🏃🏃♀️Maia Flint Wins The Goat
+ M*A*S*H & Revenant Recaps
Your weekly fix of NZ trail running news
Welcome to Trail Running NZ - Increasing the length of workplace toilet breaks since January 2023😝
Here’s what’s in the drop bag this week:
🏃🏃♀️The Goat Results
🎖️M*A*S*H Backyard Round-up
🏃🏃♀️Revenant Recap
🎯Things You May Have Missed
🟣Worst Run Ever by CurraNZ
🏁Upcoming events: Jumbo Holdsworth Trail Race & More
⛰️💊Mountain Skag Pic Of 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.
The Goat Results
Saturday, January 18
📏20km | ⛰️1200m
🏃♀️Women's Podium
🥇Maia Flint - 2:19:35
🥈Jessie Speedy - 2:25:52
🥉Michaella Wills - 2:36:17
It’s been 3 years, but Maia Flint is back ON TOP of The Goat podium😎.
Last year, she threw everything at Johana Ridefelt, running the 2nd fastest Young Goat (U23) time in Goat History (behind Ruby Muir’s 2:19:28), but it wasn’t enough to beat visiting Swedish Orienteer Johanna Ridefelt.
This year, she found another level. At Mangaturuturu Hut, Flint was 5 minutes ahead of the speedy … Jessie Speedy and 3rd overall. She held her own up the steep waterfall climb, pushing up Mama’s Mile to break the 2:20 mark and over 6 minutes clear of Speedy.
It was also a great race for Jessie Speedy. 2:25:52 has been good enough to take victory at The Goat plenty on plenty of occasions in the last 20 years. Michaella Wills was 3rd across the line, a further 11 minutes back.
🏃Men’s Podium
🥇David Haunschmidt - 2:06:34
🥈Nick Tipling - 2:14:15
🥉Jamie Wells - 2:17:18
The Flying Doctor David Haundschmidt took full advantage that there were no Corporaals on the start line. He bolted out the gates in his usual style, taking The Goat by the horns, building a 3-minute lead over Nick Tipling at Mangaturuturu Hut.
Richard Wood was a further 7 minutes back, leading the chase with Jamie Wells and Conor O’Toole hot on his hoofs.
I doubt Haundschmidt has ever lost a race where he was leading by three minutes, and today was no exception.
He kept hot on the gas, putting another 3 minutes on Tipling up the climb from Mangaturuturu to the infamous Mama’s Mile. Job done. Another trophy in the ever-expanding trophy room at the Haundscmidt residence🏆.
Wells climbed his way up into 3rd, halving Tiplings lead by Mama’s mile, but it was too late, with Tipling holding on to 2nd and Wells 3rd.
Interestingly, that might be the “slowest” victory at The Goat in recent history.
David found some time Sunday on route to the night shift to answer the below:
How does it feel to be back in the winner’s circle?
“Got the fomo, so did a shift-swap and got one of the last entries. Glad I did. Such an awesome event, unique challenging terrain, great team and vibe.”
“Track in worse condition than when I last ran it 2 years ago. I guess it just adds to the difficulty level! Fantastic to get to Turoa first with the legends Ali and Kerry on the mic for a yarn.”
“Enjoying the skull & antler trophy in the back of the car on the ride home.”
-David Haundschmidt
CLICK HERE for the Full Results. Follow them on Instagram & Facebook for more coverage.
This Week’s Newsletter Is Brought To You By…
Alexandra Airport Carousel - Saturday, April 19, 9 AM
April was missing a BYU, so we decided to fix that! An Easter BYU to ease travel stress and avoid turning up to work on Monday in Zombie mode.
Alexandra Where?
Alexandra is just 1 hour from Queenstown airport; we now have both power and the internet, and there are even 2 full-sized supermarkets 5 minutes away.
The Course
It features a mix of easy single track and 4WD paths, looping around Alexandra Airport with full-time mountain views and just 50m vert per loop—perfect for going long. Come for the challenge, stay for the stunning scenery and wine, and yes, there will be portaloos on course.
ENTER NOW
M*A*S*H Backyard Ultra
Saturday, January 18
9 am Saturday, 62 soldiers stormed Queen Elizabeth Park for the Wellington region’s inaugural Back Yard War Ultra.
General Hayvice pulled out all the stops.
Wellington’s first two days of summer☀️, a light zephyr rolling through, top-notch facilities, and it all started with a literal bang (courtesy of Will Cass’ famous cannon #runponeke).
Overall Winner: Last One Standing
🥇🏆👑 Daniel Beswick - 29yards / 194.59KM
Top DNFs
☠️Shaun Collins - 28yards / 187.88KM
☠️Michael Courtney - 27yards / 181.17KM
☠️Seb Hart - 26yards / 174.46KM
Last Women Standing:
🏃♀️Lara Zoeller - 20yards / 134.20KM
Congratulations to Daniel Beswick.
The inaugural winner of both M*A*S*H BYU & Wellington’s finest running moustache.
M*A*S*H followed a similar script to Sandy Point last week. Despite the smaller field, the troops made some early gains, with 18 of the 62 troops fighting their way through to 15 yards.
BOOM
Then the 100km grenade went off. Just like that, 3 soldiers were left lifeless in tent city. 3 more would continue, but their wounds would prove fatal, collapsing into their chairs after yard 16.
That wasn’t the end of the counterattack. Yard 17&18 would see Blake Signal, Mike Keenan & Owen Perry fall victim to an enemy sniper. In the space of 3 yards, the battalion had halved.
Sri Chinmoy 24-hour champ Lara Zoeller would be next to fall in the night. Her valiant effort would earn her the title of ‘Last Woman Standing’.
6 soldiers made it through the night, and 200km started to look realistic. Unfortunately, the Whareroa sniper was back and looking to add to their headcount. They systematically picked the soldiers off 1 by 1.
Jonothan Armstrong was the next victim. A shot straight through his thigh, rendering his left leg useless (161.04km). Josh Roewen was next, after adding 5 yards to his PB (167.75km).
Seb Hart scraped through yard 26 under heavy fire. A quick check from the medic and he was sent back out there, only to fall 50M from the barracks(174.46km).
Michael Courtney, head of the Hawkes Bay Hardcore division, was the next. After looking calm and collected all weekend, he started the next yard, saluted Shaun Collins and Daniel Beswick and quickly swallowed his cyanide pill (181.17km)
Collins vs Beswick. Big name vs Small name. Beard vs Moustache.
The final battle was swift. The pair would finish the yard, which Courtney pulled out, but that was it. Collins had had enough. Happy with a new PB, he assisted Beswick to become the Last Person Standing.
Daniel’s performance is everything that makes Backyards captivating. He quietly set about his work, chipping away each lap. No fancy hats. No fancy socks. Just a dude in his Phoenix Suns singlet and his moustache getting the job done.
He turned up to run 15 yards, and he walked away with the trophy, knocking off the Running Beast in the process💪. How good!
Click here for a complete list of results. Follow them on Facebook or Instagram for more coverage.
The Revenant Recap
Thursday to Sunday, January 16 to 19
WTF happened at The Revenant?
Last year, we saw Fynn Mitchell & Darron Jones become the 5th & 6th finishers at The Revenant.
This year? No one got remotely close to drinking the Whisky.
Only 4 people had a decent crack at Loop 2.
Ian Evans, Olivia Lawrence, Chris Taylor & Nathan Sheppard
It seems that Event Director Scott Worthington cranked the difficulty knob back up to 12, just like in the first year when no one could find the CPs.
There is no results page for The Revenant, but I got some insight into what happened from some competitors.
Here’s what Revenant veteran Adam Keen had to say:
“Typically only 3-4 check points are new every year out of 14. This year we found out afterwards that Scott had decided to use the checkpoints he had set for year ten of the race so we skipped a couple of years and around 9-10 checkpoints this year were completely new.”
“This wasn’t a massive issue and we got most checkpoints ok but it’s hard to get a perfect run and the issues we had probably cost us a couple of hours. Lap one was around 16.30 for a few of us so not great.”
“We also copped a good few hours rain which soaked us, again not a biggie but also not great. Every year are the variables that you can’t control - tussock growth, tree fall, weather etc…with the average summer and decent rain the last few months has meant plenty of growth.”
“On the flip side it wasn’t as hot as it’s typically been. All in all lap one was pretty taxing and hard to rally things for lap 2. Usually I would be in better shape until the end of lap 2.”
Adam Keen
2024 WUU2K champion Olivia Lawrence impressed everyone, being 1 of only 4 going deep into Loop 2. I asked her what 3 words she would use to describe The Revenant. She said I could take my pick, but they all probably sum it up nicely.
“Downhills really suck”.
“Quads are f🤬cked.”
“Tussocks are awful.”
“Spaniards are stabby.”
Olivia Lawrence
Steve Tripp is someone who always has fun, no matter the circumstance. Turning up with a torn meniscus is not usually the best strategy, but he managed to make it work, being one of the few to complete 1 full loop under the cut-off. Here’s what he had to say:
“Scott pulled out all the stops and made the toughest course yet!”
“It was seriously brutal in all the ways Jean mentioned. With some extra climbing/clambering thrown in.”
“The odds were in no one’s favour. I had a ball! The after-match party was pretty good, too.”
Check out The Revenant on Instagram over the coming days. I’m sure some more stories will surface, and they usually do a sweet video recap of the event.
Things You May Have Missed
Krayzie’s Frontyard Ultra: A Raging Success
Stephanie Grace hosted 67 runners in NZ’s first Female Frontyard Ultra. To say it went well would be an understatement. Check out some of these comments on social media.
This quote from Steph probably sums up how the weekend went:
Gemma, our winner, had only ever run 50 km before, so to complete 162 km was a 112km improvement on her distance PB.
Bridget Johnson On Track: 11 in 11
Firstly, how good is it that we have 11 great walks?
Bridget Johnson aims to be the first person to do 11 Great Walks in 11 days.
Yeeeee ha. Go Bridget!
So far, so good. She started on Saturday with Waikaremoana. Next up was the Tongariro Northern Circuit. She set off at 3 AM to finish early and make a headstart on the Whanganui River Journey.
You can dot watch HERE. Follow on Insta HERE
Karell Sabbe Watch
The TA FKT dot watch got underway on Thursday. Sabbe started with a bang, knocking out 123.2km, double what he needs to average to get the FKT. He will need to bank some early Ks for later when he hits the Tararua & Richmond Ranges.
Unfortunately, yesterday, Karell and one of his crew, Kobe, got attacked by dogs😮. Kobe got bitten and fell, breaking his elbow in the process. Not ideal.
If you spot a wild Sabbe on the trail - ask him what his fun factor out of 10 is and send it in!
You can watch the dot here & follow him on Insta here and his crew here.
January Paid Subscriber Giveaway
This month, 2 x Lucky Paid Subscribers will win an electrolyte bundle from HYDEE worth $240 large ones … It pays to be VIP
HYDEE? Never heard of them. Where have they been HYDEEING?
I’m going to be completely transparent - I have never tried HYDEE.
Chelsea slid up into my DM’s in December, and I’m a sucker for slick packaging.
HYDEE is a new player in the sweaty electrolyte market made here in NZ. Rather than waste it on me, I thought I would crowd-source whether it’s any good.
No artificial flavours or sweeteners - they’ve even kicked old Uncle Steve(ia) to the curb.
It comes in 2 strengths - “Everyday” & “Ultra”.
The Ultra comes with a big salty whack of 1000MG, perfect for a preload.
If you are victorious in the paid subscriber battle royal this month, you will win:
1 X 30 serving pouch of Everyday Electrolyte
1 X 30 serving pouch of Ultra Electrolyte
2 X 15 ‘On the go’ servings of Everyday & Ultra Electrolyte
How can you get HYDEE up in your orophus?
Sign up as a Paid Subscriber (if you’re not one already.)
It’s $5 a month. WTF can you buy for $5 these days?
Comment below or Email trailrunningnz@gmail.com to answer the following question:
What is the name inspired by? (check out the website & Insta)Get your name drawn out in the first week of Feb
To celebrate Andy Dubois recently subscribing to the newsletter, there will be one male & female winner.
Click Here & use the code ‘TRNZ’ for a 20% discount
A big THANK YOU to ALL the Paid Supporters who help keep this snowball rolling.
Worst Run Ever by UTMB 🟣CurraNZ
I bumped into Todd at M*A*S*H BYU, looking worse for wear. I knew he was heading into Whareroa farm for a long run this weekend, but he looked extra cooked. Never one to let a Worst Run Ever opportunity pass me by, I managed to convince him to send this in.
“She’ll be right”
“Looking for an adventure, I moved away from my local trails to find a new location for what was meant to be a relatively easy long run.”
“Having done some typical half arsed research, I decided to run up to the top of Mount Wainui and make it a loop by continuing over the other side.”
“Unfortunately, I left at a later-than-planned time but still managed to hit the top of Mount Wainui before it got too hot. However, once over the other side and too far in to turn back, it became apparent that I was going to be out for a lot longer than initially planned.”
“After missing a few key turn offs and realising the type of terrain that I still had to cover, my initial positive attitude started to disappear. As the temperature went up and the struggle set in, even the wild goats appeared to be laughing at my situation while I stumbled up one of the many climbs.”
“After calculating the time it would most likely take me to get back to the car, I also became aware that I was well underprepared in terms of nutrition.”
“When I finally made it to the forestry roads that I knew and already an hour over my arranged finish time, it was demoralising to work out that there would still be another 90 minutes to go.”
“A final steep climb and long exposed downhill later, I had made it back to the start. Unfortunately, what seemed like a fun 30k run turned into a near 50k adventure on exposed forestry roads in the midday sun.”
“It is fair to say that this is not a run that will be repeated in the near future.”
Thanks for sharing, Todd. Just a casual bonus 20km in the midday summer heat!
You’re in the draw for some little purple pills from 🟣CurraNZ.
They won’t help your poor planning, but they MAY help you recover faster for your next disaster!
Keep the stories coming in! Send them to trailrunningnz@gmail.com
They can be short or long. Funny😂 or sad😭. You can own it, or it can be made anonymous. They can even have a happy ending.
Upcoming Events
The Jumbo Holdsworth Trail Race
Saturday, January 25
They call it “The Kepler of The North”.
Who is ‘they’ you ask?
Mostly, North Islanders, who missed out on a Kepler entry for the 5th year in a row, trying to make themselves feel better😝.
But it’s true. There are similarities. The big climb, the ridgeline action, the views, the big descent, the bad luck with the weather, the beautiful settled alpine weather.
It’s even sold out the last 5 years. That’s no small feat, considering we’re seeing a lot of events around the country struggling for numbers.
Not Mazda Familia with the race? It starts and finishes at Holdsworth Lodge on the eastern side of the Tararua, inland from Masterton.
It follows the tried and true formula of going up a steep bit, going along the ridge and looking at the pretty view, and then coming back down as fast as your quads will take you.
For more information on the course, check out this Run The Hills blog post.
It’s time to dig through the sock draw and find the crystal ball.
Note: The race is split into a CW and CCW direction. The podium/championship race will be running CCW; these predictions are based on those entered in the podium race.
Predictions:
🥇Ali Wilson
🥈Hannah Fletcher
🥉Allira Hanczakowski
Ali Wilson races, Ali Wilson wins.
She’s back from a wee bike ride across the deserts of South America in time to defend her title and looking to make it 3 times a chicken dinner.
Hannah Fletcher is fresh off her stomping performance in the WAI2K 50 and hoping to go one better than when these 2 last met. Wilson just held off Fletcher at 3 Peaks + 1 at the national short course champs in Dunedin last year by 1m30s.
In 2022 Fletcher took 2nd behind Imogen Scott, that time is 10 minutes behind Wilsons PB which is a shoelace under 3 hours. There is plenty of fuel for the fire for Fletcher - this should be an absolute rip-snorter with both runners not afraid to splash around the lactic acid early doors.
Allira Hanczakowski is no slouch, either. She’s been on the long road back from injury, but she’s starting to hit her straps. The Tararua Mountain Race winner will have her work cut out to chase down Wilson & Fletcher, but anything can happen; maybe it’s also Alli races, Alli wins?
🥇Ryan Woolley
🥈David Haundschmidt
🥉Chester Holt-Quick
Hole… Lee… Shet. What a showdown this is going to be. We have a full rematch from the WAI2K 50 in November. Ryan Woolley got the better of Ed Charlton-Weedy & Chester Holt-Quick that day, but racing in the Tararua is a whole different skill set.
Enter the Flying Doctor, fresh off his victory at The Goat. The addition of David Haundschmidt makes this one of the strongest fields assembled at Jumbo Holdsworth for some time.
I still think Ryan Woolley will take this one out, narrowly beating Haundschmidt, with Chester Holt-Quick getting one back over Ed Charlton-Weedy, despite the 107km he ran at M*A*S*H BYU over the weekend.
Mix in the likes of Matt Adams, who finished 2nd in the Faultline 50k, and this race has the potential to go off like your partner when you forget to get your new shoes sent to work instead of home.
Check the website for more details, and follow on Facebook or Instagram.
Other great events on next weekend:
Mavora Explorer - Te Anau
Saturday, January 25
The Dora Mavora Explorer runs on Marora Downs & Marora Station, Te Anua, both private land.
Access is granted once a year for the event, which is a fundraiser for Mararoa School. Choice👍.
Races on offer: 12km, 21km
Click Here for more event details or check out on Facebook
First Light Marathon - Gisborne
Saturday, January 25
The First Light Marathon takes place in Gisborne, the first city in the world to see the sun. The race is a mix of single-track trails, roads and off-road surfaces.
Races on offer: 6km, 21km, 42km
Click Here for more event details or check out on Facebook
The Otipua Challenge - Timaru
Saturday, January 25
The Otipua Challenge is a 6km course around the Otipua Wetlands in Timaru.
Sounds easy enough? Well, see how many you can run in 6,12 or 24 hours.
You can ride solo or in a relay team of 2-4 runners.
Races on offer: 6hr, 12hr, 24hr
Click Here for more event details or check out on Facebook
#Mountain Skag Pic Of The Week
This week’s #mountainskag is from Greg Bassam. He headed out after work to the top of the Porters’ ski and perched himself on top of the ridge for the night. You’ve heard of overnight oats … what about overnight Mountain Skag?
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 The Jumbo Holdsworth Trail Race, SK News Desk and whatever else gets blown my way.
It takes hours to write this newsletter but only 8 seconds to forward it to a friend.
P.S. There has been so much going on. The SK News Desk is overflowing; we haven’t seen Mission Corner for 2025. Stay posted.
Haha just realised I failed miserably in my attempt to score some HYDEE last week and failed to read the full instructions. I never read the Heidi books myself but I can totally see how you’d get inspiration from a little girl in the Swiss alps.
Named after the Swedish Heidi
(Will it help me Hydee from being put on Brad spiers’ instagram story?)