Alright, folks - that was a mission. This one is unapologetically long. Best read on the work toilet at 9:00AM to avoid that killer “Have you done your Xmas shopping chat” at the water cooler.
Here’s what’s in the drop bag this week:
🏃🏃♀️The Spectacle Results
🏃🏃♀️The Valley Ultra Results
🏃🏃♀️Crust The Catgirl Results
🎯Things You May Have Missed
🟣Worst Run Ever by CurraNZ
⛰️💊Mountain Skag Pic of the Week & November
🏁Upcoming events: 🎄Christmas Break
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.
The Spectacle - Nelson
December 13-15th
The highly anticipated ‘The Spectacle’ made its debut appearance on the running calendar over the weekend, starting with the 100-mile race, kicking things off Friday at 5 PM.
📏162KM | ⛰️7000M
🏃Men’s Podium
🥇Kyle Malone - 25:38:31
🥈Jarrod Mclauchlan - 25:53:38
🥉Adam Sheppard - 27:14:25
KarlKyle ‘Postman’ Malonedelivered a master class in his debut miler to be the first pair of sweaty hands to claim the inaugural Spectacle 100 Mile Title💪.
Malone took it out hard with pre-race favourite Troy Field, going back and forth until Field made a break, heading across towards Stoke 21km in.
Sunset from the Barnicoat Range. Photo: Kyle Malone
With a 5 pm start, darkness came early and, with it, a lead change. Malone arrived at Hackett carpark aid station with Field in the grips of the chair of death, shoes off, getting some attention. Malone didn’t need a second invitation, scampering off into the darkness and the lead.
Field caught back up, but Malone dropped the clutch, dropping him before Hacket Hutt (60km). Malone powered through the night, using all his backcountry experience to put a gap on Field heading up the climb to Dun Mountain & Little Twin. With the sun rising and the terrain smoothing out, Malone hit Maitai Dam (88km) with a 43-minute lead.
That’s when the sizzling Nelson heat started causing havoc. Stu Meiklejohn moved past Field, arriving at basecamp in 2nd, 53 minutes back from Malone. Field would be next, but his race wouldn’t last much longer, the first of many to pull the pin on this brutal course. Some were completely Dun, others just couldn’t Hackett.
Jared Mclauchlan arrived in 4th but would soon be 2nd, as Meiklejohn took an extended stay in the next aid station, battling the heat and his desire to continue.
Coppermine, one of the more runnable sections of the course Photo: Kyle Malone
Malone’s lead over Mclauchlan was 60 minutes, but with 56km to go and the mercury topping 30, all results were still wide open. Mclauchlan started making gains in each section. Just a couple of minutes at first, but then he found 14 minutes in 10km, then another 8. The lead was chopped down to 33 minutes with 15km to go!
With one last push up the cgrunt of a climb in the Grampians, and a cruise around the cathedral, Malone crossed the finish to take his inaugural miler victory by 14 minutes.
Mountain Skag athlete Kyle Malone crossing the line for victory.
On that second lap, Mclauchlan was relentless, keeping Malone honest and coming close to reversing a 1+ hour deficit.
Adam Sheppard was in and around the podium for most of the day before cementing his place in 3rd 117km in, and never relenting his spot.
Kyle had a long enough wait at the Nelson airport to answer some of my questions:
What was the plan coming in? Run your own race or did you want to dictate terms in the lead?
“I was reasonably confident that I was going to be one of the strongest through the technical section, which luckily came overnight when it was cooler. So the plan was to hang on until Hackett hut then, push hard and get as big a gap as possible and just hang on for dear life through the heat of the day, hoping that anyone trying to bridge the gap would cook themselves.”
At what point did you know you had it in the bag?
“As the day went on I was getting sick of looking at the tracker so I messaged you to get splits sent to me that would show up on my watch*. That worked brilliantly and I could temper my effort.”
*Remote pacing is part of the paid subscriber benefits here at TRNZ
Some dickhead earlier in the year described the spectacle courses as runnable- what was your impression of the course? Also, 5 pm start yay or nay?
“It was such a varied and great course, but extremely hard. I think the 5pm start was great because it had already cooled down a little bit when we were going over some of the more exposed sections of Fringed hill and around the Sanctuary fenceline.”
It’s not every day I get to write about a mate winning their first 100-mile race. Well played, Kyle, a well-deserved victory😎.
🏃♀️Women’s Podium
🥇Emma Timmis - 27:05:03
🥈Jean Beaumont - 30:15:35
🥉Hazel Harrison - 37:10:47
Emma Timmis, who’s made her name as a treadmill endurance specialist, proved she can excel on any terrain. She took the lead early and never looked back💪.
Well ahead of the rest of the women’s field, she cast her eyes towards the men, looking to disrupt the sausage fest🍆. Timmis bounced in and out of the overall top 3 before a strong 2nd lap saw her solidify her position and never looked back.
27:13:14 - Remember that time. I’ve got a feeling that might stand for a while.
Emma Timmis laughing her way around a tough AF 100-mile course. Photo: Emma Timmis Instagram
The unstoppable Jean Beaumont stood one step below Emma on the podium. Jean is the most humble person you could have the pleasure to meet. She often refers to herself as a lol👵 (little old lady).
Well, this little old lady completed a traverse of The Remarkables last month and climbed Mt. Aoraki just 2 weeks ago. Did I mention she’s also in the 60-69 category? LOL - Legend Of a Lady more like it😎.
Hazel Harrison battled hard all night and day to take the Bronze in her 4th Miler since March in her 6 for 60 years challenge.
A big thank you to Emma Timmis for answering the below:
How does that rank in terms of toughness with your other crazy achievements?
“It’s definitely different! These quads of mine aren’t used to elevation! The technicality of the trail, the heat on the day and the millions of tree routes definitely make this one of the toughest events I could imagine.”
How would you rate the spectacle course and overall event experience?
“Absolutely exceptional! If I had the energy I could have taken photos all the time. The views were spectacular! Nelson has incredible trails. It’s was super cool to combine the trail events with the fast road running, and pretty much something for everyone. The Black Seeds was the icing on the cake.”
📏100KM | ⛰️4832M
🏃♀️Women’s Podium
🥇Kate Annan - 15:47:23
🥈Francesca Harris -15:50:08
🥉Louise Espin - 16:17:56
Only 2m45s split Kate Annan and Francesca Harris after 100km, 4800m of vert, 50L of sweat and approximately 1,236,245 tree roots. The pair’s local knowledge of the rough and rugged Hackett to Maitai Dam middle section would prove critical in gapping the field and touching down on top of the podium, making it a 1,2 finish for Nelson locals.
Kate Annan (left) Francesca Harris (right) Photo: Francesca Harris
Louise Espin finished strong, putting 7 minutes on Julia Brown over the last 18km to claim her spot on the podium
Kate was kind enough to fill in some of the blanks and give us her thoughts on the day.
3 minutes isn’t very much over 15 hours - how did the race play out at the front?
“The female leaders had a great race! A group of us were leapfrogging for quite a long way, with Katy Barker clear ahead for the first half. Once we were onto the Hacket section Fran and I were into our element and we were able to pull ahead.”
“We both knew that the others would be chasing us down once we got onto the more runnable terrain after the dam. Fran came into the dam just as I was leaving so I knew she was close behind me.”
“When I was slowing to nearly a crawl on my way up Grampian Road I told Bernard that if Fran caught me that was OK and she deserved the win, but I wanted to hold onto 2nd. In the end there was less than three minutes between us, which is pretty amazing over almost 16hrs!”
“We were so happy to take 1st and 2nd as locals, and to have another close race between us. Today we've been starting to chat about some running adventures we'd like to do together over summer.”
How does it feel to take home the win on your new hometown trails?
“I was really disappointed when The Wild was cancelled - that route inspired me so much! Racing on the local trails was pretty special though, and the 100k really did a good job of showcasing the variety of trails we have here. Even the sections through Stoke were actually quite fun - lots of people were out on the streets cheering us on, one even sprayed me with her garden hose because I was already overheating at 10:30 in the morning.”
“I finished just before the Elite Road Mile, so I came in to a huge crowd cheering, which was a pretty surreal experience.”
“My favourite part of the course is the section from Hacket Hut through to the Maitai Dam - I think that quite a few people really did not enjoy that, so it made for a race of two halves.”
“I imagine that the 50k race could become a classic - that fast climb up Coppermine, the challenging terrain of Dun Mountain and Little Twin, then the wicked descent to the Maitai dam before the last push back to town. I think it takes a certain strength of person to sign up for climbing Dun Mountain twice in one Miler, I certainly couldn't do it.”
🏃Men's Podium
🥇Vajin Armstrong - 13:31:09
🥈Craig Thomson - 14:14:40
🥉Trevor Voyce - 14:20:35
Vajin Armstrong shot off like a Weka on speed, never to be seen again. Armstrong has won or been on the podium in almost every NZ event he’s entered for the last 15 years. He’s like the OG Haundschmidt.
He’s run Tarawera & UTA 100 multiple times and never ran over 10 hours. In fact, outside of his 13:48:45 at CCC in 2017, this is his slowest 100km result. So 13:31 on this course tells you all you need to know about how tough it is.
Behind Armstrong, there was a battle royal of 6-7 lads fighting for the remaining 2 spots on the podium. At the halfway point, Craig Thompson, Andrew Hau, Trevor Voyce and Dan Busch were all in the mix.
It wasn’t until the final quarter that the podium began to take shape. Thompson made a break, taking Voyce with him. He held firm over the final Grampians climb, crossing the finish 43 minutes behind Armstrong and 6 minutes clear of Voyce.
Thank you to Craig for his thoughts below:
It looked like Vajin took it out hard with a big battle all day for the remaining podium spots - how did the race play out at the pointy end, and how would you rate The Spectacle as an event?
“Yes, Vajin was off like a rocket at the start, so we didn't see him for the rest of the day.”
“I tagged onto the back of a couple of wiry locals who knew the course and stayed with them throughout the day.”
“I got a break on a runnable section after a climb and managed to keep my position. ”
“Great event, Very well organised. There was plenty going on all day (even roller blading ). Tough course! Would definitely go back.”
📏50KM | ⛰️2082M
🏃Men’s Podium
🥇Sam Harvey - 4:18:07
🥈Jonathan Jackson - 4:27:12
🥉David Haunschmidt - 4:28:50
The Flying Doctor bolted from the gun, leading from start to finish to complete a successful comeback from surgery. It was a battle of the recoveries, with Sam Harvey winning the Kosciusko Miler only 2 weeks ago, Jonothan Jackson winning the Luxmore Grunt just last week, and Dr H on the comeback trail from a recent Android upgrade.
Not that you could tell any of this with their ballistic start, with The Flying Doctor the first through the 5km mark in 16:52. WTF🥵.
The early pace and lack of race fitness started to bite as the mercury hit 30. Jono Jackson moved into the lead with The Flying Doctor getting a bit close to the sun. Harvey was in the pocket, ready to pounce.
And pounce, he did. Snapping up The Flying Doctor first before running down Jono Jackson and powering away to a 9-minute victory.
Oh, and did I mention that Sam went on to run a 4:55 mile in the open mile race that afternoon? Talk about putting your money where your mouth is🤑.
2 weeks removed from winning the Kosci miler - what was the plan going in, and when did you realise it might be your day?
“I was just trying not to do anything dumb and respect the 100 miles that were still sitting in my feet and legs.”
“Totally expected to fall apart but once we had summited the main climb, I figured my legs were working way better than the other lads and I would give it a bit of a send".”
Dr H, Sam Harvey, Jono Jackson Photo: David Haunschmidt Insta
🏃♀️Women’s Podium
🥇Caitlin Fielder - 4:39:09
🥈Nancy Jiang -4:54:59
🥉Julia Grant - 5:34:13
First of all - what a star-studded lineup in the women’s race! How good to have Caitlin Fielder and Nancy Jiang back on Kiwi soil racing each other?
It was a much more sensible start on the women’s side (anyone surprised😝? Men = Dumb dumb) with Nancy Jiang & Caitlin Fielder leading through the first 5km in 23:18 with Julia Grant 30s back.
Jiang took the race to Fielder, building a 1m30s lead along the Sanctuary fenceline and into Third House Shelter. The script flipped through Coppermine, with Fielder regaining the lead and taking total control of the race, navigating the rugged Dun Mountain, Little Twin climb and descent 9 minutes faster than Jiang.
At this stage, it was a 2 horse race with Julia Grant 30 minutes back, but comfortably in 3rd. Fielder stretched her lead down the descent into Brook St before scorching her way up the final Grampians climb, taking the inaugural 50km Spectacle victory by 15m49s over Jiang and finishing 4th overall.
Grant took the Bronze 40 minutes back, comfortably 21 minutes clear of Rebecca Vella King.
Thanks to Caitlin for taking the time to answer the below:
You’ve raced some of the most famous races all around Europe - how did the 50k compare?
“Yeah it’s always super cool to come back to NZ and see how the trail running scene is growing and expanding.”
“I’ve ran the 50k route a few times and love the views that you get running along Dun mountain and Dew Lakes, it’s pretty techy though so most of the time my eyes were on the ground. NZ is such a beautiful and unique place with our native bush, and it’s so awesome to be able to share that with so many other runners.”
Congratulations to the Spectacle team. I was sceptical that they could execute their ambitious vision, but by all accounts, they did. I stand corrected. Well done👏.
Click here for a complete list of results, including the 10 & 21km event. Follow on Facebook or Instagram for more coverage.
This Week’s Newsletter Is Brought To You By…
The Tararua Mountain Race
Saturday 12th of April, 2025
Race the historic tramping route ‘The Southern Crossing ’ with the support of LandSAR.
Bush fires and gale-force winds weren’t enough to stop The Valley Ultra from pushing ahead. The Whole Hog course was shortened, but there were still 46km of quality trails to race on.
The Wholeish Hog: 📏46KM ⛰️2000mish
Not a bad spot for a race Photo: Valley Ultra Facebook.
🏃♀️Women's Podium
🥇Maggi Forsyth - 5:48:46
🥈Hannah Wall - 5:54:13
🥉Olivia Hammond- 5:55:57
Hannah Wall led this race from start to finish. At the 18km mark, she had ground out a 5-minute lead over…
Whoops, that was last year’s report. However, it was close to a repeat. Hannah Wall most likely would have defended her title if it hadn’t been for a wrong turn.
Wall had built up a handy lead through the first 30km before missing a turn-off heading up the river. 2km later and back in 6th, it was all hands to the pump to claw her way back into 2nd.
Maggi Forsyth benefited from Walls’s mistake, winning by just over five minutes. Olivia Hammond was 3rd, just 1m44s behind Wall.
Maggi took time out from making space in her trophy cabinet next to her Naseby 100 and Rocky Point trophies to answer a few questions.
How did your race go & how did it play out at the front of the pack?
“I have wanted to do the Valley Ultra for a few years now, so was stoked to finally get to do it! I actually had a pretty average run, it was just one of those days right from the start where it felt hard. My legs were sore, heart rate was high and my mindset wasn’t there.”
“Having two bad falls within the first 10KM didn’t help either. I got stuck behind lots of people in the first 5km and had one fall which I recovered from pretty quick and managed to catch up to the girls at the front. Then just as I had began passing them, I had another fall, this time landing on my face and taking a decent amount of skin of my hands and knees.”
“I was adamant for a couple kms after that, that I was going to pull out and had done something to my ankle. Managed to pull myself together and started playing catch up again. By 20km I was sitting in second. Unfortunately Hannah Wall who was sitting in 1st took a wrong turn somewhere in that next section and I passed her.”
“With 10KM to go I had a 3 minute lead, and managed to extend that to finish just over 5 minutes ahead of Hannah. Very stoked with the win. It was a tough course, and the climbs at the end of the second loop were brutal! Bit of a training run for me looking towards Northburn miler in March. Definitely highlighted some of my weaknesses - one being keeping my feet on the ground”
Maggi Forsyth on route to victory in the Whole Hog Photo: Valley Ultra Facebook
🏃Men's Podium
🥇Laurence Silk - 5:18:32
🥈Jonothan James- 5:20:01
🥉Andrew Grant - 5:20:08
Laurence Silk closed harder than a car salesman on the 31st of March, running from 7th, 9 minutes off the front at the 18km mark, to taking the lead with less than 10km to go.
You don’t often see a field this close 35km in. Gerard Morrison, who led the middle chunk of the race, got caught by Silk & Andrew Grant. It turned into a drag race, with Silk having the legs to run away from Grant and Morrison before witnessing Jonothan James out kicking Grant after he took a wrong turn close to the finish.
Laurence Silk making the most of a flat section during the Whole Hog Photo: Valley Ultra Facebook
The Piglet: 📏24KM ⛰️1000m
🏃Men's Podium
🥇Flavio Vianna - 2:04:32
🥈Harry Wager- 2:05:05
🥉Sam King - 2:09:35
3 little piggies were sharing the lead 14km in Flavio Vianna, Harry Wager & Maximillian Yanzick (Milly for short).
Vianna found another gear to pull away from Wager for victory, but unfortunately for Milly, Sam King yearned for pork. He pulled back a 5-minute deficit with 10km to go and piled on another 2 for good measure, going 9 minutes quicker than his 3rd from 2023.
🏃♀️Women's Podium
🥇Emily Trevail - 2:31:55
🥈Anna Gregan - 2:42:20
🥉Annabel Ramsay - 2:43:24
I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again. Emily Trevail will prevail.
Leading from start to finish, her lead was 8 minutes at the 14km checkpoint over Anna Gregan, who had Annabel Ramsay chasing her shadow, just 1m02s back.
Trevail powered home to add The Piglet title to her Mission Mt Somers half from November, with Gregan holding out Ramsay to take 2nd spot.
One person who had a challenging week was Valley race director Sheree Haugh.
Here’s what she had to say Sunday night, hopefully after a couple of stiff drinks.
“Roller Coaster is only way to describe last 10 days - we had it all thrown at us what with the main fire, entries pretty much stopping over night 10 days out then hot spot flare flaring up to weather forecasts not aligning and course changes but we finally made it to the start line. “The day, from the runners' perspective, was hard but satisfying - from my perspective, I was so humbled by many amazing comments from the runners and so thankful that we pushed through and held the event. But massive thanks must go the FENZ and DOC who from the start remained positive and supported us in having the Valley Ultra.”
Friday, 10 pm. 10 people with nothing better to do set about strolling up Mt. Cargill 19 times within the 36-hour cut-off.
10 crazy mofos with nothing better to do Photo: Rad Piers
The sacred Mt.Cargill trig was defiled, bringing with it torrential rain, making the challenge that much more enjoyable.
Whoops, how did that get there? Photo: Rad Piers
5/10 Crushed The Cargil within the time limit. Their prize? Getting to buy their own buckle for $10!
🥇Petrus Hedman - 27:54 💪Andy Smith 💪Hunter Wight 💪Sebastian Potgieter 💪James Park
(The scroll I was sent only had 1 time on it)
Congratulations to Petrus Hedman (2023 24-hour challenger winner). He took out the Miler at 27:54, 22 minutes off Chris Bisley’s winning time last year.
Does this look like a sane person?
24 Hour Challenge
There were 187 weird and wonderful starters in this year’s Cruise The Cargill, but Raechel Keepa & Chris Taylor stole the show.
Raechel Keepa & Chris Taylor Photo: Rad Piers
“Raechel Keepa, from Christchurch, was top woman with 11 laps. She hung on to move past locals Lydia Patillo (10 laps) and Andrea Dale (10 laps).”
“The men’s race didn’t have such drama. Chris Taylor took the off like a rocket and finished nearly 4 hours early with a commanding lead on 15 laps. Kyle Cloete and Josh Tripp, from Gore, kept plugging away to close the gap both finishing with 14 laps.”
“Youngest crusher was Kōtare (age 6).” “Oldest crusher was Carole (77). Kudos to Ross Davies (age 70) for completing 11 laps.” “Canine Crusher was Stella (again), who did 8 laps.” “3 legged race was won by Adzie.” “Underwater hockey category was won by Pascal.”
Crust The Cargrill Instagram
In typical CTC style, there were shenanigans aplenty.
How many races have a “Fridge 2 The Summit” Catagory?
Underwater hockey entry - Who even thinks of this stuff?
Follow on Instagram for more memes and weird shit.
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Things You May Have Missed
Luca Ahumada Wins Rocky’s, Jane McAlpine Assists
41 runners took on the Rocky’s Backyard course in Tauranga. The 30-degree heat ripped through the small field, with Luca Ahumada & Jane McAlpine as the final 2 survivors. Luca took the victory in 21 laps (140.83km) with McAlpine the assist and the last woman standing in 20 laps (134.12km). More coverage here.
Karel Sabbe Is Taking On The TA Trail FKT
It’s official: Karel Sabbe starts his Te Araroa FKT attempt on January 15th. You may recognise him as the crazy dentist from Belgium who’s finished the Barkley and also once held the FKT on the Appalachian Trail (AT) and Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) in Murica🌭. George Henderson has held the record in 49d 14h 27m 0s since January 2020. This is the first serious threat since.
Worst Run Ever by UTMB 🟣CurraNZ
Strap yourself in. This one’s a David Lange. But let’s be honest: none of you are doing any work this week. Thank you, Mark DeGoldi, for sharing such a harrowing tale.
“Maybe we shouldn’t have sidled?”
An Actual Worst Run Ever
“Started off with about 40 people registering to do it… 33 pulled out the Thursday, before and only 7 Ended up having a crack @ it… 2 doing the Full Mountain Marathon and 5 doing the Half Mountain Marathon, Greg and I included…. Weather in Fiordland , Summer, and all.. bit wet, but should be great, and we had booked accommodation in Te Anau for the Friday night, traveling down from Christchurch..”
“The Saturday 7am Start for us in the Half was @ Moraine Creek in a bit of Light rain, Drizzle and the 5 of us set off…. It was really the last time we saw the 3 others as they were from around the area and we weren’t…..The other 2 on the Marathon started at 3am (from the Divide Car Park) , and we would see them later in the day….The rain stopped and started all throughout the morning...”
“Greg and I hiked on following the Doc markers making a couple of mistakes which were easily undone... Got to Lake Adelaide at around 2pm ish and the rain had started to become constant.. we thought about sheltering in the Rock Bivs on the other side of the lake, but still had a lot of Daylight left in the Day so we punched on.”
“Got around another Lake, called South America and then had to scale Giffords Crack... (Google it, if ya don’t know it) this was basically a vertical rock wall climb with a waterfall coming down at you as you Climb... We followed blue markers put out a few days earlier by the race team... We made our way up pulling ourselves up using the Snow Grass.”
“Finally made it to the Top and saw the other 2 Full Marathon guys coming up behind us... as we made it up towards Barrier Knob... the Snow started to fall and settle... the other 2 guys had caught us and we decided to try and navigate down to Gertrude Saddle together as there was no track due to the Snow.”
“We had to shorten up our Hiking Poles and use them to stop sliding off the mountain as we slid down on our sides trying to make it below the snow line.... Still Snowing... Finally made it to the top of Gertrude Saddle... Still Raining... but had made it to the popular Hiking trail at about 7.30pm.. in 12 hours and change.”
“Made it across the Giant Slabs of Rock that are on the trail to where the River Crossing was... which was a torrent feeding out of Black Lake.... We were all cold and Frost bite had started to kick in... were stuck there for about an hour... Had activated our SOS beacon... but after an hour of shivering/Emergency Blankets , comms with various people... No one was coming in to Rescue us... so made the decision to try and cross the swollen, flooded river all linked and got across.”
“Another couple of hours later finally made it to the Carpark at Midnight , 19 hours later and the finish to an Epic/unforgettable/life threatening Adventure... really pushing the type 3 Adventure.....”
Thanks for sharing, Mark.
You’re in the draw for some little purple pills from 🟣CurraNZ.
Can purple pills regrow fingers? Only one way to find out!
This one could have easily ended up the other way. This is a great reminder to always carry a PLB, but remember, it’s not a teleportation device. Make sure you’re prepared, check the weather and asses the risks on your route.
PS: I can no longer keep up with the Instagram tagging and comments - Keep tagging etc but if you think its newsletter worthy - make sure you email a link to trailrunningnz@gmail.com, that way I’ll definitely get it.
