💰10K Payday,🦘Ultra Straya & 🐮Killer Cows
"At first, I thought they were just curious. Then I thought maybe I was just being paranoid. No, they’re definitely following me…"
Your weekly fix of NZ trail running news
We’ve got your back, like your sibling who signs your name on their Mother’s Day card cause they know you're useless.
Here's what’s in the drop bag this week:
South Island Ultra Results
Ultra Trail Straya
Shoe Review Stu - Hoka Speedgoat 5
Worst Run Ever
Stuff You May Have Missed
Vert Day
Mountain Skag Pic Of The Month & Week
South Island Ultra Results
Another week, another weather bomb⛈️. But don't worry, tropical Greymouth☀️ turned it on as usual for the South Island Ultra. Conditions could not have been better for runners to test themselves along the Westcoast Wilderness Trail.
Interestingly, there were only 37 runners in the 100K this year compared to 67 last year. Across all 3 distances, there were 63 fewer runners.
Did the way the $10,000K prize money was handled put people off?
Did you or someone you know boycott the SI Ultra?
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100KM
Men’s podium:
🥇Daniel Jones - 7:44:14
🥈Simon Cromarty - 8:11:29
🥉Will O’Connor - 8:46:42
Dan Jones answered the bell🛎️ and took home that cooold haaard cash🤑. A great hit out to practice race logistics and see where the body is heading into Western States. At $10 for every 100M run, it’s not a bad return on investment. Next stop, Vegas?
Dan Jones looks like he’s just finished his warmup - Photo: SI Ultra Facebook
Here is what he had to say about his day at the South Island Ultra:
❝
The trail was even more tidy than I expected, the Asics Superblast were a great choice.
The plan was to find a rhythm, bank a bit of time⌚, control the pace, then cruise in🚢. All went to plan. I still felt fatigue in the legs, but I think whatever pace you run 100km, you're going to feel it🥵.
WS definitely is pretty scary, but it's just I respect the distance and environment that race is raced in. It's going to be bloody tough, but I look forward to the challenge💪.
Daniel Jones
Dan Jones collects his cheque at prize giving
Women’s podium:
🥇Konoka Azumi - 8:13:43
🥈Yuliya Bozhko - 10:31:51
🥉Cassie Cohen - 10:35:14
Konoka Azumi defended her title and sliced over 10 minutes off her previous course record. It must have felt like a Bunning’s sausage sizzle🌭 as Azumi kicked well clear of the rest of the female field. She finished over 2 hours ahead of the next female athlete (with full respect to Yuliya Bozhko & Cassie Cohen, still great times.)
A phenomenal performance that placed her 3rd overall. Unfortunately, she fell just short of the $10K payday.
Konoka Azumi goes back to back at the SI Ultra
Check out the full results, including the 54KM & 24KM
Ultra Trail Straya 🦘
Ultra Trail Straya 🦘 was back to its best self over the weekend. No C🤬🤬id, no floods, and borders wide open. Plenty of Kiwis took flight over the ditch to take on the epic Blue Mountains course. Congratulations🎉 to all those that took part - However, there were some standout performances.
🎉🎉🎉George Murray - 🥇 UTA 100KM Champion 🎉🎉🎉
George Murray is looking stoked after taking down a strong field at UTA100
George Murray shot out of the gate and led the race early with a chasing pack that included fellow Kiwis Sam Harvey, Benje Patterson, and Glen Chesterman. It was a bold approach that looked to be paying off as the field stretched out behind him. Everything went his way until Mike Carroll slowly started chopping🪓 into his lead.
By the time he rolled into the Queen Vic aid station they were now running stride for stride. I thought Murray might have been fading🥀, but it was more of Carroll making his move. Either way, Murray gave Caroll the big “Later bro🖕” and stretched out an impressive 11-minute lead over the final 21K.
A breakout win for George Murray but not a huge surprise. He finished 10th in a super speedy TUM102K field this year and 11th in the changed course at UTA 100 last year.
Here is Murray’s take on the day:
I had an interesting day. I was excited test my abilities on my first 100km course with elevation exceeding 4000m⛰️. My first oppurnity since c🤬🤬id and having the unfortunate course changes at last year's ultra trail Australia and the recent ultra trail tarawera.
The course didn't dissapiont technical running wise. This was the first race where I had a set plan in mind to prevent me from accidentally over exerting myself in the first half of the race as its easily done with all the excitement going on.
When the race started, I went off at what felt like a comfortable pace. It didn't take long for the excitement to take over and the race plan was soon forgotten.
I felt at ease and was enjoying my time on my feet. I was concerned about leading the race as it felt like a crash could waiting further into the race for me, but thought if everything is feeling good and flowing to keep rolling with it and see how it plays out.
It was one of those fortunate days where everything came toghter. It was an enjoyable day mixed lots of support from the spectators and runners on course.
Taking out a race like this is defeinetly a dream come true. It had never crossed my mind the possibility of winning that day, it was surprise that felt very surreal.
George Murray
Other notable placings by Kiwi🥝 men:
5th - Benje Patterson
9th - Sam Harvey
10th - John Schreuder
20th - Glen Chesterman
Brooke Thomas - 4th Female UTA 100KM
Recovering from illness, Brooke Thomas wasn’t sure she was to make it to the start line, let alone the finish line🏁. So it must have been quite a surprise for her to run past Lucy Bartholomew and into the lead after 4 or so hours. She held the lead for a decent chunk of the race, even getting out to a 3-minute lead before the eventual winner, Emily Gilmour-Walsh, steamed her way past.
Bartholomew and Lou Clifton eventually squeaked by also, but she hung tough💪 to finish 4th overall. A great result, on a challenging course, with a less-than-ideal lead-up.
Below is Brooke’s take on the day.
The battle to the start line was almost just as hard as the battle to the finish line for this one!
So I was absolutely stoked to hit my goal time. Fourth place was an awesome bonus in a field of incredible female athletes !!
Had an epic day out, being schooled on Australia's techy trails and amped by the views!
Cheers to my outstanding crew for getting me through. 15 iceblocks for the win
Brooke Thomas
A shout out also to Juliette Soule, who took an impressive 7th place in the 50K.
Full results
Shoe Review Stu - Hoka Speedgoat 5
The OG Speedgoat
This week Stu reviewed the Speedgoat 5 from a little-known company called Hoka. I’ve put in the key takeaways below, but if shoe chat gets you going on a Monday morning, it is well worth the time to read the full review here
Facts & Figures
⚖️Men’s listed weight is 276g - my 11.5 US weighs 325g
⚖️Women’s listed weight is 234g
🥾Vibram megagrip outsole with 5mm lugs
🧪CM EVA midsole compound - Hoka’s own foam
👠Heel stack height of 33mm and 29mm in the toe for 4mm drop
❌🍽️No carbon plate
Summary & Best Use
The Hoka Speedgoat 5 is the best version so far. They have a smoother, faster ride when picking up the pace but still hold onto that max cushion feel that gets so many of the world's runners through long ultra races.
I’ve tended to use the Speedgoat 5s for longer runs. They excelled for me on the West Highland Way (Scotland) over 5 days, where we covered 160km on a range of terrain.
Where the Speedgoat 5 has let me down is when the conditions get sloppy, the lockdown and ride of the shoe have followed suit. The heel flare design doesn’t make sense on the trails, as it just lets muck in and stops the lockdown from being as dialed in as it should be. The only other issue to be wary of is that other runners have had durability problems - I’ve not encountered this, but the issue is widespread enough that I have to point it out.
Likes
⚡Lightest and fastest Speedgoat to date
🥾Outsole and grip are market leading in terms of versatility
🤗Supreme comfort for long days out on the trail
🏎️Pretend you’re Jim Walmsley shopping for groceries at New World
Dislikes
🔒Lockdown could be better
😞The heel flare lets debris into the shoe
😡Multiple accounts of premature tearing of the upper (not in my experience)
For more reviews check out Shoe Review Stu’s Instagram
My Worst Run Ever
This week’s Worst Run Ever shakes me to the core.
⚠️⚠️⚠️If you’re a bit Bovinophobic, proceed with caution.⚠️⚠️⚠️
Back on the Van Gogh buzz this week with the complementary AI art
The day was your typical sh💩thouse Wellington day. The type of day thats reserved for Saturdays, after having sun all week when you’re trapped in the office. Grey, cold🥶, windy and wet.🌧️ Why not make the day better by going for a run?
So I headed off on a long run🏃♂️ up into Belmont regional park. It wasn’t any better up there and was claggy AF. I made it up to Boulder Hill before deciding to push on towards Belmont Trig. It wasn’t long until large black masses🐄 started forming in the clag.
I started weaving through the black masses🐄, there were even some small cute ones. It was then I noticed they started following me. Hmmm🤔 …
At first, I thought they were just curious. Then I thought maybe I was just being paranoid. No, they’re definitely following me…
Out of the clag came the biggest cow🐂 (or was it a bull?) I’ve ever seen in my life. It stared me in the soul and let out a blood curdling “MOOOOO!”
Is there a word for when you simaltaneiously poo and pee at the same time?😱 If there is, insert it here.
I have never run so fast in my life. I’m talking Usain Bolt⚡. I channeled my cross country days and hurdled the fence. That’s when I saw it …
“Closed for calving” 😩
Anonymous
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. We can even make them anonymous.
Things you may have missed
Absolute scenes at Zegama
Upcoming Events
Winter is knocking on the door, and events are getting further apart.
But don’t fear, Vert Day is here!
Vert Day celebrates the day Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay “knocked the bastard off.” It is a virtual event so you can participate anywhere in the country.
Vert Day is, unsurprisingly, all about dat sweet, sweet vert. The idea is to accumulate as much vertical gain between Saturday 6 AM & Sunday 6 AM. Of course, this will look different for everyone, but the main thing is to challenge yourself to see what is possible.
There is a leaderboard that runs off an honesty system, but entrants are encouraged to enter the Strava Club.
To enter Vert Day, sign up here. Now, vert is always better in a group so I encourage you to get a few mates together and see what you can do. There are established groups already in Wellington and Christchurch already, but it would be great to see some rival groups pop up.
Vert Day entrant on their 10th rep of Mt.Cargill
Entrants are encouraged to donate to the Himalayan Trust. They fund projects that provide better health & education for remote communities in Nepal.
You can read more about the trust here.
Mountain Skag pic of April Winner
Kate Morrison takes out #Mountain Skag of April!
Mountain Skag kit coming your way.
This weeks #Mountainskag pic is from Jenny Rankin. Taken on an epic 50KM adventure in the Port Hills, Christchurch over the weekend.
Tag @trailrunning.nz and use #mountainskag on Instagram or email [email protected] to enter.
Weekly winners are put into a vote at the end of each month to decide the overall Mountain Skag pic of the month. The winner will get their choice of a Mountain Skag T-Shirt or hat.
Tag us on Instagram @trailrunning.nz with all things trail running.
It takes hours to write this newsletter but only 8 seconds to forward it to a friend😊
PS- I thought this meme Brooke Thomas sent was too good not to share