🐎🤴Kings Backyard & Vert Day Recap
“...one simple truth, you don’t need to feel 100% ready to show up you just need to show up and start"
Your weekly fix of NZ trail running news
Here's what’s in the drop bag this week:
🏃♀️🏃Kings Backyard Results
🏃♀️🏃VERT DAY Recap
🎯Things You May Have Missed
☢️FREE WAI2K ENTRIES
📰SK News Desk
🏁Upcoming events: Release Radar
⛰️💊Mountain Skag of The Week
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Kings Backyard Ultra Results
Kings Backyard Ultra was back over the weekend for its second suck on the saveloy, after a succesful first showing, which produced a record breaking win for Anthony Kerr-Taylor.
If you’re unfamiliar with this Backyard buffoonery, give Backyard NZ a squiz. Here's the basic recipe:
Run a 6.71 KM loop on the hour every hour.
The race goes on until only 1 person is left.
Alright, let’s take a look at how it all went down.
Overall Winner:
🏆Troy Field - 40 laps (268.40KM)
Top DNFs - Men 🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️
☠️Shaun Collins - 39 laps (261.69KM)
☠️Troy Dunsmuir - 38 laps (254.98KM)
☠️Kendall Peacock - 34 laps (228.14KM)
Last Women Standing:
👑Ketina Chivasa - 33 laps (221.43KM)
Top DNFs - Women 🏃♀️🏃♀️🏃♀️
☠️Emma Steadman - 30 laps (201.30KM)
☠️Roberta Meksraityte - 25 laps (167.75KM)
☠️Georgia Corkill - 20 laps (140.91KM)
Saturday 9 am, 87 lunatics fronted up to the King’s Backyard start box in Whangārei to celebrate old King Big Ears’ birthday.
Some were seasoned. Some were rookies. All were about to find out how much they really like running😉.
The early laps ticked by with runners bucked off the Backyard horse at regular intervals. With 8 laps on the board (53.68km), over a quarter of the field were already nursing a bitter DNF beer.
By loop 15, AKA the 100km BOOM stick, the carnage had well and truly begun. 40 runners made it to the milestone, with 7 saying yes to the chair, including last year's champ Anthony Kerr-Taylor, who was on a limited leave pass from Daddy duties.
Interestingly, at this same stage, Riverhead Relaps, which had 187 starters, was down to 32 runners.
The long headlight hours played their usual games. The field would halve again by the time the make believe 100-mile buckles were handed out. 7 decided enough was enough, and it would be a field of 12 to take on Sunday.
4 more would drop off on the way to the Two Hundy Club, with Emma Steadman taking a seat after lap 30 (201.30KM), taking down the Last Standing Local, which also made Ketina Chivasa, once again the Last Woman Standing.
Kieran Horne would be next to take a knee at 31 laps, the final rookie to fall on his sword before Ryan Hattle and Ketina Chivasa also pulled the pin at 33 laps (221.43KM).
With that, the final 4 were formed.
🏃Troy Dunsmuir, 🏃Shaun Collins, 🏃Troy Field , 🏃Kendall Peacock
The ‘Beast from the East’, Kendall Peacock, was the first to flinch, dropping out a lap later at 34 (228.14 km). Top effort Kendall. Casually locking in a well-earned 9 lap PB.
The final 3 powered on for 4 more loops before Troy Dunsmuir secured the 2nd place Troy trophy, leaving Shaun Collins and Troy Field to duke it out.
Collins vs Field.
Both were well into PB country (Field - 30, Collins - 28), who wanted it more?
The fight only lasted one more round, with Collins succumbing to the sleep demons after slowing down too much to be able to bank any sleep, taking his 2nd assist of the year (2nd M*A*S*H, BYU).
Field had no issues completing the victory lap and getting his name etched into Northland endurance folklore.
Congratulations to Troy Field, your 2025 Kings Backyard champion.
I didn’t manage to snag Troy, but Ketina answered the bell.
What does it mean to you to be the last woman standing for the 2nd year in a row at Kings Backyard?
“Standing here as the Last Woman Standing at King’s Backyard Ultra for the second year in a row feels like a dream.”
“I’m so proud, not just of the result, but of the wild, challenging journey that got me here. KINGS is hands down, one of the most organized Backyard Ultras in New Zealand, and it’s one of my favorite courses to run. Huge shoutout to Chris and Helen for making it such an incredible event!”
“Truth is, two weeks ago, I wasn’t even sure I’d make it to the start line. Earlier this year, I faced health challenges that forced me to pull out of multiple events. After the Rotorua Marathon in May, I was nursing a knee issue and genuinely questioned if I was pushing too hard, too fast. The doubt was real.”
“But I kept coming back to one simple truth, you don’t need to feel 100% ready to show up you just need to show up and start. So that’s what I did. No expectations. Just a quiet intention: to run with heart and to encourage other women to do the same.”
A big congratulations to the His & Her Events crew once again for bringing the pain to the Far North - next stop, The Northland 100.
Full Results here, and follow His & Hers Events on Instagram for more photos and videos from the event.
This Week’s Newsletter Is Brought To You By…
WAI2K - November 24 2025
The WAI2K 100km race is the Athletics NZ Long-Course Championship race for 2025.
If you want to run for the NZ title and selection, or just be able to tell your workmates at Friday night drinks you’re training for the NZ trail running champs, this is for you!
I’m sick of 30 people turning up to race for our national title.
Let’s Make National Champs Great Again!
ENTER NOW
Vert Day Wrap-Up
6 AM on Saturday, Vert Mutants all around New Zealand kicked off the 6th edition of Vert Day.
Forget average minutes per k, max HR or GAP.
On Vert Day, there is only one stat that matters.
VP24H - Vertical Meters Per 24 Hours💪.
Traditionally a Wellington & Christchurch Big Sunday Run event, there are now multiple competing factions all around NZ.
Let’s take a look at the top individual results:
Women’s Podium
🥇Olivia Lawrence - 10,311M - 👑OVERALL WINNER👑
🥈Caroline O'Neill - 5,906M
🥉Eva Dethlefsen - 5,417M
Men’s Podium
🥇Jub Bryant - 10,014M
🥈Valentinas Bakaitis - 9,390M
🥉Al Cross - 6,100M
Congratulations, Olivia, you’re the Queen of the Vert Mutants and overall winner of Vert Day 2025!
If you’ve been doing your homework, you’ll remember Olivia (and Valentinas) featured just two weeks ago. She’d completed the SK Main Range with seconds to spare, fresh off the injury bench.
It turns out that was just a training run for Vert Day😎.
Here is what Olivia had to say about her efforts:
When did you decide you were going to go full Vert Mutant on Vert Day and what were some of the highlights of your day (and night)?
“I'd been interested in going 24 hours on vert day since last year when I bailed at just over 7K vert.”
“This year, the uphill was okay, but the downs were killing me, so I decided I'd push to 32 laps for 10K vert, then finish (that was just under 22 hours).”
“For most of the laps, I was with someone on the way up, and the company certainly helped. Highlights were sunrise, sunset, my first Everest, and getting to the bottom of the final lap, knowing I didn't have to descend that stupid hill again😂.”
Congratulations Olivia, that’s some next level sh💩t.
I think you should put out a book titled “How to return from injury.”
Step one: Run the SK Main Range sub 24 hours.
Step 2: Clock up 10,375m of vertical gain within 24 hours.
Jub Bryant was the King of the Mutants, clocking up just under 300M less (enough to claim a VAR surely🤔) with 10,105M grinded out in Queenstown.
It looks a bit sh💩t. I don't know how he managed to deal with going up and down such a boring-looking place.
I managed to wake Jub from his potato fritter and Tui-induced coma to get a few answers out of his insanity.
What was the plan heading into Vert Day, and did you have any moments of weakness where you almost went to the pub instead?
“There wasn't really a plan...but having never done an Everest that was in the back of the mind (which is pretty close to 10k).”
“I figured if people stayed through the night, I'd probably stay on. Turns out I was solo from midnight-ish on, but it was close enough to keep going.”
“The pub incentive wasn't too bad when there's a box of beers in ya bag of nutrition. It was a fun day out with one main track for Queenstowner's to use as a base route (if they wanted).”
“There's plenty of other tracks you can combine it with too. Well done to Olivia for not ditching at 10,000 on the dot though...was definitely ready for hometime once I hit that.”
“Great form from Eva for getting the QT crew together.”
Thanks for that Jub! I’m sure this will also get a mention in The NZ Hiking Newsletter too (written by Jub) - Check it out Here.
Now that we’ve got the individual honours out of the way, let’s get down to business.
Vert Day Team Results:
It’s taken some creative accounting, but I’ve managed to make the numbers work to secure Wellington BSR has defended its Vert Day Title.
🥇Wellington BSR - 94,847M
🥈Queenstown - 94,137M
🥉Canterbury BSR - 31,595M
I received a message from my boots on the ground in Queenstown that Jub was verting like a man possessed, and they were on track for 65,000M.
I was shocked when I opened the spreadsheet the next day to see Queenstown at 94,847M!
That’s when I scrolled to see Wellington BSR at only 88,941M - way down from their total of 139,151M last year.
It appears that the inner-city running gang warfare created a splintered Wellington effort, with several Wellington Runners entering under WoRM instead of Wellington BSR.
It wasn’t until I added 3rd place female Caroline O’Neill (who was misclassified) to the Wellington BSR tally that they nosed ahead.
Phew😰.
Well done to Jub, Pete and Eva down in Queenstown for coordinating the effort. The boilover was almost achieved! Till next year.
Congratulations to everyone who participated and, most importantly, donated to the Hilary Trust.
Doctored Results Spreadsheet available here, including individual and team results.
Things You May Have Missed
WUU2K 10th Anniversary Song Drops
It’s about as crazy as you’d expect. Rumour has it that the Tail End Charlies will be blasting this bad boy on Bluetooth speakers non-stop to get the back of the pack moving faster so they can make it to the after-party.
M*A*S*H is now a Silver Ticket Backyard in 2025
Are you looking for a way onto the next NZ Backyard team? Well, this week M*A*S*H Backyard in Wellington was revealed as the 4th Silver Ticket race for 2026.
“WTF does that mean?” It means all you need to do is win M*A*S*H and you’re on the team. Entries opened yesterday.
Kaiteriteri Gold Provisional Results
I got a bit too excited about Vert Day earlier and ran out of space to include this. So here’s a link to the Kaiteriteri Gold provisional results from Sunday.
☢️WARNING FREE STUFF- WAI2K WINNERS☢️
There were so many entries in the paid subscriber giveaway that I asked Gareth if I could pay for an extra 50k & 100k entry to give away.
Gareth, being the legend he is, said, 'Sure thing, but donate the money to Move For Mental Health!' (They’re the charity of choice for The WAI2K.)
So that’s what I’ve done. You can join me in fundraising by starting your own page here as part of team Trail Running NZ, or donating to my page here.
Without further ado, here are your free entry winners…
🥳Al Shelton - 100k:
🥳Andrew McDowall - 100k:
🎊Tom Peck - 50k:
🎊Jack Thompson - 50k:
🔥Alan Crowe - 25k
😎Stephen Bates - 12k
That’s over $1000 of free entries for Trail Running NZ paid subscribers.
Sign up below if you’ve got room in your running budget - we’re just getting started, more races and other competitions coming your way.
SK News Desk
Leading the news desk this week is the SK Awards.
The Red Carpet was rolled out. The paparazzi lined Abel Smith Street. The who’s who of Wellington Running, dressed in their finest puffer jackets and retired running shoes, piled into the Southern Cross bar to congratulate all who had achieved SK Glory in the last 12 months.
Now, I’ve only been banging on about the SK for 2 years, BUT in case you’ve scrolled past that section every time I bring it up:
Think of it as the “Bob Graham Round” of the Tararua range. Finish under 24 hours for glory.
There are 4 main routes: the Main Range, The Tarn, the Valley, and the more recent Carkeek route. All 4 start in S’Putara (silent S) and finish in Kaitokie.
The distance varies between 70-80K and 3-8K of vert, depending on the flavour of your run and how generous your watch is.
Check out the Tararua FKT website for more intel, or watch Andy Carruthers's award-winning SK Film.
Last year's awards saw a record 5 certificates handed out to those who had tasted Main Range glory.
This year? Just the 2 successful attempts.
💪Callum Mallet
💪Olivia Lawrence
The Patupaiarehe Award
The Patupaiarehe Award is for extraordinary endeavours in the Tararua.
It is reserved for only the most amazing efforts in the range. It doesn’t just go to the top achievement for the year; if no one does anything worthy of the award, it remains untouched.
Brendan Varty
It was no surprise to see Brendan at the front of the room receiving this award. He has been relentless over the last 12 months, cramming in what some achieve over a lifetime.
His season was capped off with the crowning achievement of the 1500’s, summiting all 1500M peaks in the Tararua Range and then getting to a road end in one push.
Brendan’s most recent Instagram Post sums things up nicely:
“It's no secret that my 24/25 season got off to a bad start, but I was not about to let one bad experience stop me from achieving my goals; I used it to motivate me to come back stronger.”
“Last night, I was awarded the Patupaiarehe award for the second year running and also got to take it home, where it will be pride of place for the next 12 months.”
“Thank you so much to everyone who has helped me on my journey in any way.”
”I'm already pumped for next season.”
As for what’s next for the Masterton Kid?
“I have some unfinished business with a couple of the S-K routes and an ever-growing list of other Tararua missions I'd like to have a crack at. For me each adventure is training for the next one and I can't wait for whatever is around the corner.”
If you’re interested in learning more about what’s involved or need help with logistics, get in touch or visit the Wellington Big Sunday Run crew on Facebook. There is always someone keen to help🙂.
Remember—Don’t watch the dot. Be the dot.
Upcoming Events:
It’s looking quieter on the race front next week, with no major races scheduled, but there is still some local bragging rights to be had with three regional trail series events.
Release Radar:
Sat 22/11/25: The WAI2K
Entries opened on Sunday. The first 20 entries in each distance (or 30th of June) get the early bird discount, whichever comes first.Sat 17/01/26: M*A*S*H BYU
Entries also opened on Sunday. It’s now a Silver Ticket Backyard, capped at 150 entries.21/02/26: Old Ghost Road
You may have heard of it … a little grassroots race on the West Coast. It also opened on Sunday. If it’s on your hit list and you missed out (it sold out), it always runs through a massive waitlist, so jump on board.
#Mountain Skag Pic Of The Week
This week's wee baggy of Mountain Skag is from Chester Holt-Quick and his wee stroll around the classic Southern Main Range loop in the Tararua.
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.
We will return next week with … NFI! Send me all your stories!
It takes hours to write this newsletter, but only 8 seconds to forward it to a friend.
PS. If you didn’t see, Jim Walmsley is out of Western States. Who’s starting the “It’s our year” chant for Danny Jones?
Thanks for the new moniker