The Lost Hobbit & Mt Oxford Odyssey Preview
"The Tararua. They were completely miserable."
Your weekly fix of NZ trail running news
We’re like the easy run on your training plan - nice and simple, there to refresh & energize you for the week ahead.
Here's what’s in the drop bag this week:
A Hobbit from Straya🦘walks into a bar
My Worst Run Ever
Stuff You May Have Missed
Upcoming Events: Mt. Oxford Odyssey
Mountain Skag Pic Of The Week
A Hobbit from Straya🦘walks into a bar🍺 …
And tells his mates he is now the record holder of the FKT for the Te Araroa Trail running Bluff to Cape Reinga!
He may have finished on April Fools, but this is no joke. Alex Bezinna has just covered the 3000 km trail in 60 days, averaging 50 km per day🥵. If you’re unfamiliar with the Te Araroa trail … check it out here.
Alex Bezinna, AKA ‘The Lost Hobbit’
So who is ‘The Lost Hobbit’?
He is:
🎂26 years old
🦘Lives in Milton, Brisbane
☢️Hated running until covid hit.
🧙♂️A fanboy of Lord Of The Rings
⛔No previous ultra-running experience. His previous longest run was running the Grand Canyon rim-to-rim
So how did an Australian hobbit stunt double, who previously hated running, with no previous ultra-running experience, end up setting the TA SN record?
Well, Alex started running just to get out of the house during covid. Like most of us, he saw the light and realized that running on trails is far superior to grinding down the pavement.
He heard Brooke Thomas on a podcast talk about her record-setting run on the TA running North to South. This ignited his imagination, and he reached out to her coach, Adam Keen from Aerobic Edge. With Adam’s help, he put a plan in place to prepare him to run 50 km a day for 60 days.
However, a record like this isn’t achieved by fitness🏃♂️ alone. It’s a massive logistical challenge as much as physical🏋️ and mental🧠. If you’re not prepared for multiple gear failures, lousy weather, niggles, and back-to-back sh🤬tty runs, you’re doomed from the start. Luckily, Alex had the support of his Dad. Traveling to and driving the length of another country while washing your son’s dirty underwear💩. What a trooper.
Alex came to NZ with 3 objectives.
✅ Run the length of Middle Earth, AKA NZ - Bluff to Cape Reinga (South to North) in 60 days or less.
✅ See Mt Doom and slay some orcs.
⛔ Raise $30,000 for Forest🌲 & Bird🐦 ($10 for every km while promoting awareness for threatened wildlife.
He has achieved the first 2 and gave the 3rd a good nudge. He has raised $22,921 for Forest & Bird NZ. His give-a-little page is still open if you want to donate.
Sam & Frodo with Mt Doom in the background
Alex’s story is an excellent reminder that we can achieve so much more than we believe💪. It doesn’t have to be an FKT attempt. It doesn’t even have to be running-related. Nothing makes you feel more alive than planning an ambitious objective and going after it. Everyone should experience the feeling of taking that first step with their internal voice screaming😱😱😱
“HOLY SH🤬T, THIS MAD MF IS ACTUALLY GOING THROUGH WITH IT.”
Alex was generous enough to answer a couple of questions I sent his way.
What piece of trail on the route so far would you pay never to run again?
The Tararua Forest/Mountains. They were completely miserable. I'm sure they are very beautiful when you can get a view, but the weather we had when we were running through them was so atrocious. I only got about 5 minutes of the ridgeline, so it was so much effort trying to climb these mountains. We covered so little ground, it was so slow, and unfortunately, we couldn't see any of the amazing views.
I was also feeling a little ambitious to try and knock out this section in one day. It wasn't the most well-thought-through plan because I hadn't checked my head torch batteries, so about an hour after sunset, the battery died, and I had a good 5 hours to go, but luckily I had my phone with 15% battery left to use as a flashlight and somehow it held on!! I got to the car at about 1:30 am with 1% battery left, so I would definitely pay not to do that again.
Post-Miserable Tararua recovery breakfast.
Would you have kept going if you didn't have a public charitable cause?
I think yes! Don't get me wrong, supporting an organization like Forest and Bird is an amazing thing to do and their support has given me extra motivation, but I think also a big part of this journey was I really wanted to prove something to myself. I really wanted to learn more about myself, push myself to the limits/extreme, and get a better understanding of who I am/the kind of person I am/things I'm capable of.
This journey has been huge for me, and I have experienced a lot of self-discovery. It's incredible what the average human being is capable of.
Celebrating in style after 60 grueling days.
What food are you just completely over?
I don't know. I'm not really over any food - luckily, my Dad has been cooking/preparing a lot of variety, so I feel like I haven't got really sick of anything in particular.
I do have some foods that I completely love, though. The champions of this trip have been CookieTime cookies and their ice-cream cookie sandwiches, so yum.
Also, Whittakers Chocolate, we have been trying to taste all the flavors before the end of the trip, so that's been something to look forward to! And Snackachangi chips - the best crisps I've ever had! So tasty.
Well done again, Alex. Rest up and enjoy your achievement 👍
My Worst Run Ever
This week’s Worst Run Ever is from the Lost Hobbit himself. I’m sure he probably has 4-5 runs from this epic adventure that would qualify.
Keep the stories coming in! Send them to [email protected]
They can be short or long. Funny😂 or sad😭. They can even have a happy ending.
I got a bit abstract with the AI this week
So there was a day on the north island where we hadn't been able to do laundry in a while and I'd run out of clean🦨💩 and more importantly dry clothes👚 to run in.
We were staying in Hamilton. The night before my dad tried to find an open laundry place to no success. So that morning, I found myself wearing nothing but a pair of compression tights, I was freeballing🍇 (going comando), a smelly top and a pair of my dads socks🧦.
The upside... or so I thought, was that I'd be running in farmland🐄 so no one around to see. I'm chuffed thinking this has worked out so well. I got a few kms in and realised there were an awful lot of nettles and thorn bushes in this particular paddock but didn't think much more about it until it started to get hilly.
It was still early morning so there was dew all through the grass and my shoes at this point had very little grip which meant I was slipping and sliding all over the place, but I was still somehow making my way up the hill.
I got to the top and thought to myself "hell yeah I made it up that slippery ass hill in these shoes" then went to take one step down the other side and completely slid out landing with my butt square on a giant thorn bush and as I had no undies🩲 the spikes🔱 went right in. I’m pretty sure to this day I've still got a few spike splinters in my butt.
Alex Bezzina
It takes hours to write this newsletter but only 8 seconds to forward it to a friend.
Things you may have missed
The Tongariro crossing is going to see some changes.
A booking system, a cap on numbers, a change to one-way and cultural education are among the changes.
Upcoming Events
MT OXFORD ODYSSEY
Saturday 15th of April - Canterbury
WARNING: THE BELOW MAY CAUSE SERIOUS LEVELS OF FOMO, ANXIETY, AND PTSD
An hour’s drive inland from Christchurch, you will find Coopers Creek. The start of the Mt. Oxford Odyssey - the proclaimed toughest marathon in NZ. If you’re the type of runner that the words “technical, scrambling, ice & LandSAR” get you hot under the buff, this race might be for you.
Look out, Shotover & Northburn, Mt Oxford Odyssey is claiming to be the toughest.
This is the best description I found of the course.
Take a rough back country trail,
Grab Mt Cook, chop it into 3 bits and plonk it on the course,
Add a couple of rivers between the bumps,
Drop a bunch of trees on the track,
Cover 1/3 of the course in snow & ice,
a few marker poles so you know where to go.
And call it an odyssey - The Mt Oxford Odyssey.
Kevin Holland.
However, I’m always a bit suspect of events that claim to be the toughest💪. So I treat them like a Fish’n’Chip shop with a “Gold Award Winner 2008” in the window - tempered expectations and a large pinch of salt🤔. So let’s take a closer look🤓.
Elevation profile for Mt. Oxford Odyssey Marathon
With over 3500K⛰️ of vert inside 42K, it is one of the steepest races around. That is 1K more than Shotover Moonlight & 1.5K more than the Northburn marathon😵. And yes, that’s 650M more than a 5-lap marathon at Crush the Cargill. We contacted Crush the Cargill for comment, but they were too busy working on Fusion Event memes.
Add in the fact it’s not on 4WD tracks or groomed trails. Mt. Oxford Odyssey appears to be the real deal. I mean, check out the elevation profile. The only thing flat in this race will be your spirit as you trudge up Mt.Oxford for the 2nd time. Throw in a bit of snow & ice❄️, and you’ve got all the ingredients for a fantastic wilderness event.
Plenty of rocks to send you flying on the descents. Photo: Mt Oxford Odyssey Instagram
Prepare for all conditions on the top of Mt.Oxford. Photo: Mt Oxford Odyssey Instagram
The crew at Mt. Oxford Odyssey was kind enough to take the time to answer a couple of questions.
What is the toughest part of the Marathon course?
The climb back up Mt Oxford - the third ascent of the race. It’s brutal and relentless after already climbing two mountains. It’s often talked about by competitors as the section that makes them dig the deepest - not just physically!
Top tip for a good race at the Mt Oxford Odyssey?
Hills, hills, and more hills! Having the training under your belt makes for a much more enjoyable day.
My translation - Put the pies🥧 down. Get into the hills for some long days, and don’t bother turning up if you’ve been cruising along at parkrun once a week.
If you’re up for Type 2 fun but don’t want to tackle the marathon, they also have 33KM, 21KM & 15KM options.
For more info, check out their site, and also give them a follow on Instagram.
Mountain Skag Pic of March
Sean Martin has been voted the winner with this snap on the slopes of Mt. Taranaki. Congrats - some sweet Mountain Skag swag is coming your way.
Mountain Skag pic of the week
This could be your image here!
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We will be back next week with the Mt. Oxford Odyssey Race results & more.
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