Tarawera & Shotover Moonlight Results
"The out and back added extra vert in the race and being in the back half of the course was pretty soul destroying for some.”
Your weekly fix of NZ trail running news
We’re here for you like your pacer who says, “You’re moving well” and keeps a straight face😂
Here's what’s in the drop bag this week:
🏃🏃♀️Tarawera Results
🎯Things You May Have Missed
🏃🏃♀️Shotover Moonlight Results
🏁Upcoming events: Old Ghost Ultra
⛰️💊Mountain Skag Of The Week
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Tarawera Ultra Trail Results
The 15th anniversary of the Tarawera Ultra Marathon has wrapped up, with the final finisher of the Miler scraping in to claim glory with only 3 seconds to spare.
Tarawera is the ‘A’ race for so many runners in NZ. My news feed is jam-packed with “BeSt RuNSS EVA’s” destined for Dirt Church Radio.
Wedged between these posts are others who got the runs, visited Cramp City or couldn’t stop vomiting on the side of the trail. I’ll be waiting for these stories to come across my “Worst Run Ever” desk.
Tarawera 102km
Women’s podium:
🥇Ruth Croft - 9:14:14
🥈Beth McKenzie - 9:38:03
🥉Nikki Everton - 10:26:53
Ruth Croft dominated the race from start to finish, taking her 2nd Tarawera 102km title and, maybe more importantly, securing herself a starting spot at UTMB.
Beth McKenzie from Murica’🌭 put on a strong showing in her first 100km event. The former Ironman athlete (who has served a 2-year doping ban) kept the pressure on Croft, but you always got the feeling if the gap narrowed, Croft had another gear or three.
Nikki Everton from Hawkes Bay Hardcore proved that her Taupo Ultra title was no fluke, taking out the final spot on the podium.
Men's podium:
🥇Daniel Jones - 7:46:42
🥈Justin Grunewald - 8:25:57
🥉Matthew Healy - 8:58:43
Dan Jones made it 2 from 2, absolutely crushing the rest of the field. This might be the biggest margin of victory in the 100k since Jim Walmsley won in 2017.
Justin Grunewald from Murica'🌭 ran in 2nd for the majority of the day, with Sage Canaday and Matthew Healy battling it out for the final podium spot.
There is no doubt that Jones is in top form, but with no Golden Ticket (with respect to the field), there wasn’t quite the same depth as last year.
Now with back-to-back titles in the 102km, depending on how the rest of the year pans out, how awesome would it be to see Dan take on the Tarawera Miler or go short and mix it up in the 50km next year?
Here are Jones’s thoughts on the course this year:
“This was a tough course this year. The out and back added extra vert in the race and being in the back half of the course was pretty soul destroying for some.”
“But being prepared and knowing what was coming really helped and the support and encouragement from fellow runners, volunteers and support teams was unmatched.”
Dan Jones
Tarawera 100 Mile
Men's podium:
🥇Adrian MacDonald - 15:00:57
🥈 Sam Harvey - 15:29:53
🥉Mike Carroll - 15:37:01
Adrian MacDonald came out on top in a chaos-filled race where you could be forgiven if you thought these lads were throwing down in the 50km.
MacDonald, George Murray (UTA 23 Champ), Hajime Mamba (2nd last year), and Sam Harvey played musical chairs through the first third of the race, before MacDonald pulled away.
I called my shot last week that I thought Sam Harvey would take this one out, and boy did he give it everything.
The final margin makes this look like a comfortable victory, but it was far from it. MacDonald was seen sh💩tting his pants at the Millar Aid Station when he heard Sam Harvey was only 6 minutes back with 30km to go.
Women's podium:
🥇Konoka Azumi - 18:24:53
🥈Chantelle Smith - 19:55:41
🥉Chrissi Faber- 21:15:17
Konoka Azumi took control of the race early and never looked back. Her pace proved too much for fellow favourites Naomi Brand and Kimino Miyazaki, who both found their races “dead and buried” at … The Buried Village aid station, where they withdrew from the race.
With Brand and Miyazaki out, the podium race was flung wide open. Chantelle Smith from Straya’🦘 and Chrissi Faber found themselves in podium contention. They took full advantage, going on to take 2nd and 3rd.
Running her 48th consecutive ultra marathon run, Shannon-Leigh Litt placed 4th in 21:43:04. Oh, and she didn’t finish there; she couldn’t make prize giving because she was running her 49th ultra marathon on the roads of Kawerau … Where does the madness end🤯?
Tarawera 50K
Women's podium:
🥇Caitlin Fielder - 4:01:41
🥈Kate Avery - 4:09:58
🥉Robyn Lesh- 4:13:31
The 2024 podium has a familiar look to it, with Caitlin Fielder going one better this year, claiming her 3rd Tarawera 50km title.
Kate Avery, who took the bronze last year, traded her way up to get her hands on the Silver.
In what might be the most dramatic finish of the day, Robyn Lesh (Queenstown-based Murican’🌭) gave it absolutely everything, collapsing in the finishing chute. Fortunately, no one was within striking distance, and she recovered to get across the line in 3rd.
Men's podium:
🥇Ronnie Sparke - 3:30:48 🔥New CR
🥈Charlie Hamilton - 3:34:36
🥉Yutaro Yokouchi - 3:38:19
Dr Haundscmidt will be itching to get out of his moon boot after Ronnie Sparke took 2m15s off his 50K course record set last year.
Charlie Hamilton from Straya 🦘(my pick for the win) ran 6 minutes faster than his bronze-winning performance last year to get his mitts on the Silver.
Michael Voss, who led the race with Sparke through the first 30km, was the first Kiwi home in 4th, just behind the fast-finishing Yutaro Yokouchi.
Tarawera 21K
Women's podium:
🥇Beth Garland - 1:41:20
🥈Jessica Ronan - 1:48:31
🥉Rach Peters - 1:50:28
Beth Garland from the UK has been living in NZ for 4 weeks, and she’s already winning races.
She took control of the race from the start, coming close to Juliette Soule’s CR from last year (1:40:59).
Jessica Ronan and Rach Peters traded blows between the Blue Lake and the Redwoods, with Ronan coming out on top.
Tracy McCartney was the top-flying Kiwi, finishing 4th with a time of 1:54:26
Men's podium:
🥇Michael Sutton - 1:28:45
🥈Liam Dooley - 1:29:38
🥉Robert Smith - 1:30:24
Back in December, Michael Sutton was chased down by Liam Dooley with 500m to go in the Luxmore Grunt, finishing in 3rd.
This time?
He kept the jandal to the floor and powered his way to the finish. Dooley chased hard but couldn’t quite close down the gap.
Robert Smith took a close 3rd, holding off Ben Duffus by 4 seconds.
Here is what Michael had to say about his win:
“It’s really special to take the win locally, I’ve done a fair bit of mountain running now and had a lot of nearly races where I thought if I’d just done something a little bit different, I could’ve got there, so it was really good to get across the line today and take the win."
"I went out from the front, saw who was coming with me, and had Liam Dooley and an Australian, James Alexander, trailing me through the 5ks of the Blue Lake.”
“ I was able to gradually pull away on the expansive gravel mountain bike track downhills and cement my lead coming up towards the main 100m u-climb up the tank track and down Tokorangi Pa Road. Before holding on for the last 5-6kms through the sulphur flats to the finish making sure to hold it together and leave no opportunities for Liam and Robert Smith over from Leeds."
Michael Sutton
Things You May Have Missed
The LEGEND Jean Beaumont took on the mighty Craigieburn Round on Monday. She completed the round in 36h9m, becoming only the 8th member of the club💪.
The Wild are at it again with their names. Not the type of email you want to open when your boss looks over your shoulder.
Beasty Twosome? Vsome Threesome?
"I thought you booked leave off for a running event, not some weird swingers party"🤣
Tanya Bottomley is all set for her circumnavigation of Lake Wanaka via the peaks. A 200km, 15,000m vert, off-track journey. Keep an eye on her Instagram for the kick-off date.
Shotover Moonlight Results
Friday - Saturday, February 23-24
Ben Lomond VK Challenge
The maths is simple. Get to the top of Ben Lomond first and take your ticket to represent NZ at the World Sky Running Championships in Spain later this year.
All that separates you is 3.9km of off-track tussock bashing with 1200M of vertical gain🥵.
Men's podium:
🥇Toby Batchelor - 56:00.1 🔥NEW CR
🥈Ross Gollan - 56:18.4
🥉Iain Best - 59:03.7
2023 champ Toby Batchelor made sure there is still only one name on the Ben Lomond VK trophy.
However, he needed to bring his A game as Ross Gollan pushed him right to the very end. As a result, Batchelor lowered his own course record by 3:44 to 56:00.1!
Women's podium:
🥇Kate Morrison - 1:05:11.3 🔥NEW CR
🥈Claire Jacquin - 1:09:18.9
🥉Maria Walsh - 1:13:08.4
Kate Morrison LOVES vert. Like a moth to a flame, the NZ Mountain Running Rep was back to defend her 2023 title.
Much like Batchelor, Morrison smashed over 4 minutes off her 2023 time to keep the VK trophy on the mantle piece for at least another year.
Moonlight Ultra:📏56K - ⛰️3500M
Men's podium:
🥇Jérémy Marie - 7:39:51
🥈Joseph Thompson -7:44:24
🥉John Duffy - 7:58:35
Jérémy Marie of New Caledonia did enough to take home the trophy in a highly competitive field on the men’s side of the draw, with the top 3 all dipping below 8 hours.
To give these times context, defending champ Sam Mowat ran 8:13:45 (only 2 minutes slower than 2023) and finished in 5th.
Women's podium:
🥇Hannah Presswood -8:54:33 🔥New CR!
🥈Veronika Palockova - 9:14:03
🥉Demeter Kenton-Dau - 9:40:2
Hannah Presswood followed my sandbagging advice by entering the VK on Friday. Like most of the advice I give, it didn’t work😂!
She had this to say about her victory and new course record in the Moonlight Ultra.
“I’d been planning to use the VK on Friday as an excuse for not performing well in the ultra on Saturday, but for once my nutrition plan went pretty much to plan (shameless plug for real_health.sports_nutrition) and the weather played ball with not being as hot as in previous years.”
“I raced conservatively for the most part (another first for me) and luckily didn’t have anyone breathing down my neck for the last 20kms so I could take the time to keep the food and liquids going in, and managed to keep it up until the finish and achieve my sub-9hr goal! (I hadn’t done my research and didn’t realise this would be a new CR so that was a big surprise). I’m both surprised and chuffed.”
Hannah Presswood
Moonlight Marathon:📏42K - ⛰️2500M
Try this stat on for size. 29 of 78 starters in the Moonlight Marathon were from Straya🦘.
There were over 70 Strayans🦘 across all distances. Whoever is operating the marketing desk for Shotover, Bravo. You’ve got it nailed.
Women's podium:
🥇Charmaine Salvage - 7:00:30
🥈Tamsin Browne - 7:46:23
🥉Corinne Fournier - 7:48:27
Men's podium:
🥇Daniel Trevena - 5:10:07
🥈John Sharrock - 5:22:10
🥉Dai Lawson - 5:26:28
Shotover Moonlight Adventure Run: 📏30K - ⛰️1400M
Women's podium:
🥇Tanya Copeland - 3:41:40
🥈Madeleine Dickson - 3:51:54
🥉Rebecca Sheffield - 3:54:04
Men's podium:
🥇Theo Rousselet - 3:05:04
🥈Stephen Hardy - 3:47:27
🥉Lucas Kosta - 3:50:37
Shotover Moonlight Half-Marathon: 📏21.1K - ⛰️629M
Men's podium:
🥇Toby Batchelor - 1:29:44 (Also won Ben Lomond VK)
🥈 Nathan Pearce - 1:33:34
🥉Ziga Omahen - 1:38:03
Women's podium:
🥇Hannah Wall - 1:54:46
🥈Katharine Hockly - 2:01:25
🥉Berber Swart - 2:04:36
Upcoming Events
Old Ghost Ultra
Saturday, February 24
It has been a crazy weekend of racing with Tarawera and Shotover Moonlight in an ultra clash for the ages.
I’m breathing a sigh of relief, knowing that there’s only one race and distance this weekend.
And what a race it is. The pride of the West Coast. The Old Ghost Ultra.
If you’ve never run or heard of the Old Ghost Ultra, check out the video below.
The race follows the Old Ghost Road on the West Coast of the South Island from North to South. Starting at the Seddonville end and finishing at Lyell.
Runners will work their way up to 1,340M near 'Heaven’s Door' on the Lyell Range.
The race gets off to a fast start, with 30km of relatively flat smooth running before getting stuck into some serious climbing.
Once you think your calves can’t take anymore, you get a chance to pulverise your quads over 24km of flowing downhill to the finish!
This is always a hotly contested race, and there have been some awesome battles over the years. The final start list will be released on Tuesday.
Unfortunately, I can confirm we have been robbed of 2 mouth-watering clashes.
Katie Morgan was all set to take on Ali Wilson in the battle of “They Race, They Win”. A hernia has resulted in unexpected surgery for Katie, so she will be watching the livestream like the rest of us. All the best with your recovery Katie.
Last week I reported that The Flying Doctor Haunschmidt has fractured his foot. I don’t think even the magic little purple pills will get him on the start line to take on Backwards Cap Barnesy.
Follow along on Facebook, where they livestream the event, and check out the website for more details.
#Mountain Skag Pic Of The Week
This week’s #mountainskag is from Jean “Jelly Bean” Beaumont from her amazing Craigieburn Round last week.
I’m in awe of her achievement and this photo!
Some of the other entries from this week:
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 Old Ghost Ultra results and whatever else gets blown my way.
It takes hours to write this newsletter but only 8 seconds to forward it to a friend.
PS. There is a cubic sh💩t tonne of reports online of massive queues for water (waiting up to 10 minutes) and, in some cases, aid stations running out of water at Tarawera.
If you were at Tarawera over the weekend, please answer the poll below