🏃🏃♀️Run Mt Hutt, Blazing Hills & More
“You’ll be the “Lukewarm Disgrace” by the time I’m done with you.”
Your weekly fix of NZ trail running news
We’re here for you like a race briefing - all the vital information you need in 10 minutes that you’ll never remember😂!
Here’s what’s in the drop bag this week:
🏃🏃♀️Run Mt Hutt Results
🏃🏃♀️Blazing Hills Recap
🟣CurraNZ Wants You
🏃🏃♀️The Flying Doctor v The Hot Mess
🎯Things You May Have Missed
📰SK News Desk
🏁Upcoming events: Hunua Hillbilly
⛰️💊Mountain Skag of February & 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.
Run Mt Hutt - Canterbury
Saturday, March 8
The inaugural Run Mt Hutt kicks us off this week in our recap of 3 Grassroots events from over the weekend. They didn’t quite get the forecast pictured above, but the 12 & 25 km courses went ahead as planned.
📏25KM | ⛰️900M
Women’s podium:
🥇Lucy Harman - 3:07:43
🥈Emma Roche - 3:14:28
🥉Gill Chambers - 3:41:42
Men’s podium:
🥇Allan Broomhall - 2:35:28
🥈Flavien Raynaud - 2:43:58
🥉George Seque - 2:51:54
Now, I rely quite a bit on splits to develop my fantasy tale of how a race plays out. Unfortunately, there are no splits on this one, so I’m going fully nude.
Congratulations to Lucy Harman and Allan Broomhall, who had clear victories. I imagine they both led at the turnaround point (halfway); if not, they must have had cracking descents to take the lead.
Billy ‘The Kid’ Powell responded to my Instagram post, asking to hear from anyone who ran the event to get an insight into what the inaugural Run Mt. Hutt was like.
How did your race go Billy?
“Whilst I wasn’t hugely excited about an out-and-back course, I figured the mix of terrain would prove entertaining. Despite weather forecasts looking totally miserable for the race, the rain actually passed early, and it ended up fitting well with the course.”
“Appropriately moist as we climbed the Scott’s Saddle track, mostly power walking the rough, rooty steeps; misty as we ground our way up the access road lost in our personal pain caves; then opening up at the top ready for some views on the descent.”
“I prefer a steep, technical descent, and so as expected gained a good few places on the way down, chasing one guy to the finish, both grimacing with cramps (I couldn’t pass in the end), which turned out put me in 2nd for the 40-49 age category.”
What are your impressions of the course and event as a whole?
“The variety of terrain, and the totally different feel for the ascent and descent, actually made for a great course. And it’s kind of cool to grind up to a ski field. All the trails were well marked, and marshals friendly and well placed. Aid stations were positioned well.”
“As an inaugural event, there weren’t huge numbers of competitors, but John from CJM Events says the turn out was easily enough to continue with the concession, so this should be in the race calendar for the next 10 years!”
“I reckon it’s a pretty cool addition. Prize giving was pretty cool too, with category prizes for the first 3, and overall winners too. Nice prizes provided, and even a trip up onto a podium!”
“Luckily I even won a spot prize for an entry into the South Island Ultra, so might go stretch out some distance on the West Coast - definitely stoked with that, being a family man on a limited budget.”
“Great to see lots of friendly faces, and everyone seemed really happy with how it all worked out… great event to keep an eye out for. Easy access, mix of terrain, and a nice local feel.”
Thanks for that, Billy. It sounds like you had a great time.
53 runners showing up on a diabolical forecast sounds like a positive result—all the best to John and the team for boosting those numbers next year.
Click here for the full results, including the 12km race.
Check out their Facebook for more coverage.
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Blazing Hills - Raetihi (Gateway to Ohakune)
Saturday, Saturday 8
📏21KM | ⛰️900M
Women’s podium:
🥇Brittany Dustin - 2:20:42
🥈Kelly Carter - 2:24:06
🥉Sarah Brunton - 2:27:46
It was a bit of a ding bong battle on the Women’s side of the race, with Kelly Carter, Brittany Dustin and Sarah Brunton playing puff, puff, pass through the first 12.5km of the Blazing Hills half marathon.
Each led the race through sections before Dustin snatched the joint lead for herself, running away to a 3m36s victory over Carter, who managed to break away from Brunton to take the silver.
Men’s podium:
🥇Alex Gilbert- 1:50:49
🥈Andrew McMaster - 2:13:33
🥉John Eley - 2:20:19
I received an email on Thursday from Alex Gilbert, who was keen to include the Blazing Hills results in the newsletter. Now I know why. Well played😂.
Gilbert got out to a fast start and was the first to summit Heartbreak Hill. He was in a class of his own, 11 minutes up over Andrew McMaster, who was 4 minutes clear of John Eley through the first 12.5km.
The 2nd half was rinse and repeat, with Gilbert taking a comfortable 22 minute victory.
Alex was also playing roving reporter, and here is his report on the event:
“The 2025 edition of Blazing hills was a hit, with almost 300 registered and split pretty evenly across all distances and events (trail run and Obstacle course racing).”
“Saturday dawned with the typical Ruapehu low cloud and threatened rain, (after a perfect Friday), but this was welcome as the day warmed up.”
“ From 0800am, wave after wave of runners and OCR's were sent off into the hills with the crack of a stock whip in place of a start run. The first climb is a couple of km's and would make Mummas mile at the Goat look tame, if only it was at the end of the race!”
“Some good times across each race, and lots of locals on the podium was good to see.”
“Spot prizes galore. There were so many it took over an hour to give them all away! From dog biscuits to Turoa season passes and luxury lodge weekend escapes.”
“Next year will hopefully bring the crowds as the team fine-tunes the event and brings on more support.”
Thanks for that, Alex. I can see the crowds swarming the event now they know they could potentially win some dog biscuits😝.
Click Here for the Results, including the 11 & 6km races
Check out their Instagram for more coverage.
CurraNZ Sceptic Giveaway
Can you sniff out BS 400 meters away?
Do you pride yourself on being brutally honest but fair?
And let me guess—Prince Nabutu has never gotten $1 out of you?
Well... CurraNZ Wants You!
They’re looking for the most sceptical yet open-minded trail runners in the TRNZ community to trial their purple little pills, which MAY support recovery, performance, energy, and... maybe even help in other departments…
If you’re keen, it’s simple:
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 or reply to this newsletter with your gut reaction when you hear “CurraNZ.”
5 lucky winners will be announced on March 17th.
You’ll need to follow their testing guidelines, which involve running DOMS-inducing training and then repeating it while taking CurraNZ. I’ll follow up to find out if your mind is blown—or just your hammy.
Xterra Festival - Kapiti Coast
Saturday, March 8
Now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for … that no one asked for.
👨⚕️The Flying Doctor vs 😎The Hot Mess
I’m sure you’re all dying to know the result scrolled past already.
To refresh your memory, I picked a fight with The Flying Doctor last week.
Now, I’m not stupid. I know even if he had 2 broken feet, the man flu, forgot his shoes and nutrition and took a wrong turn, I still wouldn’t beat him outright.
I put it to the masses last week: what would a fair handicap be?
The people were heard. 2 hours, locked and loaded.
As this was the inaugural running of the course, I didn’t know what to expect. I figured The Doc would run something stupid like 3 hours, so I loosely had 5 hours as my target🤔.
Alright. Game day. The Doc wandered over late to the briefing. I could tell he was nervous. I’m no doctor, but I could see his breathing was shallow, he was sweating profusely, and there appeared to be a brown stain on the back of his shorts.
We entered the starting box. I shook his hand and told him to relax and not to run so fast.
He replied, “You’ll be the “Lukewarm Disgrace” by the time I’m done with you.”
Game on😮.
The gun went, and he shot off into the lead in typical fashion.
I wasn’t worried, though. I had 2 hours to play with. However, that was quickly under threat. 2km in, and I had already attempted to go in the completely wrong direction😫.
From there, it was relatively plain sailing. A steady climb as advertised before some rolling downhill. The climb up Mt Titi was all brand new, and I “enjoyed” every second of it with my new friend Billy the Scouser.
The descent from the summit was something from (to borrow a phrase from Hannah Wall) a trail runner’s wet dream🤯. Fast, not too steep, technical in parts and the ground soft enough for a crash landing.
The gradual climb back out of the valley sucked- but I kept grinding. I knew The Doc would be running every step. The wise words of Ali Wilson rolled through my head.
“Don’t be sh💩t.”
The final climb out of the farm and back into QE Park was steeper than anticipated, but it was over before I knew it.
Back into the open waters of QE Park, I felt like I had one hand on the trophy.
“Even if he ran 2:45, you’re on track.”
All that was between me and victory was every single f😭cking trail, twist, turn and undulation in the park.
It wasn’t pretty. It could barely be described as running, but I made it round.
The Final Result?
A 39:13 victory to The Hot Mess!*
*some of the details in this recount may be slightly fabricated.
Anyway, here’s what actually happened at the pointy end of the race.
📏42.2KM | ⛰️1300M
Men’s podium:
🥇David Haunschmidt - 3:20:48
🥈Nic Cox - 3:35:43
🥉Ehsan Lorestani - 3:39:12
Women’s podium:
🥇Tasman Charteris-Wright- 4:09:48
🥈Holly Vertongen- 4:14:06
🥉Sian Cass - 7:09:54
Congratulations to David Haunschmidt and Tasman Charteris-Wright on your victories.
For a course that had never been run in its entirety before, I thought it was an absolute banger.
If you’re looking for a trail marathon that doesn’t cost the earth, I would 100% recommend this for next year.
Click Here for the Full Results, including the 21, 14 & 6km races.
Check out their Instagram for more coverage.
Things You May Have Missed
Cardrona Climb NZ World Champs Selection Race
Ryan ‘The Ferret’ Carr posted in the Distance Running NZ FB Group looking for feedback.
“The uphill race for the mountain running world champs 2025 is 6.4km long with 990m of gain on mostly trail. The NZ uphill mountain running champs course is going to be run up the cardrona ski field road, 11km long with 1000m climbing.”
“Surely with the amount of off road trails we have in nz we could make a course up that’s much more similar to the one at the world champs?..”
Read the full post and replies here
No Views? No Problem On The Paparoa Track
“What did you get up to over the weekend, Jenny?”
“Oh you know, just the usual. Helping guide the first blind athlete across the Paparoa track in a day. What about you?”
“I cleaned out my pantry”
That’s right - Jenny Rankin and the rest of the Achilles International Christchurch team guided Blair McConnell across the Paparoa Track in one day (55km / 1600m ). They set off at 4 am to smash out the track in one day and make it back to the pub for a meal before closing.
Mission accomplished💪. So good🥳.
Katie Morgan … Sponsored?!?!
Merrell NZ brought its performance team together for a series of community events and Q&As over the weekend in Churchur.
That’s when I spotted it. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Katie Morgan has finally got a sponsor! It’s only taken a Kepler 3 Peat for someone to recognise her immense talent.
SK News Desk
Last week, I posted an update on this year’s SKs. There have been some impressive missions, for sure. But there is no better dot watch than someone attempting the Main Range sub-24 hours for the first time.
Are they on track? Why aren’t they moving? What’s the fun factor? Will they turn right and bail or left for glory?
Enter Callum “The Hammer” Mallet
Friday 4 AM, he departed Putara Road end on his journey along the Tararua Main Range towards the Carpark of Glory, Kaitokie Upper Hutt.
It was a tense watch as he flirted with the 24-hour splits throughout the day before eventually smashing down the fence line into the car park with 12 minutes to spare.
How long have you dreamed of sub 24 on the SK Main Range?
“This has been on the mission matrix for a few years. The first time I heard about the SK was from a failed attempt, they'd turned right for shopping, and left a note in the hut book.”
“Back then I couldn't tramp very far without hurting so thought it was relatable. Post SK Valleys last year I couldnt let the possibility of sub 24 tops mission go, the flavour was decided when I heard Martini's cries to hand out a certificate.”
15 hours in, flirting with the 24-hour splits - where was the head at?
“It felt like some kind of sick gameshow, the world was watching! By 15hrs I was just stoked I hadn't fallen off the ladder! Early on I decided to stop toying with other people's splits. I don't like deadlines and didn't think they make it any the more runnable.”
“The clock was ticking though, and seeing Wellington twinkling after sundown, I was just ready for bed, finishing it was the easiest way out!”
Congratulations, Callum. Make sure you grimace with every step at work on Monday to maximise your chances of people asking you what you did with your long weekend😂.
If you want to know more about the SK, follow this link.
This information is provided for general informational purposes only and should not be considered financial mission advice. Please consult a licensed financial backcountry professional for personalized guidance tailored to your specific situation.
Upcoming Events
Hunua Hillbilly - Aucklandish
Saturday, March 15
The Hunua Hillbilly is back after a small hiatus. After Total Sport downsized last year, a new team took it on, moving from its traditional November spot to this coming weekend.
Now if you don’t know much about The Hillbilly, it’s located around 45 minutes southeast of Auckland. It was created in honour of Steve Neary, an absolute icon😎 of the New Zealand running scene who unfortunately passed away on November 7th, 2016.
“We feel this event is the perfect way to celebrate Steve’s life and loves: trail running, kokako (and all the NZ birds, Tui’s and Kereru were his other favourites), New Zealand’s native bush, family, friends, and fun.”
Now, this isn’t your standard trail run event.
🏕️Camping is encouraged for both Friday & Saturday night
🪕There is a Hoedown on Saturday night. Low, slow BBQ, complete with country tunes from Coopers Run
💃Dancing shoes are just as important as your trail shoes
Races On Offer:
📏60KM | ⛰️3270M
📏42KM | ⛰️1890M
📏22KM | ⛰️880M
The 60km Ultra is a full circumnavigation of the Hunua Ranges, taking in every piece of technical single track and mud in the area. In 2023, Cullen Rhind won in a time of 7:18 for context.
One of the new team’s changes is adding the 42km & 22km While both courses don’t run the most technical parts of the Ultra, they both still pack plenty of punch.
Now I’ve met plenty of Hillbillys, but I’ve never set foot in the Hunua. I’ve attached the Q&A I did with Glen ‘The Flying Mo’ Chesterman in 2023.
When you hear “Hunua Hillbilly”, what are the first 3 words that come to mind?
"Wholesome. Great atmosphere, the camping aspect makes it pretty special"
"Scenic.What a spot! The Hunua ranges are a true gem."
"Challenging. Alot of vert coupled with technical trails make it a beast of a run."
You’ve run in a lot of different places- if 10 is the Tararua Main Range, and 1 is Oriental Parade, where would you place the Hunua Hillbilly in terms of how tough the terrain is
“Probably around an 8! Don't underestimate the Hunuas, be prepared for true DOC track wilderness. The middle section is the gnarliest, so buckle in mentally for some slow ks.”
“I would recommend having the course loaded on your watch or phone just in case you do stray from the track. Also a huge savior for me in the final 20k was poles, if you are used to running with them I would put them in your drop bag for that section 👍”
Check out the Website for more details, and follow on Facebook.
#Mountain Skag Pic Of February
Vote for your favourite #mountainskag winner from February below.
I’ve taken the names off the photos to avoid it being a popularity contest.
#Mountain Skag Pic Of The Week
No entries this week. Probably a user error on my behalf!
We will roll it over to next week and have 2 winners who will go into the monthly draw so make sure you send in your pics!
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 results from Hunua Hillbilly and whatever else stops my doom scrolling.
It takes hours to write this newsletter but only 8 seconds to forward it to a friend.
PS. If you were confused why you received an email last week called “The Bonus Fritter”, I apologise. That was meant for the Paid Subscriber members but my fat fingers let me down and sent it to everyone😥.
I'm a massive skeptic and hate spending money on products when they're potentially snake oil (like massage guns and poles and tailwind). I was supposed try curranz for worlds since they were graciously supporting but didn't end up doing so for some reason (Steve Tripp probably stole my box). Maybe that was my problem!