☠️🐄Dead Cow Update & Western States Preview
It's gonna be a huge week for dot watching
Your weekly fix of NZ trail running news
Welcome to Trail Running NZ. It’s been a bit of an event and news desert this week, so brace yourself for some well-researched, highly intellectual pre-Western States analysis filler😂.
Here's what’s in the drop bag this week:
☠️🐄Dead Cow Gully Update
🏁Western States Preview
🎯Things You May Have Missed
🏁Upcoming events: July Schedule
⛰️💊Mountain Skag of 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.
Dead Cow Gully Backyard Update
Dead Cow Gully kicked off Saturday morning with 263 Mad MFs lined up to run around in circles until their souls give out. We’re well represented, with nearly 20 of our finest circle runners making the big swim across the drink.
If you don’t know where Dead Cow Gully is, it’s located on a 1600-acre cattle property 11 km north of Nanango (QLD).
It’s an interesting course as it’s as flat as a flounder, but it’s exposed to the elements.
Hot during the day🥵, can be cold AF at night🥶.
Also, at this time of year, you’re dealing with 14 hours of darkness. Grim😣.
If you’re thinking it sounds like it’s in the middle of farking nowhere, you’d be bloody well dead right, maaate.
Not only is it remote, but there’s also no timing mats or online leaderboards. We’ve gotta rely on Instagram updates, and a live stream that is about as useful as a potato for figuring out who’s still in and who’s out.
Still, I’ve pieced together some intel...
A new world record has been set: 87 runners made it through 24 laps.
To put that in context, that’s more than most NZ Backyard Ultras have entrants.
The last Kiwi roll call I found (shoutout to Adam Keen / AerobicEdge) had 44 runners still out on loop 34 — 8 of them Kiwis:
Sam Harvey – PB 101
John Bayne – PB 72Simon McLean – PB 65
Paul Maxwell – PB 45
Josh Hastie – PB 44Jane McAlpine – PB 43
Adam Keen – PB 35Mike Courtney – PB 27
As I type this, Mike Courtney has just clocked 34 and timed out — a massive PB. And John Bayne’s out after 36 laps, saying “It wasn’t my day.” Respect to both.
For someone like Sam, who’s already hit 101 laps before, these first two days are basically the warm-up. It must be a weird situation to be in. People all around you are in the battle of their lives, and there you are, just going about your business, witnessing it all unfold.
It must be a bit like watching the extended edition of Lord of the Rings when all you want is the battle at Mordor — but instead, you’re stuck watching Bilbo do the f🤬cking dishes in The Shire on repeat😂.
MONDAY MORNING UPDATE
It's 6:14 AM. This is the current state of play (Thanks mainly to Rocky Allan.)
There are 21 runners out on lap 46.
Josh Hastie is out after 37 laps and a torn miniscus
Adam Keen dropped out on lap 39 for a new PB.
Jane McAlpine, Paul Maxwell are all now in PB city.
Jane is well past her previous female CR of 39 and is one of 3 remaining sheilas at large.
11 of the remaining 21 have a 70+ lap PB!
Adam Keen at AerobicEdge on Insta is still the best source for updates.
***Actual loop numbers may be slightly wrong; piecing it together through various social media posts***
Western States Preview
If you’ve never heard of Western States, it’s basically the Super Bowl of 100-milers before UTMB rolled in with its big baguette energy🥖.
It’s the oldest 100-mile trail race in the U.S., originally a horse race (yep😮), now a GOAT race, where the best trail runners on the planet throw down to carve their names into ultrarunning history.
If you’re in need of a rabbit hole or just get yourself re-hyped for the race next weekend, just type "Western States" into YouTube and say goodbye to your evening.
The top 2 that come to mind are Unbreakable and FOUND ON 49 | THE STORY OF JIM WALMSLEY
Maybe it’s the Murican🌭 hype machine, and credit where it’s due, they do it bloody well … BUT I genuinely reckon most athletes would take a Western States win over UTMB, hand on heart.
There’s a mountain of content dropping this week: athlete interviews, predictions, and every talking head with access to a podcast mic somehow turning everything into them talking about the time they ran WS.
So here’s my crack at being a flappy head, pretending I have the foggiest idea of what will happen
Let’s keep my boy Andy “Da Boys” DuBois happy and start off with the laaaaadies.
Women’s preview:
We’ve been lucky in recent years to watch Kiwi legends like Ruth Croft, Fiona Hayvice, and Cecilia Flori throw down at Western States.
This year, it’s Caitlin Fielder and Nancy Jiang stepping up to the Western Plate, looking to add their names to that shortlist of Kiwis who’ve performed on the world’s biggest trail stage.
And the women’s race as a whole this year? Bloody ballistic.
No Katie ‘West’ Schide? No Courtney Dauwalter?
No worries. There will still be plenty of fireworks🧨.
My Top 5 Picks
🐼 Fu-Zhao Xiang: 🥈2024, 16:20
She was second last year and is the third-fastest woman ever on this course; case closed! After dominating the Chinese ultra scene for over a decade, she made her WS debut last year look easy.
Since then? She DNF’d UTMB, but has won 6 out of 6 races, all under 100k in the last 9 months. If she runs her 2024 time, it’s her race to lose.
🦓Emily Hawgood: 4th last year, 16:48
If Western States had a loyalty card, she’d be due a free pie and a Coke. Four straight top-10s (7th, 5th, 5th and 4th). Emily has been one of the most consistent performers on the scene, and it feels like she could be on the verge of something special.
She outduelled Marianne Hogan to win the 100K Canyons at the end of April. She’s battle-hardened and returning for one reason only. Could this be the year we see Emily take the lead early and dictate the race? I’m booking her in 2nd.
😋 Eszter Csillag: 🥉 in 2023 and 2024
She’s had the Bronze on lock the last couple of years, running 27 minutes faster last year than 2023. She will need to continue that trajectory if she wants a different colour medal.
Since last year, she has placed 13th at UTMB, 2nd in the 60k at Ultra Trail Ninghai, and in March, took the win and 2nd overall across the ditch at the Buffalo Stampede 100km. I think she runs faster this year, but I think it’s going to be Bronze again.
🌭 Riley Brady: 🥇Javelina. 🥇Black Canyon. 🥇Quad Rock.
In 2023, gut gremlins derailed their WS campaign, finishing 14th in a time of 20:59. Their recent form has been ‘tomato in a toasted sandwich’ hot, taking victory in the Black Canyon 100k in CR time as well as the Javelina Jundred 100 miles in 14:19:01.
They’re very much a rocks-or-diamonds runner, and right now, they’re coming off a couple of absolute monsters from Michael Hill. I’m picking a fast start, maybe even an early lead, before a late fade and a gritty fightback to cling to 4th.
🥞 Marianne Hogan :🥉 2022. 🥉 at UTMB
She ran 18:05 in 2022, which was good for 3rd. That same year, she backed up at UTMB, going one better, taking the Silver. Last year, she took Bronze at UTMB behind Katie Schide and Ruth Croft and just last month had an epic duel with Emily Hawgood at the Canyons 100k, finishing 2nd.
She’s got the big race pedigree, but she’s going to need to find an extra 1.5 hours since her last time out to break onto the podium again.
Our Kiwi Hopes:
🥝 Caitlin Fielder
It’s Caitlin's debut at the 100-mile distance, but I’m not letting that take the shine off of my optimism! She beat all but Ruth at Tarawera 100 this year and got a solid tune-up, being chased along all day by Ali Wilson to take victory at UTA 50 last month.
She hasn’t had the ideal prep, but that can sometimes work to your advantage. She’s got nothing to lose and everything to gain. I think she will be running on the top 10 bubble through the first half before some carnage sees her move up the ranks after the river somewhere in the 5th-10th bracket😎.
🥝 Nancy Jiang
Nancy is back at Western States after a tough (but still incredible) day out in 2023, where she ran 23:57 to finish 23rd. She fought hard at Tarawera this year, finishing in 5th (faster than her 1st place in 2023), benefiting from the Golden Ticket being dropped down to her in 5th place.
She has consistently been one of our top runners for several years now and has achieved some outstanding international performances. I think on her best day, Nancy is in and around the 18-hour mark, which these days is good for around 10- 12th😊.
Men’s preview:
It was cast as Unbreakable 2 … then, well - some people turned out to be breakable. Awkward.
But don’t worry, this field is still deeper than a Dirt Church episode.
Kilian is returning to WS after last racing in 2011, where he won in a time of 15:34:24, which would have placed him 12th last year.
One can only hope he brings back the tighety whitey race suit from 2010.
With Jim Walmsley out, there is no clear favourite, which, in my opinion, always makes for a better watch. Will David Roche do the unthinkable and run sub-14, taking the WS title and CR? Or will Dan Jones rise to the challenge and have a career-defining performance?
My Top 5 Picks
🥝Danny Jones
I’m giving DJ the Warriors treatment. IT’S OUR HIS YEAR!
5th in 2023, 4th in 2024. He dominated Tarawera again this year. It was a different course, but I would argue his race this year was more impressive than Walmsley's 2017 performance, which has long been the benchmark.
Listening to Dan being interviewed by Dylan Bowman on the Freetrail podcast this week, I couldn’t help but think he sounds fired up for this one. Also, he announced that Michelle won’t be there this year due to her pregnancy, so he will have extra emotion to draw on when it’s late in the race and deep in the hurt locker. You’ve got this Dan!
🌭Adam Peterman
He was dubbed the Ultra Golden Boy, winning the 2022 Canyons 100k before outdueling Hayden Hawks at Western States in his debut 100-mile race in a time of 15:13:48.
He’s had a tough time with injuries since then, but is now firmly back on track and back to his best. He outlasted DJ at CCC last year to take 3rd and is fresh off a win at Gorge Waterfalls 100k. If his body holds up to the 100-mile smackdown, he will be there or thereabouts.
🌭Seth Ruhling
I’m drinking the Boulder Boy Kool-Aid. Maybe it’s just his good looks, but he’s a likable dude for sure. He won Black Canyon 100k in February, taking 5 minutes off the course record. He’s making his 100-mile debut, and it feels like he’s got nothing to lose. Interestingly, DJ and Seth went head to head last year in the Canyons 50 K, with DJ taking 2nd, 7 minutes ahead of Seth.
🌭Rod Farvard
This might be a bit of a dick move considering he finished 2nd last year and is the 3rd fastest man accross the WS course. BUT, he just hasn’t been setting the world on fire lately. Or maybe it’s because I can’t get out of my head that with that sweet mo, he looks like Mario from Nintendo, and I just can’t envision Mario winning Western States.
🌭Caleb Olson
He dropped a 14:40 last year, which is the eighth fastest of all time, and barely anyone is talking about the guy. He had a solid CCC finishing in 12th before going on to prove he’s not a flash in the pan, taking the win at Transgrancanaria in February, beating out Jono Albon and a host of fast AF Spanish dudes.
That’s right. I don’t have Kilian or David Roche in my top 5. I’m putting them both firmly in the 1st or DNF camp.
Let me know who you’ve got in your top 5, either by replying to this email or dropping it in the comments.
Things You May Have Missed
If you somehow missed me spamming it on Instagram or you were confused why I emailed you on a Thursday and immediately deleted it: I did a Q&A with our very own Danny Jones, which you can read here to stoke the Western States fire ahead of next weekend's bonanza.
Gareth Thomas gave away 10 entries at $10 for the 10th anniversary of The WUU2K, offering a chance for anyone struggling financially to participate in the race.
Just another reason why he’s one of the best race directors out there. Here’s hoping they went to people who need them. Imagine taking one of those spots just cause you were being a bit of a tight arse? That would be like spitting in the face of the ankle roll karma gods!😝
Inch Events have had another trip to the pub. This time they’ve come up with FAARC! I’m always a fan of coming up with the name first and working backwards. The general idea is to run as many of the 10 selected ridges as possible within 8 hours and end up at the ARC pub.
Some of the more noteworthy details are:
“FAARC as a team or FAARC solo if you wish – we won’t judge.”“We encourage safe FAARCing – please come prepared.”
“Make sure you have all the fuel and protection required for 8 hours of solid FAARCing.”
”This is a Fatass event. Please note that you are responsible for your own FAARCing self.”
I, for one, am shocked by this name for an event. They can go GET FKT😉.
Faultline Ultra is looking for ambassadors. Are you a midpack weekend warrior who can talk sh💩t with the best of them? A back-of-the-pack soldier with swagger? A Raging Ranga with a sob story? This might be your moment to shine. Everyone prefers hearing from the “real runners”, not just the fast pricks up front!
Upcoming Events: July Schedule
There are no NZ events on this weekend, but here’s a reminder of what we’ve got coming up.
Krayzie Midwinter Backyard Ultra
Saturday, July 5 … ?
WUU2K - 10th Anniversary
Saturday, July 12
The Northland 100 - Inaugural year
Saturday, July 19
#Mountain Skag Pic Of The Week
Ali Wilson sent in this banger from her HYROX training … Tongariro crossing on a clear winter’s day is hard to beat.
Tag @trailrunning.nz (NOTE THE “.”) and use #mountainskag, DM 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 Dead Cow Gully Roundup and Western States Results, fingers crossed for a swag of awesome Kiwi results.
It takes hours to write this newsletter but only 8 seconds to forward it to a friend.
PS. You’ll receive another email from me on Thursday - this time, it’ll be Caitlin Fielder answering the questions prior to the WS.
"it’s basically the Super Bowl of 100-milers before UTMB rolled in with its big baguette energy🥖"
Love this so much 😂😂😂
Highly recommend listening to the Women of Distance Western States preview podcasts where she interviews a bunch of the women contenders. Including Caitlin and Nancy.