Get FKT Summit Challenge 🚀🏔️
brought to you by Merrell NZ
Get FKT Summit Challenge Sponsored by Merrell
Welcome to the Get FKT Summit Challenge!
Can you beat a Merrell Performance Team athlete to the top?
They reckon you can go GET FKT!'
Your mission is simple:
🏃♂️ Pick a segment from the list below.
🎯 Try to beat the Merrell Athlete’s time.
🎁Win prizes
Beat the Merrell athlete’s time? Instant reward.
Every attempt gets you in the Merrell prize pool draw!
Ready to Get FKT?
📅 Challenge Dates: April 12 – May 4
📍 Where: Across New Zealand
🎁 Prizes: Merrell shoes, vouchers & more!
👉How To Enter
1️⃣ Click Here and join the Merrell NZ Get FKT Summit Challenge Club
2️⃣ Run any of the Strava Segments below.
3️⃣ Upload your run to Strava and name it Merrell GET FKT
🏆 How It Works:
🔹 1 Attempt = 1 Entry into the prize draw.
🔹 Beat the Merrell Athlete’s time? You win a $50 Merrell voucher
🔹 TRNZ Paid Subscribers get Double Entries in the prize draw & a $100 Merrell voucher if they beat the time.
🎯 Prizes Up for Grabs:
✅ Merrell Trail Running Shoes (Multiple winners!)
✅ Merrell Vouchers & Discount Codes
✅ Other old sh💩t lying around their warehouse!
🏁 Prize pool winners will be announced on May 12th.
The more you run, the more chances you have to score!
Summits & Segments
Click the Strava segment link to see the route, then go after the time! (List goes from North to South.)
🏔️Summit #1: Mt. Parihaka
📌Segment: Dobbies
⏱️Time to Beat: M🏃8:22 F🏃♀️11:30
A short sharp dash to the top of Mt. Parihaka - At only 1.24km the pain (and your chances) will be over before you know it.
Merrell Athlete: 🏃Sam Rout - @sam__trout
Sam Rout AKA The Northland Express. He might be a relative newcomer to the world of trail running but he had a stellar 2024.
🥇Bay Of Islands 50KM, 🥇Wuu2K 65KM, 🥇Taupo 50KM, Race 🥇Tekapo 50km.
Can you beat Sam up Mt. Parihaka?
He reckons you can go GET FKT!
🏔️Summit #2: Maungakiekie
📌Segment: Grand Master Maungakiekie
⏱️Time to Beat: M🏃4:58 F🏃♀️6:30
One for the central Auckland crew - 1.25 km @ 6.1%? No hiking on this one!
Merrell Athlete: 🏃Michael Sutton - @suttonruns
Michael Sutton was born and raised in THE Bay, close to the shores of Mt. Maunganui. He’s been addicted to the lactic for as long as he can remember, running cross country through school before discovering the world of Mountain Running.
Michael is repping Merrell on 3 different segments in the challenge - Can you knock him over on just one?
🏔️Summit #3: Donald Mclean Lookout
📌Segment: The Don
⏱️Time to Beat: M🏃35:30 F🏃♀️40:49
Can you beat ‘The Don’? A mix of gravel and 10,000 bazillion stairs. Make sure you do your calf raises leading into this one.
This is the first segment without a Merrell Athlete, but I wanted to spread love around the country!
🏔️Summit #4: Mt. Te Aroha
📌Segment: Te Aroha Trail Ascent
⏱️Time to Beat: M🏃39:51 F🏃♀️48:02
You won’t be feeling the Aroha after this 858M of climbing.
Merrell Athlete: 🏃Michael Sutton - @suttonruns
🏔️Summit #5: Mauao
📌Segment: Waikorere to Summit
⏱️Time to Beat: M🏃7:55 F🏃♀️9:30
One of the shortest, sharpest ways up Mauao, AKA Da Mount. Welcome to Cramp City!
🏃Merrell Athlete: Michael Sutton
🏔️Summit #6: Mt. Tauhara
📌Segment: Mt. Tauhara UP
⏱️Time to Beat: M🏃24:30 F🏃♀️28:30
At an average grade of 18.9%, this one is an absolute ball/ and or flap buster! Nice and central to Taupo and well worth a road trip from Rotorua to take a crack.
🏔️Summit #7: Te Mata Peak
📌Segment: Redwoods to top of peak
⏱️Time to Beat:M🏃12:45 F🏃♀️16:00
Description: A classic Hawkes Bay Hardcore route to the top of Te Mata Peak.
🏔️Summit #8: Pouakai Hut
📌Segment: Pouakai Hut climb from carpark
⏱️Time to Beat: M🏃35:00 F🏃♀️43:06
🏔️Summit #9: The Tip Track
📌Segment: The Tip Track Climb
⏱️Time to Beat:M🏃19:20 F🏃♀️23:00
Starting at the bottom gate of the infamous tip track, smash it to the top road - what will make you gag first, the gradient or the smell of the tip?
🏔️Summit #10: Grampians Saddle
⏱️FKT to Beat:M🏃10:45 F🏃♀️13:15
📌Segment: Mahoe track climb
A tried and true uphill grinder through native bush along the Mahoe Track to Grampians Saddle.
🏔️Summit #11:Mt Tekinga to Summit
📌Segment: Mt Tekinga to Summit
⏱️Time to Beat: M🏃55:07 F🏃♀️:1:27:05
Ben’s segment is a classic Coast route. Rugged and steep with 100M of vert, it's guaranteed to get you FKT, even if you don’t beat his time.
Merrell Athlete: 🏃Ben Williams - @benebb_
Ben enjoys rippin’ it anywhere from 21k up to 50k Ultras and sometimes a little bit further. He’s a Coaster through and through - he loves nothing more than tearing it up on the Paparoa Track and Goat Pass, running the fastest time over Goat Pass for the 2024 Coast to Coast.
🏔️Summit #12: Mt. Oxford
📌Segment: Mt Oxford Odyssey - Start to KOM
⏱️Time to Beat: M🏃58:30 F🏃♀️1:08:58
Mt. Oxford Odyssey might be no more, but there was a reason it was known as the toughest marathon in the country.
Merrell Athlete:🏃♀️Jessica Campbell - @jessgriffcampbell
If it’s steep, sketchy, and slightly unhinged—Jess is in her happy place. A regular on the NZ trail scene and a two-year veteran of the Merrell Skyrunning World Serie.
From gnarly alpine ridges to anything that looks vaguely runnable (or not), Jess isn’t afraid to throw herself into any adventure that sounds a bit cooked.
🏔️ Summit #13: Mt Thomas
📌Segment: Summit Track Climb
⏱️Time to Beat: M🏃33:00 F🏃♀️36:39
Merrell Athlete: 🏃♀️Kate Morrison - @kate____morrison
Kate is originally from Straya🦘, but saw the light and moved to Christchurch. She left her cross-country spikes in the land of the flat, and traded them in for a pair of trail shoes.
Kate just LOOOOVES vert. So much so, she’s won the Shotover Vertical Kilometer race the last 3 years.
🏔️Summit #14: “Needs a summit name”
📌Segment: Postfire CAP uphill track
⏱️Time to Beat: M🏃27:55 F🏃♀️32:45
Merrell Athlete: 🏃♀️Penny Mouat - @pennymouat88
From centre pass to summit dash, Penny Mouat has swapped her netball bib for a race bib—and she’s not looking back.
These days she’s more into hill reps than goal shots, throwing herself into the pain cave across trail runs, bike rides, swims, and kayak sessions.
A teacher by day and endurance beast by early morning/late evening/weekend.
🏔️Summit #15:Vernon
📌Segment: Victoria to Vernon
⏱️Time to Beat: M🏃24:46 F🏃♀️33:00
Merrell Athlete: 🏃Sanjeev Deo - @sanjeevdeo
Sanjeev is THAT GUY. You can’t run today cause you're a bit busy? Cute.
There goes Sanjeev at 4.30 AM heading out the door to get his run in before sorting out his 2 young kids before heading off to his demanding job.
🏔️Summit #16: Mt.Alford
📌Segment: Mount Alford from car park
⏱️Time to Beat: M🏃45:15 F🏃♀️54:36
An absolute Canterbury classic - you might need to stop in Methven for ‘supplies’ if you want to try break this time.
Merrell Athlete: 🏃♀️Sonja Vreugdenhil - @sonja.vreugdenhil.multisport
Born with mountain legs and a passion for type-two fun, Sonja is a trail runner and multisport weapon from Methven.
She’s most at home tearing along the gnarly tracks of Mt Somers and Mt Hutt— Her sweet spot? 20–30km missions that take just long enough to hit peak type 2 fun without overdosing.
🏔️Summit #17: Roys Peak
📌Segment: Carpark to Summit
⏱️Time to Beat: M🏃55:38 F🏃♀️1:08:21
The El Classico Roys Peak. As the segment name suggests, it starts from the car park and goes to the summit. If you’re serious about beating this one, go early to avoid the hiking influencers.
Merrell Athlete: 🏃Weston Hill - @kiwi.west
Weston Hill. There are names, and then there’s “F*ck, I bet he’s fast” kind of names. He just sounds like an awesome runner. Luckily for Weston, his legs back it up.
You’ll find his name on a lot of trophies around NZ, including the 3 Peaks + 1 NZ Champs where he knocked over Dan Jones in 2023 and narrowly beat Dan Balchin this year - not that you’ll hear that from him, he prefers to let his results do the talking.
Carpark to Summit in 55 minutes? You’re definitely going to GET FKT on this one.
🏔️Summit #18: Mt. Grandview
📌Segment: Grandview Full Climb
⏱️FKT to Beat: M🏃59:59 F🏃♀️1:04:30
The longest segment in the challenge at almost 9km - be careful not to blow your load too early on this one!
Merrell Athlete: 🏃♀️Katie Morgan - @katiemo1111
Katie ‘Money’ Morgan - if she’s on the start list, put the house on her. Originally from the South of England, she now resides in the deep south of NZ.
It’s hard to say what her biggest achievement is - 3 Peaks + 1 Short Course Trail Champ X 2, Representing NZ in Austria at the World Trail Running Champs or winning Kepler Challenge 3 times on the trot?
Can you beat the 3x Kepler Champ on her favourite climb? You can go GET FKT!
🏔️Summit #19: Mt. Cargill
📌Segment: Bethines to Mt Cargill Mast
⏱️Time to Beat: M🏃27:03 F🏃♀️33:06
With Crush The Cargill being the newsletter's biggest financial backer, I was contractually obliged to include this one. Ironically, Strava says the segment has 0M of gain. Make sure you’ve got track shoes on for this speed workout.
FAQ – Got Questions? We’ve Got FKT Answers!
🔹 "There's no summit near me!"
➡️ I guess you'll have to drive to Get FKT.
🔹 "Do I have to be fast to win?"
➡️ Nope! Every attempt gets you in the draw. Just get out there and Get FKT.
🔹 "Can I try multiple summits?"
➡️ Yes! Each attempt = more chances to win. If you want to double your chances, become a paid member of Trail Running NZ. Each paid member’s attempts are worth 2.
🔹 "How do I prove I ran it?"
➡️ Click Here and join the Strava Club. Go and run the segment, and upload your run to Strava. You'll need to join here if you don’t have a Strava account.
🔹 "If I beat the time, how do I claim my voucher?”
➡️Email trailrunningnz@gmail.com with a link to your Strava Activity with the subject “I Got FKT”.
📣 Time to Get FKT!
Tag @trailrunning.nz & @merrelnz on Instagram & post using #GetFKTNZ and challenge your mates⛰️🔥
Thanks Tony - will sort. Appreciate your help
Awesome. Theres going to be a problem with the Christchurch Adventure Park one- the mid section of the trail has been re-routed (about 3 months ago) . I can help with a GPX is needed but someone will need to baseline it as a new segment I guess. Otherwise no one is doing that one