🏃♀️🏃CTC Mountain Run Results & Tarawera Preview
“The route was muddy but will be dry. Apart from the stream crossings. They will be wet.”
Your weekly fix of NZ trail running news
We’re here for you like Dirt Church Radio, a lot of hot air and misinformed waffle to get you through your Monday😝
Here’s what’s in the drop bag this week:
🏃🏃♀️CTC Mountain Run Results
🏃🏃♀️Tarawera Race Preview
🎯Things You May Have Missed
🏁Upcoming events: Shotover Moonlight, Pigs Backyard
⛰️💊Mountain Skag Winners of January & The 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.
Coast To Coast Mountain Run
Friday, February 7
📏33km | ⛰️1000m
🏃♀️Women's Podium
🥇Sarah Reeve - 4:39:53
🥈Alannah McLean - 5:10:55
🥉Emma Bone - 5:27:28
Look … I’m gonna put my hand up and say I left this one a bit late to get some in-depth intel on how the race played out.
I thought I would borrow some info from the Coast 2 Coast site or one of the other news sites … but this is all I can find on the Women’s race at the bottom of an article talking about David Haunschmidts victory.
“In the women’s mountain run, junior Sarah Reeve impressed – taking the top spot with 04:39:53. Coming in second was Alannah McLean with 05:10:55.”
“Emma Bone rounded out the top three women, finishing just short of half an hour behind McLean.”
Firstly, I would like to give a big shout-out to Sarah Reeve, who won the race as a junior (which means she is 17 or under)💪.
What the above quote must mean by “impressed” is that she dominated the race from start to finish.
This sh💩t was over early; she had blown out an 11-minute lead over fellow junior Millah Boniface at the 14.2km Doreen Creek check-in.
By Goat pass, her lead had almost doubled to 21 minutes, but Alannah McLean had moved up from 5th into the silver position.
Reeve continued to stretch away through Dudley’s Knob and onto the finish at Klondyke, taking the tape 30 minutes ahead of McLean, with Emma Bone finishing fast to jump from 5th at Dudley’s Knob (22.5km) to take her place on the podium.
I was going to contact her for a quote, but I think messaging girls under 17 on Instagram would get me on that show that used to run on Dateline NBC …
🏃Men's Podium
🥇David Haunschmidt - 3:27:02
🥈Alex Ainley - 3:52:36
🥉Mark Tree - 4:02:00
The Flying Doctor continues his redemption tour, knocking out another event he missed in 2024 with a broken foot.
It’s hard to gauge if he’s back to his best. 3:27:02 isn’t setting any record books alight, but he did what was required to add another trophy to his cabinet, which is more packed than a train from Delhi to Mumbai.
The race was a bit of a slow-motion drag race, with 1st through to 3rd taking up their positions from the start and never changing. Haunschmidt ground out an 8-minute lead over Ex-Highlanders player Alex Ainley, with Mark Tree just a leaf behind.
The gap slowly increased across the race, by the time they had seen Dudley’s Knob(22.5KM), Haunschmidts lead was 17 minutes over Ainley, who had chopped out 5 minutes over Tree.
That’s pretty much how it would finish: another victory for Haunschmidt.
Let’s hope he gets a closer run on his next stop on the redemption tour, Shotover Moonlight Marathon.
Click Here for full results, and check out on Facebook for more coverage
This Week’s Newsletter Is Brought To You By…
Alexandra Airport Carousel - Saturday, April 19, 9 AM
April was missing a BYU, so we decided to fix that! An Easter BYU to ease travel stress and avoid turning up to work on Monday in Zombie mode.
Alexandra Where?
Alexandra is just 1 hour from Queenstown airport; we now have both power and the internet, and there are even 2 full-sized supermarkets 5 minutes away.
The Course
It features a mix of easy single track and 4WD paths, looping around Alexandra Airport with full-time mountain views and just 50m vert per loop—perfect for going long. Come for the challenge, stay for the stunning scenery and wine, and yes, there will be portaloos on course.
ENTER NOW
Tarawera Ultra-Trail NZ by UTMB Preview
Saturday, February 15
Love to hate it, or hate to love it.
Tarawera is here.
After 2 years of contingency courses, we’re almost back to the OG.
Although some of the best trails are still missing from the courses, the race will flow as closely as possible to the original.
Last week, I chucked on a Hi-vis vest, flashed my fake media badge and managed to see the elite entry list.
All the entrants are now live on the App anyway, but keep a grain of salt on the ready, as I’m sure some people have changed distance or withdrawn.
There is way too much to talk about to fit into this one newsletter, but let's look at the jewel in the crown: the 102km race.
Alright … DJ, Spin that sh💩t
🏃♀️Women’s 102KM - WS Golden Ticket Race
In the last Golden Ticket race at Tarawera 2023, Nancy Jiang announced herself to the world with a career-defining win on the looped contingency course.
Last year, Ruth Croft outlasted Beth McKenzie from Straya🦘 and Hawkes Bay Hardcore, Taupo record holder Nikki Everton had herself a day to finish in 3rd.
This year the field is an absolute rip-snorter - I would guess it’s the strongest we’ve seen.
So, let’s look at who’s throwing down this coming weekend for the 2 Western States Golden Tickets.
Women's Race Contenders:
Ruth Croft (NZ): 🥈UTMB🥇Transvulcania🥇Tarawera 102km
Caitlin Fielder(NZ): 🥇The Spectacle 50km, 🥇Grand Trail Des Templiers 80km, 5th OCC
Nancy Jiang(NZ): 🥈The Spectacle 50k, 28th UTMB, 10th Laverado 120KM
Juliette Soule(NZ): 🥈Ultra-Trail Kosciuszko, 6th UTA50
Naomi Brand(RSA/NZ): 🥈Ultra Trail Capetown 100m, 44th UTMB, Laverado 120km
Beth McKenzie(AUS):🥉Kepler,🥇Sydney Ultra Marathons 50km, 🥇UTA100, 🥈Tarawera 102km
Lucy Bartholomew(AUS): 10th UTMB, 🥈UTA100, 23rd Black Canyons 100k
Anna McKenna(AUS): 🤢DNF CCC, 5th Canyons 100K, 🥇Buffalo Stampede
Marianne Hogan(CAN):🥉UTMB, 🥇Swiss Canyons 111K, 6th Transvulcania
Helen Mino Faukner(US):🥇Kodiak 50k, 🤢DNF UTMB, 🥇Desert Rats 50k
Anna Louden(US): 17th Mammoth 20K, 11th Western States, 🥉Canyons 100k
Lotti Brinks(US): 9th CCC, 15th Western States, 🥇Gorge Waterfalls 100k
Lin Chen(CHN):🥈Changmai 100K, 🥇Malaysia 100K, 🤢DNF Ninghai 100,
🥇Trans Jeju, 4th UTMB, 🤢DNF Western States
Ruth Croft vs Caitlin Fielder🤯.
How good is seeing these two throwing down on home soil on the biggest stage?
Some big names are coming out this year but the biggest names on the start list are two Kiwis.
Throw in Nancy Jiang, who won this race back in 2023, Juliette Soule, who’s fresh off 2nd place at Kosciuszko 100km & Naomi Brand (we’ll claim her), who has a history with the podium here, and it might be the strongest Kiwi field at Tarawera 102km.
Lucy Bartholomew is a household name, but Beth McKenzie must be the in-form Aussie coming over. With wins in the Sydney Ultra, UTA100 (over Bartholomew) and an impressive 2nd behind Croft in her debut 100K here last year, she’s definitely a contender.
Anna McKenna didn’t have the best 2024, but she did have a strong showing in 2023, coming in 3rd after leading large parts of the race and winning the UTA 100. She has the talent to find the podium here, not one to rule out just yet.
Lin Chen from China is a bit of a wild card. She raced a lot in 2024, dominating many of the Asian UTMB tour races. Her stand-out performance was her fourth-place finish at UTMB, where she had the performance of her career so far.
Black Canyons 100 in Murica🌭 was on over the weekend. The fields there were insane, so I’m not surprised to see a few North Americans a long way from home trying their luck at Tarawera.
Anna Louden and Lotti Brinks would be the pick out of Team Tariff, and Marianne Hogan from Carnaada has as good a chance as anyone not named Ruth Croft.
With this all being said - here are my podium picks
Prediction:
🥇Ruth Croft
🥈Caitlin Fielder
🥉Beth McKenzie
I can’t bet against Ruth Croft. Caitlin Fielder will give her a close race for 3/4 of the race, but Crofts experience at 100km+ will see her kick on to win by 20+ minutes. The stronger competition this year will see her run under 9 hours.
I don’t know what Crofts’ plans for 2025 are, but there’s a good chance they don’t involve Western States since she has nothing left to prove there, so there’s a chance 3rd place might pick up a ticket in this one.
Men’s Race Contenders:
Daniel Jones (NZ):🥇Ultra Trail Capetown 35k 🥇Cappadocia 20k, 🥇Race Tekapo 32k, 4th CCC, 4th Western States, 🥈Canyons 50K, 🥇Tarawera 102
Thibaut Baronian (FRA): 12th UTMB, 🥈Marathon du Mont-Blanc 90k
Robbie Simpson (UK): 🥇Ultra-Trail Capetown 55k, 10th OCC, 13th Sierre Zinal, 🥇Eiger Ultra-Trail 37km
Adrian Macdonald (US): 🥈Leadville 100, 🥇Tarawera 100M
Hu Zhao (CHN): 14th Chaingmai,🥈Trans Juju, 9th OCC
Ronnie Sparke (UK): 🤢DNF CCC, 🥉Brisbane Ultra Trail 25k🥇Tarawera 50K
Ryan Montgomery (US):🥉Leadville 100, 20th Western States
Marcel Hoeche (GER):6th Hongkong 56k, 🤢DNF Ultra Trail Capetown, 🥇Cappadocia 63k, 🥈Julain Alps 80k🥇Innsbruck 85k
Mike Carroll (AUS): 🤢DNF Ultra-Trail Kosciuszko 100M, 🤢DNF UTA100, 🥉Buffalo Stampede, 🥉Tarawera 100M
Vladimir Shatrov (AUS): 🤢DNF Ultra-Trail Kosciuszko 100M, 🥇Brisbane Trail Ultra, 🤢DNF UTA 100
Danny Jones is back to defend his title, looking for a 3 peat.
Like Croft, it’s hard to see him not defending his title. But it is a 100-kilometer race, and anything can happen on the day, which makes these races so exciting!
Adrian Macdonald from Murica🌭, the 2 x Leadville champ and last year’s Tarawera 100M winner, seems the most equipped to take the fight to Jones. He took 2nd at Leadville this year, behind David Roche’s now legendary course record-breaking run.
He has the speed to contend at Tarawera, which favours fast marathon runners. Just 2 weeks ago he ran 1:08:48 at the Houston Half Marathon. To give a direct comparison, Jones’s half PB on Athletics NZ is listed at 1:07:11 (2018).
Ryan Montgomery is another name that jumps off the page. The last time they were on our shores in 2023, they pipped Sam McCutcheon for the 2nd Golden Ticket before finishing 7th at Western States.
The Ronnie & Robbie show is coming out from the UK, with last year’s 50K winner and CR holder Ronnie Sparke the most likely to be fighting for the top spot.
He had a disappointing DNF at CCC, so he will be looking to start 2025 with a similar performance to last year.
Marcel Hoeche, the 2023 German Skyrunning champion, has also found his way to the start line. It’s hard to know what to expect from Hoeche on a fast, relatively flat-rolling course.
He’s been training with his Adidas Terrex teammates Danny Jones and Grant Pritchard down in Wellington, so he’s been getting a good look at how to prepare for Tarawera.
Vlad Shatrov and Mike Carroll are leading the charge for Straya🦘. Since his record-setting Tarawera Miler victory, Shatrov has had a mixed bag in recent years.
He’s had some big wins mixed in with plenty of DNFs. Will this year be the year he books his ticket to his dream race, Western States?
Prediction:
🥇Danny Jones
🥈Adrian Macdonald
🥉Ronnie Sparke
I think there will be some early pushes from Ronnie Spark & Hu Zhau, but Jones will weather the storm before pulling away strongly from Blue Lake to make it 3/3.
Adrian Macdonald will run a great strategic race, moving up into 2nd late with Ronnie Sparke holding on to dear life to take the bronze.
Some predictions about the other races in no particular order …
Michael Voss ‘The Boss’ & ‘The Northern Express’ Sam Rout push Hayden Hawks to a new 50K record.
Michael Sutton defends his title in the 20km
Robyn Lesh continues her upward trajectory to take out the 50k.
Sam Harvey & George Murray go ballistic early but stick the landing this time, setting up a Kiwi 1,2,3 finish with Simon Cochrane chasing down Hajime Mamba (JPN) from the Redwoods to take 3rd.
Emma Timmis will find herself in a Japanese podium sandwich between defending champ Konoka Azumi & Kimino Miyazaki in the miler.
Whether you’re anti-Ironman/UTMB or bleed teal green, we can all agree that seeing some of our top elite athletes compete on home soil will be awesome.
What I enjoy even more is seeing how our local speed demons measure up against the world’s best. The “I still work 50 hours a week, do the kids taxi run, train at 4 AM” types.
Now, it’s not all about the pointy end.
All the best to everyone heading up to Tarawera next weekend. I know this is the big ‘A’ race for so many people.
Now remember, if you end up sleeping in and missing the start gun, sh💩tting your pants, snapping a pole, or running behind a chronic farter - send your ‘Worst Run Ever’ to trailrunningnz@gmail.com!
If you’re feeling some serious FOMO, entries are still open. Check the website for more details, and follow on Facebook or Instagram.
Things You May Have Missed
Dirt Church Resort To Trolling Wellington
Sunday evening, out on my procrastination run, minding my own business, listening to Dirt Church radio, checking in to see if maybe they’ve got some Tarawera content I can steal, and what do I hear?
Andrew McDowall naming me in a public call-out and declaration of war against the Wellington Trail Community (we actually have a community down here in Wellington.)
“Bradley Houghton down there, talking Karel Sabbes chances down, he just flew over the Tararua like a run on the beach. Maybe its a hot take, I think that if you get nice weather in Tararua it’s not that hard”.
Ok, I’ll bite. Let’s take a look at Dirt Church’s CV for commenting on the Tararua:
Eugene injured himself on an easy run heading up Mt. Vic on the Medium WoRm run, which he still hasn’t recovered from, ultimately pushing him out of the podcast.
Matt fell on his head during our Urban Ultra …
Andrew McTroll’s comments, “I’ve never set foot in there”, pairs nicely with “But surely the main trail is a trail, right?”
Ali is the only one on the show qualified to comment, as she’s traveled extensively through them. She was quick to try to pull Andrew McTroll’s pants back up.
Andrew, on behalf of the Wellington Running Community, I will happily pay for your flights and give you a ride to Putara for your SK Main Range attempt so you can see what the “main trail” looks like😄.
Ben Gatting - 11 in 11 Update
Last week, we featured Bridget Johnson, the first person to run our 11 Great Walks in 11 days. Ben Gatting helped pace Bridget on the Kepler track and is now on his 11-day mission.
On Thursday, he started with Hump Ridge and then moved on to Rakiura, Milford, and Kepler. So far, it looks like Bridget stole all the good weather for her attempt, but he’s getting it done.
It will be interesting to see how this goes in reverse, whether saving the big paddle on the Whanganui River until later in the mission is positive or negative, all to be revealed. Next up? The Routeburn (today).
Tanya Bottomley Wanaka Skyline Circumnavigation
You might recall last year, Tanya Bottomley, AKA ‘runliketanya’ attempted to be the first person to circumnavigate the lake via the skyline.
That mission ended prematurely in a chopper - but she’s back at it, starting last Monday.
The last update on her Instagram was from Roy’s Peak, the final peak before descending to the Tree at the lake. So, by the time you read this, she should be done! Check out Instagram for the latest.
Sjors Corporaal Lost His Leg Back In May
This one shocked me. He was notably missing from the start line of The Goat Tongariro in January, the event that made him a legend in the NZ trail & mountain running scene. It was revealed in The Herald that he lost his leg in a freak accident working on his farm in Galatea on May 29.
What a horrific thing to experience for anyone, let alone someone who makes a living on their farm and runs as prolifically as he does.
Sjor’s life is slowly returning to normal. He now has a prosthetic leg fitted and is back running. On Saturday, he participated in the Born 2 Adapt event in Rotorua. It’s not quite ‘The Goat, ‘ but seeing that he can return to running is awesome.
Upcoming Events
Shotover Moonlight
Friday & Saturday, February 14 & 15
The Shotover Moonlight isn’t an event—it’s a beautifully orchestrated catfish.
“Come run on this private station you can’t access any other time of year. The views are amazing. You won’t believe your eyes.”
Nek Minnet, you’re sweating out your ring piece and have lactic acid building up in your eyeballs. The worst thing is you’ll have no one else to blame but yourself.
What Shotover Moonlight has on offer:
💀Shotover Ultra: 📏56km 👆3500m
Because having one of the hardest marathons in the country isn’t enough, let’s add 1000m of vert in just 14km.
💀Mountain Marathon: 📏42km 👆2500m
It is potentially the toughest marathon in the country. Within 10 km, your legs will wish you were running around in circles at Pigs Backyard.
⚠️Adventure Run: 📏30km 👆1400m
Perfect for those who don’t want to sound weak doing the Half Marathon but have no interest in being out all day.
🔥Half Marathon: 📏21.1km 👆???
This is for the runner who wants to take a thrashing and still get the shopping done.
🐈10km 👆???
Go for a cruise around the lake, then drink some beers while you wait for your mates to limp over the finish line in one of the longer races.
Looking for the perfect sandbag for missing the time you told your mates in the pub over one too many hazys?
Sign up for the Ben Lomond Vertical Kilometer on Friday. There’s nothing like turning your legs into molten jelly the day before a race to get you off the hook.
Entries are still open. Check the website for more details, and follow on Facebook or Instagram.
Pigs Backyard Ultra
Saturday, February 15 to …?
Pigs Backyard is back for its 4th year, with Steve Tripp & Co. ready to dish out another year of pain, suffering and laughter (and that’s just the karaoke)
133 pigs signed up in 2024, but it’s back to 72 this year, more in line with the first two editions. This makes sense with the rise of Sandy Point in Invers, Arrowtown BYU, the new Airport Carousel in Alexandra and Inch Events other BYU, The Best Dam Ultra in Otematatatatata.
I contacted Steve Tripp from Inch Long Events to get the pitch report for next weekend.
“Pitch report. No editing required!”🥵🥵🔥
“Sutts (Glenn Sutton) is back. He loves the Pigs course… it’s kind of like a mini Northburn.”
“Hunter (Wight, 2024 assist) will be seeking revenge for last year. He always PBs at Pigs (check last year’s results).”
“Lydia has her eyes set on a PB and the women’s record. Ella will be keeping her honest.”
“Isaac Tripp seems to have caught a running virus lately. He also loves Pigs. The difference this year … his weekly average volume has gone from 10k to 100k.”
“Paul Maxwell managed his first 100 miles at Pigs last year. He nearly doubled it at Arrowtown. It’s going to be interesting.”
“Expect both men’s and women’s records to fall. Hoping it will finish at 35 laps so we can enjoy our Sunday night karaoke in peace as per usual. I’ve been practising some musical themes with good interactive dance sections.”
“We have 11+ hours of live music on Saturday. With stage lights and a smoke machine. No stage.”
“And of course, there will be a live stream (Runners with Beards YouTube) and live results.”
“The route was muddy but will be dry. Apart from the stream crossings. They will be wet.”
Thanks for that, Steve. It sounds like it will be an entertaining weekend, whether you’re running, crewing, volunteering, or just going for a bit of a geezer.
With 30 degrees on the forecast, those stream crossings don’t suddenly sound so bad.
Entries are still open. Keep tabs on their results page and catch live coverage on Instagram.
#Mountain Skag January Winners
Congratulations to Greg Bassam & Tim Pickering - Mountain Skag Tee’s heading your way.
#Mountain Skag Pic Of The Week
Malcolm Law sent this week’s Mountain Skag from his “Not the TA” South Island adventure.
Meghan Hicks reaches the summit of Nugget Knob, Kahurangi NP
I’m sure Mal would be willing to pass the merch on to the willing model if he wins the February vote. How good would it be to see the founder of iRunFar in a Mountain Skag Tee!
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 all the Tarawera results and a preview of Old Ghost Ultra. It takes hours to write this newsletter but only 8 seconds to forward it to a friend.
PS: I’m traveling for a family event next weekend, so the newsletter will likely be out late Monday.
Further to the Auckland vs Wellington debate, I thought I would add a Christchurch perspective. I found a Wellington trail on the Wild Things directory and jumped on it yesterday. It was 1.1km long and had 95m of vert. but there was a nice view at the top. It was called the Piwakawaka Track, but all I could hear was tui's. David Haunschmidt is noted in the Wild Things as having completed it 11 times this year so I can only presume 1km trails are the secret sauce in Wellington
I expect Lin Chen will pull out of Tarawera after winning a golden ticket at Black Canyon yesterday.