experience the magic of the Mega Munter.
Josh claims to be the solo member of my fan club, which is very flattering 😂. The starting cannon fired 😳 and I jogged around the coastline, trying to maintain a steady pace. There were a couple of us at the back.
It's such a cool bit of country up the Mukamuka. I tried to eat a wrap before Dan Jones passed me (racing the shorter distance), descending into the valley.
The wrap was hard to get down. I was working too hard🥵. I got to the river well before the cut-off and had a few folks just in front to chase.
Pushing hard, I tried to catch Grant and the others, head down, breathing hard. I climbed over the big log and followed the freshly marked track.
I knew there were a couple of small dips on the East Whakanui and clearly, this one one. It had been a little while since I had seen a blue marker.
After far too long, I realised something was wrong 😪 I was going the wrong way. I turned around. F🤬ck f🤬ck f🤬ck, you stupid idiot 😤 I had lost 45mins.
I had to find a way to get to the next checkpoint before the cut-off. Brad headed down towards me. He was looking for the lost guy, me. He called the tail end charlie, and Chris waited for me.
The East Whakanui ridge goes on forever. Soon, there were 3 of us marching along the ridge. I had a good chat with Maree. By this point, it looked like I could make the final checkpoint in time.
I convinced myself there was something important about finishing and that somehow it was better to get lost and then finish than get lost and withdraw.
It seemed very important at the time. Maybe that had something to do with the mental torment of quitting my second SK attempt.
Leaving the checkpoint by myself was tough. Maree was heading back to the car park, and memories from last year were flashing back.
Being so late in the day, there were no munter tail enders on the 5-mile track as I headed away from the cold beer🍺 and warm sausages.
Surely I could manage this last section better than last year. The first bit went better, but again, cattle ridge gave me a beating; at one point, I lay on the side of the track eating glucose tablets until the dizziness stopped😵.
A few worried folks shepherded me to the finish line, where I received my cold sausages.
Now I will always be that guy who got lost at the Mega and reduced the cut-off time.
It's all about the glory 😤
-Andy Carruthers
Keep the stories coming in! Send them to trailrunningnz@gmail.com
They can be short or long. Funny😂 or sad😭. You can own it, or it can be made anonymous. They can even have a happy ending
Things You May Have Missed
It takes all sorts to make this crazy sport of ours work. Brad Spiers📷 went 40+ hrs with only 3 hours rest (2 sleeping) to capture moments like this at Krayzies Midwinter Backyard.
Northburn Station is for sale. If you want to stop Terry Davis’ torture on the trail running community, this is your opportunity.
Hardrock 100 is on this weekend. The big story is can Courtenay Dauwalter pull off the Western States, Hardrock double. To run both is insane. To win both is out of this world. To set the CR back to back … you decide. There’s also a decent shot at her winning this outright.
I sent out an extra email Saturday week with some bonus material. Included were an in-depth look at the Wuu2k, a trail running schedule for this quarter, and a couple of articles named ‘When The Goggins Videos Stop Working’ & ‘Stop Wasting Your Money.’
Upcoming Events
The Wuu2K - 21 km, 43 km, 62km
Saturday 15th of July
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT
Avoid any non-urgent travel into Wellington. It’s taper week here in the Capital. The streets will be full of cranky Wuu2k runners😠.
What are the telltale signs to look out for?
They’re stretching in a pair of Hoka’s even though they’re wearing full business attire.
You’ll overhear them telling the waiter, “Yea, I’ve got the Ultra Marathon this weekend, so I’m carb loading…”
They will bump into you walking down the street because they’re furiously refreshing the Metservice app.
Speaking of Metservice, how is the forecast looking for the big day? After the infamous “rain year”, it must be a painful week looking at weather forecasts for race director Gareth Thomas.
Since we all know that weather prediction is a giant guessing game, I thought I would throw out my own wild guesses.
21KM
🏃 David Haunschmidt - Breaks the CR by over 10 minutes🔥🔥🔥.
🏃♀️ I would be throwing darts to predict the women’s side, but I think Michelle Laws’ CR🎯 is going to go.
43KM
🏃 Thomas Barnes and Glen Chesterman duke it out, with Barnes taking the tape.
🏃♀️ Michelle Ashley goes back to back and defends her title going sub 4:30💨 in the process.
63KM
🏃♀️ Ali Wilson & Mel Aitken go hammer🔨 and tong, and both go under the CR.
🏃 Tim Sutton completes a fairy tale return (he won the inaugural year), edging out Chris Sanson.
Let me know your predictions for the weekend in the comments or by replying to the email.
If you missed the extended Wuu2K preview on Saturday, you can read it here.
However, you may get struck with a serious case of FOMO.
Luckily, there are still places available.
Enter Here - Close Thursday.
Sox Footwear NZ Giveaway
This week we have our first winner in the paid subscriber giveaway🎉. Some people use random number generators. There was also Paul the Octopus, who predicted the world cup winners.
I present to you Ziggy the Oracle. He takes his job very seriously, but I wouldn’t put it past him to take a bribe.
Kevin and Sean ended up in a head-to-head for the pair of Sox. It was a closely fought battle, but … Kevin came out on top.
Well done! Email through your address - a fancy pair of Flamingo Sox is winging your way.
As promised Saturday, I’ll give away another pair of Sox in next week’s edition to a paid subscriber.
Comment below or reply with your favourite pair to enter.
Like what you see? Use TRAILNZ25 to receive 25% off and free shipping if you go bananas🍌🍌🍌 and drop over $100.
#Mountain Skag Pic Of June
It’s time to decide who wins #Mountainskag for June. Make sure you vote for your favourite below.
#Mountain Skag Pics Of The Week
This week's #Mountain Skag pic is from Ali Wilson & Liz McDougall at ApproachlifeNZ - complete with camouflaged Kea.
Tag @trailrunning.nz and use #mountainskag on Instagram or email trailrunningnz@gmail.com 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 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 - If you’re in Wellington this week for the Wuu2k and find you’ve forgotten your watch charger or something equally as frustrating. Send us an email or Insta DM and I’ll try get ya sorted.
Wuu2k course conditions a week out from race day: bring either cross country spikes or a good superman pose with some painkillers. It might not be as bad as '21 but it's almost as slippery in sections (tawatawa) and probably not warm enough to dry out this week.