🏃🏃♀️Free Peeks In Dunedin
"Luckily I still had just enough legs!"
Your weekly fix of NZ trail running news
Trail Running NZ, probably the 2nd best thing in your spam folder this morning…
Here's what’s in the drop bag this week:
🏃🏃♀️3 Peaks Mountain Race Results
🎯Things You May Have Missed
⛰️💊Mountain Skag Merch, March Giveaway(Paid Sub)
🏁Upcoming events: Northburn, Loop the Lake, Riverhead ReLaps
⛰️💊Mountain Skag of The Week
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3 Peaks Mountain Race Results
Dunedin turned it on with typical blue skies and a high of 23 grey cold day AKA perfect running conditions for Sunday's NZ Trail Champs at the 3 Peaks Mountain Race.
(Apologies for the incoming wall of text. Failed on the photo front this week. I’m sure Athletics NZ will have it plastered all over their home page this morning …)
3 Peaks + 1: 📏55KM | ⛰️2700M
Men's podium:
🥇Cameron Kerr - 5:11:02
🥈Thomas Barnes - 5:12:22
🥉Dwight Grieve - 5:25:26
Cameron ‘Captain’ Kerr vs Thomas ‘Backwards Cap’ Barnesy.
What a match-up. Barnes was backing up his big win at Old Ghost Ultra, and Kerr was looking for a repeat of the form that saw him take the Motatapu Ultra crown only 2 weeks ago.
Things got off to a spicy start, with Barnes and Dwight Grieve setting the early pace. At the Longridge Rd Aid Station (15km), Barnes had carved out a 25s lead over Grieve, with Kerr a further 30s back.
Barnes continued to press his advantage, extending his lead over the longest, toughest leg of the race, coming into the Bacon Knob (really?) aid station just under 5 minutes ahead of Grieve.
Halfway through, with a 5-minute lead. Things were looking on track for the Barensy Express. But Captain Kerr had other ideas. He passed Grieve and cut Barnes’ lead in half through the next 14km. With 13km to go, he had put 5 minutes on Grieve and was only 2m30s back from Barnes.
GAME ON.
Kerr reeled in Barnes over the next 4km. That’s 2m30s mins inside 4km. I don’t know if Barnes was getting any on-course intel, but he must have been surprised to see Kerr pulling up beside him at the base of Mt. Cargill.
They ran side by side up the small, mild climb to the top of Mt. Cargill. With 5 km to go, the NZ Short Course champion would be decided by a drag race down off Mt. Cargill to the finish.
Kerr had more juice left in the quads, putting Barnes to the sword down the final stretch to take the title by 1m22s. Grieve held firm to round out the podium, 25 minutes clear of 4th.
That’s 2 years in a row that the Motatapu Ultra Champion has gone on to take 3 Peaks plus 1 for the men.
Here is what Cameron ‘Captain’ Kerr had to say about his big day out in Dunners.
“The day out there was alright. Good cooler conditions for running (Dunedin's pretty good at being cloudy eh 😂)”
“I definitely had my tough moments and dropped back off the leaders early, 5th at the top of the first climb, then slowly worked my way back to 2nd at around 25km and sat there for the next couple hours.”
“I caught Thomas at the base of the final climb, and we were shoulder to shoulder the whole way up.”
“We hit the top of Mt Cargill aid station together, and then it was all on for the 5km descent to the finish. Luckily I still had just enough legs!”
Cameron Kerr
Women's podium:
🥇Ali Wilson - 5:59:52
🥈Hannah Fletcher - 6:01:22
🥉Margie Campbell - 6:01:46
The two Wellingtonians, Hannah Fletcher and Ali Wilson set the early pace. Fletcher ran into the Longridge Rd Aid Station (15km) just 5 seconds ahead of Wilson, with 2023 runner-up Margie Campbell a further 50s back.
Fletcher kept her foot down through the next section, but she couldn’t quite shake Wilson. Only 19s separated the 2 of them at Bacon Knob, but their battle had pulled over 2m clear of Cambell.
Up over Pulpit Rock and onto the Silverpeaks track they went. Fletcher broke the elastic and put some fresh air between her and Wilson. With 13km to go, she had pulled 2m40s ahead. Campbell was still in the thick of it only a further minute back.
Like the Barnes v Kerr battle, Wilson reeled in Fletcher. They ran into the final aid station atop Mt.Cargill together. But this was no longer a two-horse race, with Campbell only 1m back at the final aid station.
It came down to a 3-way battle. Who was going to lift the boats? Who was going to carry the logs?
In the end, it was Wilson who came flying over the line 1m30s ahead of Fletcher, with Cambell taking a close 3rd.
Much like Old Ghost Ulta, this was a great battle up front. Wilson chased Fletcher’s shadow for most of the day, but she stuck to her guns and kept herself in the fight. When the opportunity came to take the lead, she was good enough to take it.
A quick look at how Ali Wilson’s day went
“Tough day in the office, couldn't shake the monkey on the shoulder.”
“Pushed to the edge by another Wellingtonian. Only managed to catch her coming up to Mt Cargill summit.”
Ali Wilson
Three Peaks: 📏26KM | ⛰️1350M
Women's podium:
🥇Sophie Shallard - 2:39:10
🥈Claudia Sole - 2:40:52
🥉Kristy Eyles - 2:43:19
Sophie Shallard came out on top in a tight race. However, she didn’t have things all her way. Agnetha Korevarr applied the early pressure, going up and over the Swampy summit 1m50s ahead of Shallard, with last year's runner-up Kristy Eyles in 3rd.
Shallard made her move through the next section to Leith Valley. She cut down Korevarr’s lead to just 17s. Claudia Sole also showed her hand, moving from 5th to 3rd, only 15s back from Shallard.
The stroll up Mt. Cargill was the changing point of the race. Korevarr dropped from 1st to 3rd, and Shallard was suddenly in the lead, 1m20s ahead of Sole with just 6km to go.
Shallard held strong to the finish, taking the tape 1m42s ahead of Sole. Eyles powered home, passing Korevarr on the descent to take 3rd.
Men's podium:
🥇Logan Griffin - 2:10:04
🥈George Hamilton - 2:14:36
🥉Alexander Gorrie- 2:15:42
Logan Griffin gapped the field early and ran off the front like a boss.
Heading over Swampy Summit (11km) he had a slender 45s lead over Alexander Gorrie and the same back to George Hamilton in 3rd.
Running into Leith Valley, nothing had changed. Griffin was out front, with Gorrie and Hamilton chasing hard.
There must be something about this whole ‘Crushing the Cargil’ thing, as getting up and over Mt. Cargill played a pivotal role in all the races today. Hamilton posted the fastest split on this section of the course for the day, passing Gorrie up to the summit and pulling to within 4 minutes of Griffin.
With 6km to go, Griffin let gravity do the work, rolling down the descent into Chingford Park to take the win. Hamilton held on tight to his newly found 2nd place ahead of Gorrie, who took 3rd.
Overall, there was some very tight, gutsy racing over tough terrain. Leigh Harriers and the team must be stoked with how the day went. With a record turnout this year, the future looks bright for the 3 Peaks Mountain Race.
Click here for the Full results, including the 11km race.
Things You May Have Missed
Shannon-Leigh Litt has now completed 77 back-to-back ultra marathon distance runs.
There were 367 starters at the Herdys Backyard Ultra in Purf, Straya🦘 over the weekend!
Mountain Skag March Paid Subscriber Giveaway
3 lucky paid subscribers have won a $50 Mountain Skag
…DRUM ROLL PLEASE…
Callum Mallet
Jack Thompson
Cullum Mangin
A $50 voucher is coming your way to an email near you.
A big THANK YOU to all the Paid Supporters who help keep this thing rolling.
Upcoming Events
Northburn, Cromwell
Saturday, March 23
“I haven’t vomited like that since Northburn”
“I haven’t been burnt like that since Northburn”
“I haven’t been that cold since Northburn”
“I haven’t tripped balls like that since Northburn”
“I haven’t cried like that since Northburn”
“I used to like hills until I ran Northburn”
These are all statements about Northburn I heard before I even knew what it was.
The scary thing was that this wasn’t from one person who had a terrible time; it was from six different people.
Then there’s the website tagline:
“Where suffering is the prize, and everyone’s a winner.”
Add to that the official course description:
“Dry, hard, rocky course mostly running on high country 4WD tracks, including some short sections of fence lines and sheep tracks. The weather is changeable, and you're completely exposed. If it's hot, it's F🤬🤬king hot. If it's cold, it's F🤬🤬king cold.”
How can a race be THAT hard? The short answer is I don’t know. I’m too much of a p😾ssy to enter😝.
If you haven’t been put off yet, here are the 3 main races:
📏50KM🥵 | ⛰️2600M
📏100KM🥵🥵| ⛰️⛰️6350M
📏161KM🥵🥵🥵 | ⛰️⛰️⛰️10,000M
Northburn has a common start/finish base camp with 3 different loops. Every lucky soul gets to run the first loop, which is the 50K race.
The 100K & Milers both run the 2nd loop (end of the 100K race)
The morons Miler’s get an extra 10K called the loop of despair before one last loop around the block.
Check out the elevation profile of each loop 🤢
Like most things in life, some people get addicted. Andrew McDowell is a Northburn abuser heading down for his 7th go at it.
Andrew was bored enough to respond to some of my questions:
What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the words “North buuuurn”?
F🤬CK YEAH! (also: open space, adventure, challenge, Terry bloody Davis.... but mostly F🤬CK YEAH!!)
Lowlight of last year?
Nothing really. It was awesome. Catching up to - and passing - my mate Kieran with 5k to go kinda sucked as I was happy for him to take 2nd place - but his knee was wrecked so he had to walk it in. He's doing the 50k this year hope he smashes it!
Biggest lesson you learnt for this year?
The biggest lesson I got was in my 2nd year when I did not treat the course with the respect it deserved (probably because year 1 went so well so I had arrogance on my side) - went out too hard and DNF'd at 100k absolutely rooted.
With a race like this, I've learned to not even think about pushing until you're at least halfway done. And then only push a little bit!
I absolutely can't wait, It's my favourite event in NZ for sure and an excellent warmup for Western States!
Click here for more details on Northburn. Follow along on Facebook.
Loop The Lake (Rotoiti)
Saturday, March 23
Tanya Bottomley got most of the way around a lake. Mal Law and James Harcome looped one last week. A few runners up north are quite happy to drink beers and stroll around Blue Lake.
I’m not sure what all the fuss is about. Gazza Southside and his team at Nelson Events have had people Looping the Lake since 1996.
The race runs in an anticlockwise circuit of Lake Rotoiti starting from the Lake Rotoiti waterfront (St.Arnaud)—approximately 25km.
Who better to tell you about the last ever Loop The Lake than Gazza himself?
Around the Lake… the Last Loop
“Sorry, but there will be no “Bottle Opener Medals” when a capacity 400 strong field finishes Saturday’s 29th Alpine Lodge Loop the Lake..
( mind you, they do come in handy post-race).”
“But Nelson Events haven’t forgotten you before you start their final circuit of Lake Rotoiti in the pristine Nelson Lakes National Park.”
“They’ve kept it pretty simple over the last 3 decades…with everyone recognised..as those in the mid to back of the pack are the ones who pay the bills..and without them they wouldn’t have survived in the Trailrunning event scene for all this time.”
“180 of the field are women whilst of the total overall over 50% will travel from outside the Nelson Tasman Region, including six from overseas.”
“Phil Costley (1.37.42 in 2010) has never had a challenger and will not again unless George Beamish turns up in long spikes for a 25km Steeplechase.”
“The front of the field could be Callum Wilkie, who won with “short back n sides” on a study break in 2019. However, he will need to go 7 minutes faster to play “King Arthur “ with Costley.”
“Mick Keating posted 2.35 for Bronze in the 2018 Rotorua Marathon …but 6 years on and no tarseal is more than an equaliser.”
“Fleur Lattimore ( 1.54.50..2012) holds honours from the Lake start ..Carline MacDonald (1.53.38..2004) when it began beforehand from DOC HQ just up the Hill….but both could be under threat if Hannah Oldroyd winds up as she normally doesn’t take any prisoners after lacing up her shoes.”
“But for all Saturday’s finishers ( and the thousands beforehand ) whenever they return ( medal less) to stand on the Kerr Bay Jetty and look straight ahead maybe with a slight tear in their eye ,they can proudly say “ I Looped that Lake”..while the eels below simply want some more bread…!!”
Thanks for that, Gazza. I wish you all the best for the last loop. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that someone else picks up the baton.
Click here for more details on Loop The Lake. Follow along on Instagram or Facebook.
Riverhead ReLaps
Saturday, March 23…
Hot off the press, this is the best course at Riverhead so far. There is less vert (-55m) and less mud, which should equal more yards.
Shaun Collins (Race Director) is so excited, he even went and through down a hot lap.
Looking at the start list, I can see why he’s so excited!
There are 6 entries with PBs of more than 30 laps and 13 who have gone past 24h.
Shannon Rhodes 42
Brooke Thomas 37
Zane Adams 33
Caleb Pearson 32
Helen Waterworth 31
Stephen Harney 30
Ash Pari 28
Hadani Woodruff 27
Ian Gilmour 27
Stuart Lynch27
Dougie Kyle 26
Anthony Kerr-Taylor 25
Ryan Hattle 25
Here is Shaun’s inside intel on who he thinks could still be looping deep into Sunday (and beyond).
Helen Waterworth and Brooke Thomas are super keen to get onto the NZ team, which at this stage only has one woman(Fiona Hayvice with 37 Loops). Brooke equaled this at the Arrowtown Backyard in November, but as Fi scored hers in an earlier race in the qualification period, she just makes it into the 15th slot of the team.
Hadani Woodruff is coming from Christchurch to join Waterworth and Thomas. Perhaps they can push each other to get those coveted team spots. It would be so good to see more women representing NZ in the backyard format.
Shannon Rhodes is a regular at backyards around the country now, having done 7 backyards in NZ in the last 2 years (Sam Harvey has done 9) and getting better with each one! He scored his PB in the Arrowtown Backyard in November last year.
Caleb Pearson got the Assist in 2023 behind winner Sam Harvey. Caleb admitted afterwards he quit (on loop 33) because he was a bit surprised to be with Sam Harvey at the end and didn't really know what to do given it was his first backyard and longest he'd ever run (having only done a 100km before that).
Ash Pari deserves to finally have a decent result. Consistently near the top of the backyards he has entered, it was a surprise last year when he turned up at the start corral a few seconds after everyone left on the 12th Loop. Call it tiredness or stupidity (he'll fess up to this) he missed hearing the warning whistles and was eating when he saw everyone run past his tent.
Anthony Kerr-Taylor is also one to watch out more - after finishing top 10 in the Tarawera Miler, his focus is very much on this event to score a high total - he's twice as fit as he was when he got 25 loops at the 2023 Relaps
Simon Cochrane, the current Ultraman World Champion and World record holder and the only person to win ‘The Claw’ (200km) at Bluelake 24hr Challenge. So he has the legs, but I'm not sure what he's like in a bit more tricky terrain.
Runners with Beards will be live streaming, with more live cameras, expert commentary, and human connection than the first stream at Pigs Backyard.
The stream will start just before 9 am on 23rd March.
To watch, Subscribe to the Runners with Beards YouTube channel
If you want to get yourself AMPED, check out this sweet vid from last year.
Click here for more details on Riverhead Relaps. Follow along on Instagram.
#Mountain Skag Pic Of The Week
Mal Law sent in this week’s hit of Mountain Skag from his around-the-lake adventure with James Harcomme.
If you like what you see, check out Mal’s Instagram, there’s plenty more where that came from.
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.
Next week, we will have results from Northburn, Loop The Lake and maybe … Riverhead Relaps.
It takes hours to write this newsletter but only 8 seconds to forward it to a friend.
PS. ALI WILSON RACES, ALI WILSON WINS.
Sorry, I had to get that out of the system.