🏃🏃♀️Mt. Oxford Odyssey Says Goodbye(Maybe)
"Never Again" Ali Wilson
Your weekly fix of NZ trail running news
We’re here for you like your Monday morning alarm.
Relentless, farking annoying, but gets your week heading in the right direction🤣
Here's what’s in the drop bag this week:
🏃🏃♀️Mt. Oxford Odyssey Results
🎁Monthly Giveaway
📰SK News Desk
🎯Things You May Have Missed
⛰️💊Mountain Skag of March & 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.
Mt.Oxford Odyssey Results
The last-ever Mt Oxford Odyssey hosted a sell-out field of 500 abnormal people who paid to get up way too early to sweat, swear, and suffer.
The “toughest mountain marathon” tag might be gone, but the 50km course still had plenty of teeth.
The weather played its part, the racing was hard, and many stories from previous years were told.
Farewell, Mt. Oxford Odyssey … I’m not crying; you’re crying😭.
Hang on, it sounds like they might be back.
Those finish line feels must have got the better of them
Watch this space.
They might not be as keen to do it again when they’re knee-deep into all the new forms they’ll have to fill out😂.
Mountain Ultra:📏50KM | ⛰️2250M
New course, who dis?
Women's podium:
🥇Julia Chamberlain - 6:47:16
🥈Sia Svendsen - 7:24:15
🥉Rose Pearson - 7:27:54
Julia Chamberlain, not content with her 1st & 2nd place in the 33km in 2022/2023, came back and absolutely stomped the new 50km course.
She’s been on a tear in the last 12 months. Winning the Naseby 50km, dropping 194km at the Scenic Circles Backyard Ultra, and just off the podium in both Kepler and the recent National Champs Dunedin 3 Peaks plus 1.
Sia Svendsen went one better than last year (🥉 Mountain Marathon), holding off the mountain goat Rose Pearson, who finished third.
Men's podium:
🥇George “Faster” Murray - 5:35:28
🥈Sam Harvey - 5:52:54
🥉George “Fastish” Hedley - 5:55:02
George Murray (UTA 100 champ) won the battle of the Georges, while George Hedley had to settle for another third place after taking the bronze in the Mountain Marathon in 2023.
Murray also beat out current flatmate and training partner Sam Harvey, who I’m sure won't be too bothered. He’s a pretty chill, non-competitive guy😂.
It was a great hitout for Harvey as his focus now shifts towards the Faultline Miler in 2 weeks.
Here is what George Murray had to say about his day out.
“I was excited to come back to the Oxford Odyssey, I raced 2 years ago and loved it.
I really enjoy running technical terrain in mountains- while getting treated with the views.”
“The race course had a bit of everything in there, it was dark, steep, muddy, fast and flowy etc.”
“There were a lot of fast runners on the start line, who held a consistent pace throughout the day.”
“The course took its toll as im currently mending to my swallowen ankle.”
“It was a privilege to come back and race the last year on this course.”
George Murray
Mountain Challenge:📏33KM | ⛰️1350M
Men's podium:
🥇David Haunschmidt - 3:19:58 🥳New CR
🥈Noah Fenwick - 3:41:29
🥉James Faulker - 3:46:17
I think this race is best told through GIFs.
Surprise — The Flying Doctor is back from the dead.
Every runner at the start who was there for the win.
The Flying Doctor obliterating the Course Record.
Women's podium:
🥇Naomi Brand - 4:16:38
🥈Hollie Morton - 4:32:52
🥉Tessa Fisher - 4:57:34
Naomi Brand found herself back in the winner's circle after a DNF at the recent TUM 100.
This was a strong showing in a distance that you wouldn’t normally associate with Brand. Things are looking on track for her buildup to another successful UTA 100 campaign in May.
Here’s what Naomi had to say about her race:
“The MOO was a great opportunity for the La Sportiva (race sponsor) athletes to get together; and I am very glad I went! Opted for the spicy, VERY-outside-of-my-comfort-zone 33k as part of my building plan to UTA 100k in May.”
“The weather was perfect, and I was fortunate enough to pop onto the summit just as the sun rose above the inversion layer, turning everything into golden heaven! I felt good, fueled well; but had a bad fall due to a close encounter with some tourists hiking the trail which curbed my speed a bit.”
“The trail was beautifully runnable, except for the last 7k where it got pretty muddy- made dodging runners from other distances while full downhill hooning quite tricky. All in all- would have loved to go faster; but stoked with a win.”
“Well done to director Kerry, and all finishers!”
Naomi Brand
Click here for the Full results, including the 21km, 15km & Vertical race.
Keep an eye on the Mt Oxford Instagram about an announcement on the future of the race.
March Paid Subscriber Giveaway
Are you the only person in all of NZ who doesn’t run with a FENIX HM65R-T?
Well, today is your lucky day.
What better way to celebrate the end of Day Light Savings than giving away one of these bad boys.*
How can you get your sticky gel-stained mitts on one of these?
Sign up as a Paid Subscriber (if you’re not one already.)
It’s $5 a month. That’s less than one long run a month without any gels. #embracethebonk
Email trailrunningnz@gmail.com a picture of your pathetic old tech, melt in the rain, might as well be running with a birthday candle non fenix headlamp, and you’ll be in the draw.
A big THANK YOU to all the Paid Supporters who help keep this thing rolling.
*Note: this is an unsponsored giveaway; I don’t even know where I will buy it from yet.
SK News Desk
It’s been one of the busiest weeks in recent SK history.
Mary “The Celtic Tigeress” McBride and Matt “Naki Hardcore” Henderson kicked it off, strolling into the Carpark of Glory in the wee hours of Easter Monday morning, completing the SK Valleys traverse.
However, this wasn’t a team effort. They bumped into each other en route.
This worked out perfectly for Mary as she had ripped open one of her shoes earlier.
Matt’s partner was running in to meet him and had a spare pair. In a Cinderella moment, the shoe fit. Problem solved.
SK VALLEYS:
🎉Mary Mcbride - 20h10m
🎉Matt Henderson - 19h30m
That’s when things started getting a little crazy. A rare Wellington forecast of a sh💩thouse week with a good weekend had Glen “Flying Mo” Chesterman and Backwards Cap Barnesy asking for a ride to Putara. They were joined by Stephen “Mountain Man” Molineux.
Nek Minnet, Ali “Always Wins” Wilson was in on it and heading to Putara Road end, too.
Everyone had the same idea: a chance to cheat the system. The clocks rolled back an hour, so instead of 24 hours to glory, you got 25🤔.
Then, Tim Sutton blew the draws off the SK Desk, dropping on Facebook that Phil Taylor & Lennox Crowe had flown up from Blenheim to take on the mighty SK Main range aswell.
3 dots, 24 25 hours to get it done.
The Blenheim boys got the dot-watching party started at 4.45 AM.
Unfortunately, Backwards Cap Barensy couldn’t find his favourite cap, so the trio of Glen, Stephen, and Ali left without him ( he was crook as a dog).
The trio stuck together, forming one mega dot until Maungahuka hut before The Flying Mo started to falter. Struck down with Mission Belly🤢, he decided to call it a day and spent the night in Kime Hut.
Ali and Stephen punched on and kicked it into another gear. The conditions across the tops deteriorated; it was much colder than anticipated, with the freezing clag rolling in.
Off the freezing tops, Ali and Stephen looked likely to break the 21-hour mark. However, Marchant Ridge wasn’t about to let that happen.
After looking unbreakable all day, the dot began to slow. Quads seized, and new rooms in the pain cave were discovered.
However, Ali & Stephen dug deep, running into the Car Park of Glory together, with Ali breaking the long-standing Lou Beckingsale(2015) Female FKT for the SK Main Range. Read more about Ali’s big day out here.
SK MAIN RANGE:
💪Ali Wilson - 21h42m 🔥NEW FKT
💪Stephen Molineux - 21h42m
In a plot twist, they weren’t the only ones who had a death march to the Carpark of Glory. On the valley floor below them, an undercover operation was taking place.
The Godfather of Wellington Big Sunday Runs. The Custodian. The Navy Seal. Chris Martin, AKA Martini, was in the battle of his life, with Caroline O’Neill on a secret redemption mission.
In 2021, Chris fell painfully short of the SK Valleys 24-hour barrier, coming in at 24h17m.
Quotes from Goggins could be heard all through the range.
"NOT TODAY MOTHER F🤬CKER"
"WHO’S GONNA LIFT THE BOATS"
"YOU DON’T KNOW ME SON"
All that yelling seemed to work as they got home under the 24-hour mark.
SK VALLEYS:
💪Chris Martin - 22h11m
💪Caroline O’Neill - 22h11m
In what seems like a fitting milestone, Chris has become the 100th member of the SK Valleys Club.
But hang on, what happened to our 2 Blenheim Boys?
Well, they put in a big shift and got to experience a second sunrise. There was no sub-24-hour glory, but they got the job done. I’m sure they’ll have plenty of muddy, painful type 2 fun memories after that one.
If you want to know more about the SK, follow this link.
Things You May Have Missed
Michael Sutton placed 2nd in the Great Volcanic Mountain Challenge (2024 🦘Strayan Mountain Running Champs). Well done, Michael.
Athletics NZ pumped up Crater Rim’s registrations 1000%, with ignorant North Islandes rushing to book flights to Christchurch without realising they’re actually looking at a photo from the Routeburn.
#Mountain Skag Pic Of March
Vote for your favourite #mountainskag winner from March below.
I’ve taken the names off the photos to avoid it being a popularity contest.
#Mountain Skag Pic Of The Week
This week, there were several stunning submissions. But this one just spoke to me.
It’s from Bridie Macky.
A great shot of her Dad, 70 years young, from their trip into Nelson Lakes after running the final Loop the Lake together.
I love a summit shot with a stunning ridge line. Throw in a tarn, and you’ve really got me going.
But if you flick through the camera roll of anyone who spends time in the hills, it will be filled with photos like this.
Chasing that high. Praying for that moment when there’s a momentary shift in the matrix, and the clag clears to give you a big hit of the good stuff.
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 I have no idea what we’ll be covering, any ideas send them my way.
It takes hours to write this newsletter but only 8 seconds to forward it to a friend.
PS. The Spectacle (way to close to The Testicle🤣) has released all their course info for December. I gotta say it’s looking juicy. There is now a giant quadruple super clash that weekend. Crush The Cargil, The Wild, Valley Ultra and now The Spectacle.