🏃🏃♀️Glenn Sutton, Like a Pig in ...
"The chill from a heavy late summer dew cooled us for the first mile of rough suddling"
Your weekly fix of NZ trail running news
As one reader put it, The ORIGINAL NZ Trail Running Newsletter😜.
Here's what’s in the drop bag this week:
🏃🏃♀️Pigs Backyard Ultra Results
🎯Things You May Have Missed
🍪Cookie Winners
🥾Mission Corner
📰SK News Desk
🏁Upcoming events: Shotover Moonlight, Tarawera Ultra
⛰️💊Winner of Mountain Skag January and 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.
PIGS BACKYARD RESULTS
Saturday, February 10
Saturday at 10 AM, 121 keen pigs lined up in the starting corral for the biggest Pigs Backyard Ultra to date (Almost more than the 2 previous years combined).
However, The Blue Lake Challenge had returned serve at Inch Events, cursing Pigs’ backyard to a weekend of rain, wind and cold temperatures. But unlike the Blue Lake Challenge, the show went on.
Last year, scorching temperatures ripped through the field. This year, the wet conditions slowly wore down even the toughest competitors. Only 6 pigs made it through the first 24 hours, and as we know, with these backyard events, it’s all about the bass.
Overall Winner:
🥇🏆👑Glenn Sutton - 34yds / 228.14km
Top DNFs
🏃☠️Hunter Wight - 33yds / 221.43km
🏃☠️John Bayne - 30yds / 201.30km
🏃☠️Brion Matthews - 29yds / 194.59km
🏃♀️☠️Brooke Thomas(🏆🏃♀️LWS) - 20yds / 134.20km
🏃♀️☠️Sophie Shallard - 18yds / 120.78km
🏃♀️☠️Kim Allan - 17yds/ 114.07km|
Glenn Sutton took out the title, adding to his Scenic Circles win last year and breaking the course record by 2 yards.
He was pushed to the end by a couple of familiar faces in the Backyard Circuit, but it was Sutton who dealt with the slippery conditions the best.
It’s clear that the Pigs Backyard course packs a punch. If you compare it to last November’s Arrowtown Backyard, the difference is huge.
Arrowtown, 78 runners ran over 100km.
At Pigs, 29.Arrowtown, 22 runners made it to the 100-mile mark.
At Pigs, just 6.Arrowtown, 15 runners joined the 200km club.
Pigs, just the top 3.Arrowtown, Brooke Thomas ran 37yds / 248.27km.
Pigs, she set a new female CR of 20 yds / 134.20km
Just like that, the first silver ticket for the NZ Backyard team has been snapped up.
Up next? The OG. Riverhead Relaps in March.
Check out Backyard Ultra NZ for all the intel on everything Backyard Ultra related.
Check out the full Pigs results here. For more pictures and coverage check out the Pigs Instagram.
Things You May Have Missed
The Flying Doctor has had a whoopsy. There’s now a podium spot free at these upcoming races. Shotover Moonlight, OGU, Motutapu, Tararua Mountain Race, Dunedin 3 peaks.
Get your hands on this piece of Tim Sutton magic. A framed copy is up for auction on Trademe, with all proceeds going to Joe Benbows family as part of the #runwildforjoe campaign. The auction closes on the 15th of Feb.
The RocknRoll Runner and Allira Hanczakowski crossed paths on the St.James Walkway last week on their awesome TA adventures.
Wildthings VIP membership is on the rise to $62.50 from $49. It's hardly worth getting your nose out of the joint. The payback on your membership is still insane if you frequently buy gear and supplies from their partners.
Yes … Shannon-Leigh Litt is still running an Ultra a day. That’s 42 on the trott. Big test coming up as she is lining up for the Tarawera Miler.
Say It Ain’t Dough?!? Cookie Winners
Congratulations to…
Debbie Ann, who smashed her PB at the Clevedon Half after an extended stay on he sidelines with injury last year.
Stuart Meiklejohn, who is celebrating his success as a Premium Tararua SK member, completing the Holy Grail Main Range traverse in under 24 hours on Friday.
Kerri Dewe, who has done ALL her training runs in the lead-up to the Tarawera Miler because she’s scared sh💩tless.
Moustache Cookies coming your way!
Email through your details, and the Trail Running NZ Cookie division will get right on to that for you.
Mission Corner
Burn Hut Loop | 📏17KM 👆900M
This week’s mission report is from Trail Running NZ member Daniel Pringle.
“By the numbers and terrain, the Burn Hut loop on the Northern Tararuas is not bigger, higher, longer, or radder than your last favourite mission. But it might just be more enjoyable!”
“Our group of Liz, Sean, Nick and myself parked out of the way at the turn-off to the lower Dam and went clockwise. The chill from a heavy late summer dew cooled us for the first mile of rough suddling***.”
“We warmed up on the climb through the forest to open sub-alpine terrain and a view of Mt Ruapehu from about 800m. Much of the track from here was in a well-maintained corridor between high leatherwood, giving views and protection from the breeze.”
“Sitting on a high point in a broad saddle east of the Mangahao Dams, Burn Hut sports great views in all directions. A position in a windy part of the range, which likely contributed to its toilet now lying toppled over!”
“Heading north gave us views up the Mangahao and glimpses of the Northern Range, recalling past missions and calling us for more. The highlight for me was the section down College Creek. Delightful river travel similar to Ohau River or the Eastern Hutt Gorge.”
“After this, more sidling and scrambling around the edge of the reservoir, then across the top Dam before 4km gravel road back to the car.”
“All up about 17km and 900m vert in an unhurried 4:20hr. Add it to your matrix, assemble your posse for a trip north and enjoy.”
Note: The gravel access road was better than we expected but unsuitable for low-clearance vehicles. It’s popular with cyclists, too, so take it easy. A little over 2 hr each way from Wellington, plus whatever you allow for a Shannon bakery stop.
*** I had to look up what suddling was. Apologies, I didn’t realise this would be an R18 mission report.
Suddle: When you take cuddling to the next level. When the girl proceeds to induce an erection through the process of …
SK News Desk
It’s been a busy week on the Tararua SK news desk. Take it away, Chris Martin.
Congratulations to …
Brendon Varty who knocked off Tim Sutton’s long-standing FKT on the SK Tarn traverse by just 1 minute and 10 seconds. The FKT is now 17h 21m 50s.
Olivia Lawrence who set the new female solo Valleys SK FKT in 18h 21m.
Stu Meiklejohn who has joined the rank of premium members who have finished all 3 traverses, finishing the Main Range on Friday in 23h 15m
Jonothan Armstrong (world-famous from last week’s Worst Run Ever), who is one step closer to platinum status, completing a reverse Tarn SK in 18h 52m.
Tim Sutton who was the first to complete the new Carkeek SK route in reverse, finishing in 22h 5m.
If this sounds like waffle, go to https://tararuafkt.wordpress.com/ to make sense of it all.
Upcoming Events
Shotover Moonlight
Friday & Saturday, February 16 & 17
The Shotover Moonlight Mountain Marathon is probably NZ's most stunning marathon event.
Many races claim to be the toughest, but Shotover is the toughest, most scenic race.
It’s like a 10/10 looker who has a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. They look good but can kill you without hesitation.
If you’re cruisin’ for a bruisin’, there’s plenty to choose from:
Shotover Ultra 56km
Mountain Marathon 42km
Adventure Run 30km
Half Marathon
10km
If you’ve already entered, forgotten to train, and need a good excuse for when your mate beats you on Saturday, you can enter the Ben Lomond Vertical Kilometer on Friday.
1200M of calf burning climbing up the flanks of Ben Lomond should help you justify why you got your arse kicked on Saturday.
Entries are still open. Check the website for more details, and follow on Facebook or Instagram.
Tarawera Ultramarathon
Saturday, February 17
It’s a week later in the year; it’s rocking a new weird logo and colour scheme, BUT … we’re finally here.
Tarawera Race Week. You can always tell it’s coming up by your Facebook feed being filled with the most inane questions🤣.
"Is it going to rain?"
"Are there places you can buy food in New Zealand?"
"When should I tell my family when I’ll finish?"
It feels like Tarawera has something to prove this year. It hasn’t escaped the negative fallout from the boycott UTMB / Ironman movement.
Prices are eye-watering (if you entered the 50km now, you’d be paying $8 per km), the 100km & 100-mile courses are still missing the best part, and a brand change has left the race somewhat unrecognisable. I do not doubt that Tim Day and his team are working as hard as ever. It just feels like they need to knock this one out of the park.
That being said, there is no doubt that Tarawera is still NZ’s premiere trail race, and it’s not even close.
Some predictions for Tarawera 2024 in no particular order …
Sam Harvey rips up the script and takes all the marbles in the 100 miler. I can’t bet against him. He will have to be firing on all cylinders as 2 X Leadville Champ Adrian Macdonald is making the trip across from 🌭Murica’.
Nikki Everton makes a splash on the big stage, showing that her course record-breaking run at Taupo in October was no fluke, finishing on the podium in the 100km,
Sage Canaday rolls back the clock and pushes Danny Jones to the brink, with Jones chasing down Canaday across the final K’s from the Redwoods.
Charlie Hamilton from Straya’🦘 spoils the party and beats out local legends Jono Jackson and Michael Voss in the 50km, breaking David Haunschmits’s 2023 record.
No matter what happens, it should be another weekend of fantastic racing. What I love about Tarawera is we get a chance to measure our best athletes against the world. More often than not, we’re coming out on top.
Oh, and did I mention that Ruth Croft is lining up again in the 100km?
Now, it’s not all about the podium. Good luck to all of you heading up to Tarawera next weekend, I know this is the big ‘A’ race for many.
If you don’t quite have the race you were after, here’s your silver lining. You can send your Worst Run Ever to trailrunningnz@gmail.com and let everyone share in your misery!
If you’re feeling some serious FOMO, entries are still open. Check the website for more details, and follow on Facebook or Instagram.
#Mountain Skag Of January Winner
Congratulations, Thomas Callan. You’ve taken out #Mountainskag for January.
It was a tight one! I can’t see the actual vote count, but it was 47% vs 44%.
#Mountain Skag Pic Of The Week
This week’s #mountainskag is from Bex Hutchinson from her trip on Waitangi Day dragging her fiance Kyle Malone around Mt. Taranaki.
Thank you for all your entries. You never know when you might strike it lucky. I think this is Bex’s 3rd submission.
Some of the other entries from this week:
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 Tarawera & Shotover Moonlight results and whatever else gets blown my way.
It takes hours to write this newsletter but only 8 seconds to forward it to a friend.
PS. I realized a bit late that I had forgotten about the Coast 2 Coast Mountain Run. I get a bit confused with all the different categories. Congratulations to all that competed, results can be found here.