🏃🏃♀️Northburn, Riverhead ReLaps & Loop The Lake Results
“Every trail runner should experience a Terry Davis race briefing once in their life. It is a lyrical journey containing a vast selection of adjectives relating to pain, suffering and despair"
Your weekly fix of NZ trail running news
We’ve got more positive results to cover this week than a Tour de France press conference. So double-fist those coffees, and let’s dive in🧐.
Here's what’s in the drop bag this week:
🏃🏃♀️Loop The Lake
🏃🏃♀️Northburn 100
😵💫Riverhead ReLaps Results
🎯Things You May Have Missed
🏁Upcoming events: Vert Day
⛰️💊Mountain Skag 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.
Loop The Lake Results
Nelson Events kicked off this weekend’s triple header with the 29th and FINAL Loop The Lake on the shores of Lake Rotoiti, St Arnaud.
Men's podium:
🥇Callum Wilkie - 1:43:19
🥈Hayden Squance - 1:45:31
🥉Tommy Hayes - 1:45:57
Women's podium:
🥇Hannah Oldroyd - 2:00:51
🥈Verity King - 2:10:16
🥉Sian Redman - 2:18:05
Like clockwork, Graeme West from Nelson Events, or “Gazza Southside,” as I call him, has sent through his recap of the final Loop The Lake.
“A capacity 400-strong field entered. 36 failed to pick up their racepacks for whatever reason, but the rest were in for an epic day circling Nelson Lakes' jewel and more than testing the 25km course.”
”Nelson’s lanky Hayden Squance shot out of the blocks, powering his way up the Mt Robert road but onto the course proper and 2019 winner, Callum Wilkie had other ideas plus a plan of closing in on Phil Costley’s 1.37.42 record.”
“However that’s “set in stone “ on the soon to be Plaque that will be placed on a nearby Kerr Bay rock…DOC permission to be approved.”
“Wilkie improved by a minute and change from ‘19 crossing the line in 1.43.19 to the largest crowd the event has witnessed.”
“Squance never gave up the chase but had to keep focussed as Auckland’s Tommy Hayes was closing but at the end he was a mere 16 seconds in arrears.”
“Expatriate’s from the “Mother Country” keep coming to our shores with a fell running pedigree.”
“Hannah Oldroyd is one of them , and she was all class in the well supported female field, almost 50%.”
”She donated a bit to the blood bank along the way, being close enough to her 6-foot frame to discover a few tree roots not to her liking!”
“51 seconds deprived her of eclipsing a sub-2-hour time, meaning Fleur Lattimore ( Griiffin) will join Costley on the plaque.”
”Verity King and Sian Redman kept out the rest of the Kiwis for second and third respectively.”
“From the 1996 inaugural event ( 57 runners and 10 walkers), both Greg Fraine and John Murray returned with the still fleet-footed Fraine good enough for Over 60 Honours.”
“70 year old Graham Macky ( Auckland) had more than a mortgage around the ‘80’s marathon traps…. 11 sub 2.20 performances with a best of 2.14.46 in Beijing.”
“His 2.40.37 was good enough for a 122nd placing epitomises that “running for life” certainly keeps the heart ticking.”
Thanks for one last recap, Gazza. I wish you all the best with the Abel Tasman Classic later in the year, the final Nelson Events shindig.
Click here for more details on Loop The Lake. Follow along on Instagram or Facebook.
Northburn Results
It's about 11 PM on Sunday, March 25th. I’m up watching the final few Riverhead ReLaps peeps do their thing. But they’re not the only ones who have been at it for a few hours. I just checked the Northburn Results, and there are still 9 broken souls grinding away in the Northburn 100-mile race💪. It started on Saturday at 6 AM!
Northburn 100miles | ⛰️10,000M
Men's podium:
🥇Mark Doohan - 24:21:54
🥈Wojcech Weinertl - 26:27:05
🥉Angus Ward - 27:43:46
Mark Doohan ran 38 minutes faster than last year to win back-to-back titles at the Northburn 100.
Through the first loop, Doohan had ground out a 10-minute lead ahead of Andrew “I Love Northburn” McDowall. Rob Dawson led the chase pack in third, 19 minutes back.
Doohan ran into basecamp at the end of loop 2 over an hour ahead of now 2nd place Wojcech Weinert. Somewhere along the way, Andrew “I HATE NORTHBURN” McDowall’s wheels fell off with a case of farkmylegshurtitus, dropping from 2nd to 13th before ultimately DNF’ing. Michael Jones moved up into 3rd, 50 minutes behind Weinert and 10 minutes ahead of the pack.
Doohan was now racing his ghost from 2023, well clear of the rest of the field. He continued to move well through the night, finishing in an impressive 24:21:54.
Weinert hung on to 2nd just over 2 hours back. As per usual, there were a lot of DNFs, including 3rd placed Jones, which opened the door for Angus “Fighter Pilot” Ward.
Placed in 12th through the 1st loop and 9th in the second, Ward finished strongly to take his place on the podium, an hour ahead of 4th place Daniel Anderson.
Here is Angus’s take on his experience at Northburn.
“Every trail runner should experience a Terry Davis race briefing once in their life. It is a lyrical journey containing a vast selection of adjectives relating to pain, suffering and despair. It provokes nervous laughter from the crowd of participants as they realise he's not even joking about the 'loop of deception', 'loop of despair' or 'death climb.'"
“It is also what drew me back to Northburn this year. The 100 mile race has always intrigued me and I decided to give it a go. The weather was perfect and the first loop (50km, 2600m) was actually quite manageable.
“Beginning the 'death climb' on the second loop (60km, 4000m) brought out all my usual heat issues (high heart rate, cramp and sweating straight salt). But I learned quickly that at Northburn you must slow things down in order to make the distance.”
“So I savoured the cooler air up near the tops and took it easy in the heat. The strategy seemed to work and we made it back to base in around 17 hours with one loop (50km, 2500m) to go.”
“Nightfall actually gave me some second wind and I made some good ground in the early hours, but the stomach began to feel fragile and I seemed to always be hungry. Thankfully everything stayed down and the potatoes at TW aid station saved the day. Coming down to the bottom of the station in the morning, I felt elated that the climbing was done and I could cruise to the finish.”
“This was foolish, as Terry has put a final climb of 700ish metres just before the finish, 150km deep. Northburn is a fantastic event with passionate and helpful volunteers who made my day multiple times up there!”
“Well done to Terry and his crew, I got exactly what he described in his larger than life race briefing and I'm stoked!”
Angus Ward
Women's podium:
🥇Jean Beaumont - 28:20:35
🥈Kolei Ford - 31:22:38
🥉Veronika Palockova - 33:06:43
Jean Beaumont IS Northburn. Lining up for the 7th time, who would bet against her winning her 6th title?
Not only did she win, but she went 18 minutes faster than last year and 4th overall.
2 x Northburn 100 km champ Veronika Palockova ran in 2nd through the first 100km, 45 minutes back from Beaumont.
On loop 3, Koleighne Ford moved up into 2nd as Palockova discovered what those extra 60km in the Northburn Miler are all about.
Also, a shout out to Shannon-Leigh Litt, who ran the 100-mile race as her 83rd and 84th ultra on consecutive days with a bonus 60km in the middle. That is some serious grit and determination. All eyes are on today for #85 post-35-hour Northburn Miler ultra🤯.
Northburn 100K | ⛰️6350M
Men's podium:
🥇Matthew Gummer - ????
🥈🥇Patrick Manulet - 15:04:43.7
🥉🥈Richard Ablitt - 15:23:43.8
💐🥉Matt Roberts - 16:07:13.8
Matthew Gummer ran so fast that his bib failed to ping at the checkpoints. It’s a real bummer, as I had already written up the results before finding out he had gone undercover and won. Don't panic. Nothing a spot of late-night crossing out can’t fix😫!
Liam Crozier Gummer took the lead early in the men’s race with Liam Crozier running in 2nd (but 20 minutes back from Azumi), who was 6 minutes ahead of Patrick “Chasing Peaks” Manulet through the first loop, with Richard Ablitt a further 3m30s back.
With so much sweet, sweet vert and harsh terrain left, all the lollies were still up for grabs.
Gummer continued on his way to presumably crush the Northburn 100K. I don’t know if Crozier headed out on Loop 2 or dropped after the first loop, but his day was done.
Crozier’s drop propelled Manulet into the lead 2nd, with Ablitt into 2nd 3rd and Matt Roberts now finding himself on just off the podium.
Women's podium:
🥇Konoka Azumi - 14:26:07
🥈Brooke Cox - 14:56:27
🥉Lesley Wilson - 21:12:08
Konoka Azumi followed up her 1st place at Tarawera Miler with a dominating win at the Northburn 100K. Konoka is no stranger to Northburn, having previously won the 50 km & 100 km races.
Azumi held a 32-minute lead over Brooke Cox in 2nd through the first loop. Lesley Wilson was in 3rd, over two hours back, but leading in the Super Vet (50 to 59) race.
Azumi kept her foot down, zooming home to break the tape in an impressive 14:26:07.
Cox battled hard to keep the gap to 30 minutes, not giving up any more ground through the 2nd loop. Lesley Wilson went on to take 3rd and 1st Super Vet overall.
This was a great win for Azumi. Not many athletes have the range to win at Tarawera and get it done at Northburn.
From the outside looking in - it looked like a dominant win. Did your day go as planned? Did you feel fully recovered from Tarawera?
“Overall, my day went as planned. Especially on the first loop, I felt very relaxed and was able to run at a comfortable pace.”
“However, I had a bit of a hard time on the second loop. There was no shade in Northburn, and the weather yesterday was clear. I felt dehydrated and couldn't keep up the pace during the steep ups and downs in the second half.”
“Although I ended up being slower than my target time, it was still good to see that there were several improvements over last time, such as nutrition, gear, and technical skills for hill running.”
“I felt fully recovered from Tarawera. So, as well as just recovering from fatigue, I've been able to incorporate some hill sessions into my training for Northburn this past month. To be honest, I didn't have much success with tapering, as I caught a cold last week... but on the race day, I felt fine 🙂”
Konoka Azumi
Northburn 50K | ⛰️2600M
Women's podium:
🥇Clare Gunton - 6:18:41.3
🥈Jessica Campbell - 6:22:38.9
🥉Monique Kerr - 7:50:21.7
It’s hard to make up a BS story when there are no splits, so I thought I would send it to your Northburn 50K winner so she can tell you about her race.
“It’s hard to tell exactly where you are within your race when four distances start at the same time. But somehow, I caught up with Jess just before the 25km aid station, and that’s when I realised I must be in second place.”
“I left that aid station just before her and then, because I know who Jess is and that she’s an absolute trail running machine, ran scared for the final 25km. My legs and brain just about handled that thrasher of a descent. It was a tough day out, that’s for sure.”
Clare Gunton
Men's podium:
🥇Kieran Philip - 5:56:11
🥈Marnix 'T Hart - 6:03:33
🥉Yannick Dournel - 6:14:07
Kieran Philip took the gold in the men’s 50K, adding to his bronze from last year's 100-mile effort. Marnix 'T Hart kept him honest only 7 minutes back, with Yannick Dournel taking 3rd.
Click here for the full list of results and you can follow along on Facebook.
Riverhead ReLaps Results
9 AM Saturday, 184 runners lined up to run some loops on the new and ‘improved’ course at the Riverhead Relaps Backyard Ultra.
Shaun Collins had the party dial cranked to 12 & Running With Beards had the live stream … streaming.
If you’re new to this Backyard balcony, check out the Backyard NZ site, but here is how the format works.
Run a 6.71 KM loop on the hour every hour.
The race goes on until only 1 person is left.
The big news heading into Riverhead ReLaps this year was that Sam Harvey would not be running.
There were still plenty of heavy hitters in the starting corral. World Ultraman Champions, Backyard winners, Godzoners and even the Te Araroa FKT record holder. Who would step out of Sam’s shadow and write their name in history?
Overall Winner:
🏆👑🥇Stuart Lynch - 43 yards (288.53 KM)
Top DNFs - Men 🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️
☠️ Caleb Pearson - 42 yards (281.82 KM)
☠️ Shannon Rhodes - 40 yards ( 268.40KM)
☠️Anthony Kerr-Taylor - 37 yards (248.27KM)
☠️Connor Aldridge - 35 yards (234.85 KM)
☠️Stephen Harney - 35 yards (234.85 KM)
Top DNFs - Women 🏃♀️🏃♀️🏃♀️🏃♀️🏃♀️
☠️Brooke Thomas - 38 yards (254.98KM)
☠️Michele Dean - 30 yards (201.30 KM)
☠️Diana Osavlyuk - 27 yards (181.17KM)
☠️Helen Waterworth - 27 yards (181.17 KM)
☠️Hadani Woodruff - 26 yards ( 174.46KM)
Stuart Lynch (from THAT Godzone team Avaya) is your 2024 Riverhead ReLaps champion.
He put on an absolute clinic, breaking the previous course record of 38 yards (Chris “Business Time” Bisley), running at an average of 45 minutes per lap. The dude is an absolute monster.
But he didn’t have it all his way. Former Pigs Backyard winner Shannon Rhodes (PB 42yds) looked strong all weekend before a narrow miss by 30 seconds suggested Lynch might be the favourite to win.
Caleb Pearson, last year's runner-up, proved he’s no one-hit-wonder, running 10 more yards than in 2023 to finish on 42 (281.82 KM).
With such a large field and a flatter course, it was no surprise to see 18 runners break through the 24-hour mark. The top 8 all went further than Sam Harveys’s winning total (33yds / 221.43KM) last year.
It was fantastic to see such a strong contingent of female runners pushing each other deep into the pointy end of the race. Brooke Thomas went one better than her effort at the Arrowtown Backyard (38yds / 254.98KM) to finish 4th overall and highest female.
Now, it’s not all about the top finishes. Everyone is there for their own reasons and motivations. Campbell Forlong, AKA The Soul Runner, has written a great round-up of his experience at Riverhead. Check it out below.
Full Riverhead ReLaps results here. For more pictures and coverage, check out their Instagram.
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Things You May Have Missed
If you’ve been living life rather than glued to Twitter… there were 5 finishes at The Barkley Marathons this year, including the first Kiwi Grieg Hamilton and the first-ever female finish, Jasmin Paris.
Congratulations to Andy Carruthers and crew on their big win at the Toronto Short Film Festival. Check out this video of people reacting to the movie.
Scotty Hawker bounces back from a disappointing Tarawera 50K to finish 6th at a fast-paced Chianti Ultra Trail by UTMB.
Upcoming Events
Vert Day 25-26 May
With Easter next weekend, we are going from a triple header to an empty slot on the event calendar.
Maybe someone will set high expectations next year and start a Backyard Ultra on Easter Friday?
So since there’s sweet FA on, I thought it would be a great opportunity to pimp out Vert Day nice and early.
This event is great for all the tight-ass slowpokes out there who don’t like paying entry fees😝.
It won’t cost you a dime (but the whole idea is to donate to the Himalayan Trust) and there’s no prizes for speed.
It’s about getting as much vertical gain as you can between Saturday 6 AM and Sunday 6 AM.
This will look different for everyone, but the main thing is to get out there and challenge yourself.
There are individual awards, but the main event is to see which City/Town stacks the most collective vert.
I caught up with Chris “The Custodian” Martin and asked him why he loves Vert Day.
“Vert day is like Bigs, lots of people doing laps.”
“You can start and stop whenever you want within the 24 hours.”
“You can do the vert wherever you want at time that suits, It's family friendly.”
“It's a good buzz seeing others do laps. Some epic vert some get to 11k( I think thats the record.)”
“There is a dog vert section Maisey mountain dog is reigning champ”
“It has vert @age personal challenges, 100m for each year so 5400 @ 54 or 1000 @ 10.”
“It gets harder as you get older It gets easier as you get harder and as Chris Fahey says…”
“What else you gonna do ? Sit on the couch ?”
“Plus it raises money for Sir Eds Himalayan Trust he set up for the villages in Himalaya a legacy we as Kiwis can be proud of.”
Vert is always better in a group, so get your mates together and figure out what hill nearby has optimal vert.
Sign Up Here | Vert Day Strava Club | Previous Results
#Mountain Skag Pic Of The Week
This week’s #Mountain Skag is from Nathan May.
Nathan and a bunch of mates went on a 2-day, 50km / 3300m Thunderbolt Loop in the Kaimanawa’s.
That’s some serious hang time … my Achilles twinged a little just looking at that.
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 weeks newsletter will be out on TUESDAY, we will take a look at the last-ever Mt. Oxford Odyssey
It takes hours to write this newsletter but only 8 seconds to forward it to a friend.
P.S. Who’s got the inside scoop on The Spectacle? Looks juicy.
P.P.S. Interested in advertising in the newsletter? Get in touch.