🏃♂️🏃♀️Crush The Cargill closes down Blue Lake Challenge⛔
"I thought I was trying to run up a chocolate cake covered in runny chocolate icing"
Your weekly fix of NZ trail running news
We’re here for you like that muddy puddle on your long run in the heat of summer. A bit questionable, but somehow tastes so so good.
Here's what’s in the drop bag this week:
🏃🏃♀️Blue Lake Challenge Recap
🎯Things You May Have Missed
🤢Worst Run Ever
🏁Upcoming event: Marina 2 Marina
⛰️💊Mountain Skag Pic of the Week
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Blue Lake Challenge
The Blue Lake Challenge was cut short due to copious amounts of wet stuff falling from the sky⛈️. The call was made at midnight Saturday, that continuing would put participants at risk of injury and potentially getting mud on their shiny trail shoes😝.
The official word from the Blue Lake Challenge Facebook page is below:
“So - it wasn’t quite the event we were hoping for this year. The crew didn’t pay homage to the correct weather gods and Blue Lake 24hr Challenge took its worst rain battering that it had seen since it started 9 years ago.”
“We made the call to close the course and thank all the athletes who took this on with no complaints and only huge support.”
It’s a shame the weather didn’t cooperate this year. The event has become such a big part of the North Island trail running scene. It’s one part trail running event, one part music festival.
People travel far and wide to set up camp for the weekend, push their limits, and catch up with mates. Some of the world’s biggest problems are solved around that lake between 12-5 AM.
I checked in with Trail Blazer Conon Ford to see how his weekend at the Blue Lake Challenge went.
“At one point, I thought I was trying to run up a chocolate cake covered in runny chocolate icing! And that's no hallucination 😉 The vibe was great. Positive and understanding. Did my own memorial lap for Joe, and that was quite emotional, especially seeing all his WoRM mates as I started all ready to go on their (prize-winning) costume lap.”
It sounds like, despite the rubbish conditions, everyone still had a great time.
Check out the WorM crew who had traveled up from Wellington (I’m sure they felt right at home in the sh💩t weather) to take the best-dressed crew award for the 2nd year running.
From best dressed to Baddest MF award. Simon Cochrane, the only person to lay hands on “The Claw” (34 laps / 204km), was 20 minutes up on last year before the course was shut. This man is only getting faster on the trails, and that’s when he’s not out-crushing Ultra Man records.
Now, It would be easy to shrug this weekend off as unfortunate.
But Crush the Cargill and Blue Lake Challenge have a long and complicated history. Both lay claim to being the best 24-hour free event in NZ. CTC would do ANYTHING to mess up Blue Lake’s weekend.
Now I know what you’re thinking: How could they possibly be responsible for a weather bomb💣 hitting Rotorua?
Well, I present this piece of evidence that arrived in my inbox from an anonymous source.
Footage of Steve Tripp performing the ancient “Long Range Atmospheric River Attack” rain dance outside the Inch Bar in Dunedin.
I contacted CTC, but they refused to comment on the situation.
A big congratulations to the Blue Lake Challenge team. It was a massive couple of days for you, and no one likes finishing prematurely. It looks like the right decision was made, and this year will add to the cult status of the event.
“I Survived Blue Lake 23” T-shirts, anyone?
Check out their website if this has tweaked your interest for next year and want to know more.
Things You May Have Missed
Worst Run Ever
This week’s Worst Run Ever is the runner’s equivalent of “I’m just going out for 1 beer with the boys.”
This went from bad to worse, to worsererer still. I’m guessing that was the last hall pass “Dan” got for the next 3 months! It’s a long one, but it’s well worth the read.
The plan was simple - summit a local peak⛰️ and then head back down another ridgeline which would loop back to the carpark. Having tackled the summit multiple times I was looking forward to extending myself a bit and running the full loop.
I read the Wild Things trail description but overlooked phrases such as 'heavily technical' and 'endless ascents', because apparently I am very stupid😣.
I hit the trail at 6am with new shoes, snacks, and more flasks than I thought could fit in my vest. I Summited with a new PB, continued an extra kilometre to the hut to top up my water, and then doubled back to the junction to start the descent.
At this point I had a bag of jet planes, a banana, a gel, and enough water for three hours🍌✈️🧃. I hadn't remembered to pack extra electrolytes so after refilling my flasks they were only water.
5 minutes into the return trail I discovered what I'm sure was several hundred metres of mud halfway to the knees, punctuated by short slippery ascents and descents along the ridgeline and then followed by more mud.
How is there so much mud right on top of a mountain? I was hoping for some sweet ridgeline running, not mud wading and trying not to lose my shoes.
Given this trail had a net descent of just under 800 metres, I figured it would be mostly downhill. Surely it wouldn't continue along the ridgeline I could see ahead with at least three separate peaks⛰️⛰️⛰️? I was starting to feel the effects of my earlier PB summit, so yes of course it was going to be a bastard of a climb. No easy running here.
I had planned for this section to take 1-2 hours, so after 2 hours I checked the Topo50 app and found that I was almost halfway. The biggest climb was still looming ahead and it turned out to be more actual climbing than running or even walking, with multiple sections having slipped away and requiring clambering up 2+ metres of rocks and clay by hanging onto exposed tree roots. I wasn't sending pictures of this section home or I'd never be allowed out again😠.
By the time I reached the final peak I was exhausted, and way out of my comfort zone. No way I would have come up here if I had any other option, but I wasn't going all the way back again - it would be faster to just push on.
Surely it's all downhill from here, right? I was tired and sore, and had already been out for 5 hours when I'd only expected to be 4, max. I only had about 250ml of water left and 2 jetplanes. I had a quick rest and then carried on.
Finally, this descent was what I had been looking forward to - smooth, open trail, almost entirely downhill, under a nice cool canopy with a soft springy forest floor. I finished my water and last jetplanes as I came to the bottom, only it wasn't the bottom, I was only a quarter of the way down and my quads were killing me and my IT band was feeling tight😫.
All of a sudden I was bonking but all the food was gone and I was getting thirsty too😵. After 5 hours of climbing uphill through mud I finally had a nice open downhill and it hurt to walk, let alone run. I checked the map again and realised that the easy flat section looping back to where I'd parked was actually still another 4 ks with another 400 metres of vert.
I walked that last 4 ks at a pace of 30minutes per kilometre without running even once, too scared to sit down for fear I wouldn't be able to get up. My quad and hamstring were cramping at the same time so it hurt at every point of every step, and whenever I stopped everything would seize up.
I needed to vomit but there was nothing to come up🤮, and I was getting way more light headed than felt safe. I decided it wasn't worth calling for help but that I would ask the next person I saw to share some water but didn't see a single person between there and the carpark.
Final stocktake of my Sunday morning adventure: Home 4 hours later than I promised the family, moderate to severe dehydration, IT band syndrome is back with a vengeance, pretty sure both my big toenails are going to die, got a hole in my favourite injiji socks, discovered 3 gels in the bottom of my pack once I got home, and to add insult to injury, I missed the baby crawling for the first time.
“Dan”
Upcoming Events
Marina 2 Marina - Picton
Saturday, September 30th
This Saturday it’s the 10th anniversary of Marina 2 Marina. It doesn’t get the same hype as other events, but with this scenery it certainly should!
It’s a classic grassroots New Zealand event. All the volunteers are from local organizations, with proceeds from the race going back into these organizations to help their cause and benefit the greater Marlborough region.
There are 3 races on offer:
24km📏 - The Link
13km📏 - The Snout
10km📏 - Marina 2 Marina
Last year, ‘The Link’ was canceled after a weather bomb annihilated the trail. After a lot of work and donations, the trail is open, and the 24km headline act is back (weather bomb this weekend, dependant.)
If you’ve never run in the area before, here’s what to expect:
Panoramic views of the Marlborough sounds
Fast non-technical trail
Native Bush
Coastal running
A chance to see the Interislander Ferry going around in circles after yet another issue
It’s a great opportunity to experience running in the Marlborough sounds and get a taste of the Queen Charlotte Trail.
Online entries close Thursday at 5 PM - you can enter on the day, but bring some cold hard cash.
Check out their website or Facebook page for more info.
#Mountain Skag Pic Of The Week
There was an array of entries this week. I was paralyzed with Mountain Skag. They were all so different - so we are taking it to a vote to see who’s going through to the final for September.
A - Martin Grethe skiving off from work running the Rim 2 Rim in the Grand Canyon
B - Liz Palmer with some self-reflection in the Tararua Ranges
C - Kaylee Hawkins, with this great execution of the classic Mt Taranaki snap
D - Kyle Malone with the famous ‘Methlab’ climb at Barkley Fall Classic
Tag @trailrunning.nz 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 the Marina 2 Marina Results and more.
It takes hours to write this newsletter but only 8 seconds to forward it to a friend.
PS: I’m a bit of a podcast fiend, but growing up I loved nothing better then reading interviews in the latest snowboard magazines. Email me your suggestions of people you would like to see interviewed. It could be an NZ athlete, coach, or maybe one of your mates who you thinks deserves some credit.