Dr. Tripp, The Man, The Myth, The Legend
"I limited myself to 4 Cookie Times in a 10 hour shift and only 6 for a 15 hour shift"
He’s the man behind Crush The Cargil, Silverstream Spin, Pigs Backyard, Dunedin 24-hour peak bagging mission & the race director for 3 Peaks Mountain Race.
How can one man be responsible for so much pain?
How does a fat, depressed 40-year-old junior doctor go from eating 6 Cookie Times per shift to running 268.4KM at the Arrowtown Backyard Ultra?
Like all good things in life, time. He started running by complete accident.
“I started going to the gym twice a week (that should do the trick) with a mate who was also at the hospital. However, he was the transport, and his car kept breaking down.”
“One winter day in 2006, I was standing at my gate wearing only gym clothes waiting for my mate to turn up, and I had the brain fart that if I ran, I would stay warm.”
“I ran for 5 minutes before stopping, at which stage I was halfway to the beach, and the sun was rising, so I tried another 5 minutes and got there in time for a gorgeous sunrise over the surf! I had my first runner’s high! And then I had to walk home cos I was stuffed.”
“His car must have got worse because it then became a habit, and in a couple of weeks, I could run all the way there and some of the way back.”
A radical life change found Steve and his family living in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. A dead flat, 3rd world urban sprawl. It was a stressful environment, and his newfound “love” for running helped keep the stress in check.
The beauty of living there was that even though it was flat and urban, thanks to the rutted-out mud tracks and the frequent flooding, road running turned into trail running every rainy season. If you think this sounds like it’s heading towards a “Worst Run Ever”, we haven’t even added the hundreds of stray dogs and rabies shots yet …
One of Steve’s early running highlights was his first marathon in Chang Mai. It ran on Christmas day, starting at 4 AM in what sounds like a bizarre event. Using the tried and true 4 runs with your long run starting at 3:30 AM without eating or drinking method. He got into some pretty good shape (and good at dealing with severe headaches and bonks.)
“I was probably running at a 3-hour pace (I had no idea) until I needed a poop somewhere near the Chiang Mai Zoo (the tigers would have been curious), and then my ankle stuffed up at 28k.”
“I hobbled to a 3-hour 20 finish and got this enormous trophy for getting 4th in my age group – that was the highlight! I then got back to our accommodation before the family was out of bed and got to show them the trophy!”
A couple more Chang Mai marathons and rabies shots later, Steve returned to Dunedin and his beloved Inch Bar. It was here with Chris Taylor that Inch Events was formed.
Such creations as Crush the Cargill, Silverstream Spin, The Longest Shortest Day and Dunedin 24-hour Peak Bagging have been created through the sloshing of pint glasses here. How did Crush the Cargill come about, you say? Take it away, Steve.
“Andrew Glennie and I were scrolling through Strava. I think we were at the Inch Bar. Becky Nixon had just run up and down Ben Lomond for 24 hours, and we thought we could better that by doing it on Mt Cargill. I think I realised quite early on how much it would suck, so we invited others cos it’s much easier to suffer together.”
“I was chair of the board for the Valley Project, a local community development project, and it seemed a no-brainer to make it a fund-raiser for that. Also, it’s easier to suffer if you have, A, told others you are doing it, and, B, are doing it for a cause other than your own training.”
“At that stage, I hadn’t gone through a night without sleep since my youthful party days, so I wanted a bit of practice…”
“Seriously though, it was actually started by Grant Guise as a ploy to sell more shoes. He was the Malcolm McLaren… we were the Sex Pistols.”
Directing events like CTC and Pigs Backyard, it would be easy to think Steve likes to dish out suffering. But one thing I’ve noticed in the short time I’ve known him is his genuine passion for people and the community.
From everyone suffering together at CTC to helping each other to PBs at Pigs and helping the Leith Harrier community revive the 3 Peaks Mountain race into the short course national trail champs, you see today.
Steve was a casual club member, and in 2019, he put his hand up to help bring back the magic.
“In 2019, 3 Peaks had quite a small turnout, and the club seemed a bit tired with it all. For some reason, I thought my great Event Director CV was enough to turn it around (at that stage, I had organised Crush the Cargill 24 Hour Challenge twice and the Longest Shortest Day.”
“I put my hand up to run it, but there’s a really good team in Leith Harriers that works with me.”
With so many events on his plate, it seems like he loves organising as much as actually running. I asked Steve what it is about event directing that he loves so much.
“I could probably sum it up with the word connection…”
“Seeing people push themselves and experience the joy/relief of having gotten through something painful and tough and surviving is pretty cool.”
“Connection between body, mind, and spirit is needed for people to do that. They are also connecting with people who are vastly different in terms of ideology, religious convictions, socioeconomic status, and educational achievements, and yet they respect each other by having a common goal. I think that’s the key to world peace.”
“And, of course, there’s a connection with nature and something way bigger than ourselves (a mountain).”
So far, so good for his race-directing career. No one has lost an eye … yet. But it hasn’t all been smooth sailing.
“Nothing has really been too bad. Mild worry without any mad panic.”
“Wondering where Mad Dave is during 24 Hour Peak Bagging.”
“Crush the Cargill 2023 when all these people turned up, and the whiteboard wasn’t big enough.”
“Speaking of shit, though. It’s really hard finding a good portaloo. They never seem to last long enough…”
By all accounts, Steve’s running life has been full of highlights. Many of which feature beer, mates and some big hills.
“A highlight was actually a shit run that Chris and I planned for Revenant training. We decided to cover all the ridges in and around the Silverpeaks (near Dunedin) in one run. “
“Unfortunately, we didn’t make that goal, but we achieved our other goal of getting to Arc Brewery before the last drinks (just). 18 hours with 85km and 5500m of vert travelled. One day, we might make it an event so others can enjoy it!”
“The first time I ran the 3 Peaks 55k route after we had planned it was pretty awesome!”
“Doing an Everest on Mt Cargill (16 laps) in 24 hours in 2021 and setting the World Record for the most laps by an old man (over 50) up and down Mt Cargill in 24 hours.”
“A couple of missions my son has dragged me on. He doesn’t seem to understand that when you can’t see the gaps between the topo lines, it is really steep. Apart from the downclimbing when I’m screaming obesities at him, I really enjoy it.”
“I really enjoyed lap 22 of Arrowtown Backyard Ultra. It was the first daylight lap, and I had some caffeine chewing gum – WOW!!!”
But it hasn’t been all rainbows and unicorns. Looking at some of Steve’s lowlights, he definitely is overdue on his Worst Run Ever assignment.
“Getting bitten by dogs in Cambodia.”
“Every “road marathon after the first one – Chiang Mai twice more, Dunedin 3 times.”
“I’ve really hated the Kepler Challenge a couple of times!”
“Lap 39 of Arrowtown Backyard Ultra sucked. I thought I saw lightning out the corner of my right eye, so I turned around to check… and around and around… Then I got lost in the forest… “
There is no doubt that Steve is an absolute legend of the NZ trail running scene. Thank you for all you do to support runners getting out on the trails and into the wilderness.
You can follow Steve on Instagram & Strava.
More importantly, if you’re interested in any of his events, check them out below.
Crush The Cargil, Silverstream Spin, Pigs Backyard, Dunedin 24-hour peak bagging & the race director for 3 Peaks Mountain Race.