🏃🏃♀️Tarawera Goes Off & A Rare Mountain Ferret Sighting at Shotover
The Evening edition😝
Your weekly fix of NZ trail running news
We’re the Freetrail of the NZ trail running scene … minus the video content, fantasy league, running ability and athlete connections😂
Here’s what’s in the drop bag this week:
🏃🏃♀️Tarawera Ultra Trail Results
🏃🏃♀️Shotover Moonlight Results
🎯Things You May Have Missed
🐷Pigs Back Yard Roundup
🏁Upcoming events: Old Ghost Ultra
⛰️💊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.
Tarawera Ultra Trail Results
Wow. What a weekend of racing. That did not disappoint. I was dot watching from afar, and I couldn’t keep my eyes off the Tarawera Live tracker👀.
There are a ton of results this week, so let’s jump into the main event, The Golden Ticket Race.
Tarawera 102km - Golden Ticket Race
Women’s podium:
🥇Ruth Croft(NZ) - 8:24:34 🔥New CR!
🥈Caitlin Fielder(NZ) - 8:30:45
🥉Beth McKenzie(USA) - 8:46:09
Ruth Croft made it 3 in 4 years, but it was easily her most impressive victory at Tarawera.
I predicted we would see her get pushed and “duck” in under 9 hours. Well, this was more of a turkey. 8:24:34🔥. That’s over 50 minutes faster than last year!
That being said, she didn’t have it all her way. Last year’s 2nd place and UTA 100 champion Beth McKenzie took the early lead, trying to bludgeon Croft and Fielder with her Vaporflys in the first 28 km.
Croft and Fielder reeled McKenzie in and pulled away through the more technical sections, making this a 2 T-rex race.
At Lake Tikitapu, the gap was only 2 minutes, and with the last climb still to come and those sh💩tty uneven steps to go down, anything could still happen.
In the end, Croft pulled away from Fielder up the climb to the Redwoods and finished the job, taking the victory by 6 minutes ahead of her new teammate.
The Croft v Fielder battle did not disappoint, and Fielder must be stoked with how her reintroduction to the 100km distance went.
Further back, McKenzie battled through the technical sections, holding her own. She finished 16 minutes behind Fielder and 52 minutes ahead of her performance last year.
Ruth Croft declined her Golden Ticket - all eyes on UTMB.
Caitlin Fielder, after some deliberation, accepted hers. Awesome. There’s been plenty of runners who made their 100-mile debut at Western States and had amazing days (Ruth Croft, for one).
Beth McKenzie wasn’t eligible for the Golden Ticket (and may not have wanted it) due to her previous doping suspension (which she still maintains her innocence) so the ticket rolled down to 4th place Helen Mino Faukner.
The latest is that she declined the ticket, which was then rolled down to Nancy Jiang(9:10:13) in 5th, who happily accepted (iRunFar).
Jiang won an all-out 3-way sprint for the line, narrowly pipping out fellow Kiwi Juliette Soule(9:10:40) by 27 seconds and Lotti Brinks(9:10:48), who was only 8 seconds back.
Julia Chamberlain (9:43:56) came home strong to take 10th, making it 5/10 Kiwis in the Top 10 in the most competitive women’s race this country has ever seen. How good?
Watch Ruth Croft’s post-race interview on Free Trail below.
Men’s podium:
🥇Daniel Jones(NZ) - 7:17:42 🔥New CR!
🥈Hiroki Kai (JPN) - 7:48:45
🥉Adrian Macdonald (USA) – 7:51:05
Cometh the hour, cometh the man.
Danny ‘MF’ Jones makes it 3 from 3 at the Tarawea 102km on the world stage.
This field was stacked with the Western States Golden Ticket back in the mix, but he made it look like any other race in NZ he’s dominated over the last decade. Unbelievable.
In his pre-race interview, he thought the winning time for this new course would be around 7:50.
Did DJ blow his expectations out of the water, or was that a bit of gamesmanship? It might just be a coincidence that that’s what the other 2 men on the podium ran!
The pace was hot from the start. Jones didn’t shy away, though, making the most of the early runnable terrain; he pushed harder earlier and for longer than we have seen him do previously.
Behind Jones, Hiroki Kai from Japan out-dueled Hu Zhao (AKA ‘The Chinese Athelte’ IYNYK) to finish 2nd, holding off the fast-finishing, 2x Leadville champ, Adrian Macdonald.
At the midway point, Macdonald was back as far as 12th before remembering it was a 100km race, not 100 miles. He pushed the emergency ‘full send’ button and worked his way through the field to 3rd, beating out his compatriot Cody Lind by three minutes to secure the much-coveted Golden Ticket.
Congratulations, DJ. That has to be your best performance on the international stage. Good signs for Western States. It’s never too early to get the hype train going.
I somehow managed to fight my way through his Insta Inbox and got the below reply:
You’ve won 3 different courses at Tarawera, the loop de loop, the out and back, this year back to almost the OG, it’s hard to compare the times but was this your best performance here yet?
“Definitely my best performance yet. But let's see what the UTMB index spits out.”
“But when I consider how hard I was pushing from the start, even that pace felt comfortable.”
“It was a bit of an unknown but when I could run every step from Okataina onwards, I knew I was holding it together pretty well”
Thanks for that, Dan; all the best for the rest of the year.
Watch his post-race interview on Free Trail below
Tarawera 100 Mile
Men’s podium:
🥇Sam Harvey (NZL) – 15:16:54
🥈Simon Cochrane (NZL) – 15:33:45
🥉Ryan Whelan (GBR) – 15:56:11
He’s done it again.
He called his shot. Did the work. Told everyone he was going to do it. Then he went and gone did that thang😎.
That’s back-to-back UTMB circuit 100-mile victories for Sam Harvey.
Full steam ahead for UTMB.
Simon Cochrane ran a smart race, sticking with the lead pack early before chasing down the raging run-away pack of Japanese runners, but ultimately coming up short with Sam Harvey pulling back away from Lake Tikitapu.
Ryan Whelan was the top international, running most of the day with Cochrane, but couldn’t hold on to him as he charged after Harvey.
Simon took the time to tell me how his day went.
How was the vibe at the front of the pack through the day?
“Great vibes early on with the lead pack of 7. Went through 50km in 4:30 and had a decent amount of climbing too.”
“Sam and the 4 Japanese guys took off after the boat ride, and I ran with Ryan from the UK up until okataina (119km). We passed all of the Japanese guys through that stage, but Sam had put 26mins on us by okataina.”
You started closing on Sam in the last 40km, at Lake Tikitapu I think it was 8 mins- did you think you had a chance to catch him at that stage or were you just worrying about finishing the thing?
“I had a great run between okataina and miller road and bought the gap back down to 8mins. Pushed hard to the Blue Lake and it was down to 5mins.”
“That effort cost me a bit, but managed to hold it together and finish strong in second.”
Thanks for that, Simon; looking good for Cocodona 250!
Women’s podium:
🥇Kimino Miyazaki (JPN) – 17:40:37
🥈Emma Timmis (NZL) – 18:50:48
🥉Sarah Parkins (AUS) – 19:11:10
In a war of attrition, Kimino Miyazaki took a late lead to erase the ghosts of 2024, where she DNF’d at Buried Village to kick on and take the tape by just over 50 minutes.
Hot favourite and defending champ Konoka Azumi pulled the pin at Okataina.
Naomi Brand, who was a late entrant to the race, led for 50 km’s through the middle section before hitting the wall 140km in, ultimately finishing in 4th.
With Brand and Azumi out, the podium race was flung wide open. Emma Timmis and Sarah Parkins suddenly found themselves racing for the podium.
They were too far back to threaten Miyazaki, who sealed the deal, but both moved past Brand to take their place on the podium.
Top-finishing Kiwi Emma Timmis had this to say
From the outside looking in, it looks like you had a great day, pacing things perfectly and moving up through the field - how did your day go? Did everything go to plan?
“I had a great day. Thankfully no major dramas which is rare in this sport. My goal was never to get on the podium.”
“I came to Tarawera just to get enough points to go to Mont Blanc so I’m over the moon with the result.”
“The only plan I had was to run my own race which I did and it seemed to pay off.”
Tarawera 50K
Women’s podium:
🥇Bianca Tarboton (RSA) – 3:45:55
🥈Madison Reynolds (AUS) – 4:11:28
🥉Julia Grant (NZL) – 4:13:24
Pre-race favourite Bianca Tarboton never looked in doubt. She took the early lead, keeping the hammer down the whole race, posting the 2nd fastest time behind Allie McLaughlin’s 2023 CR of 03:43:38.
Top Kiwis Julia Grant and Amelia Lythe led the chase pack behind Tarboton. At Lake Tikitapu, with 19km to go, Lythe and Grant were in 2nd and 3rd place, respectively.
Unfortunately, a bloody Aussie came and ruined the party. Madison Reynolds finished strongly, blowing past them both to take 2nd.
Grant would hold on to 3rd, with Lythe coming in 5th
Men’s podium
🥇Hayden Hawks (USA) – 3:18:46 🔥New CR!
🥈Robbie Simpson (GBR) – 3:20:01
🥉Michael Voss (NZL) – 3:23:13
Hayden Hawks took out what might have been the most brutal race of the day.
It was no surprise to see Michael Voss ‘The Boss’ at the front leading the way in a stacked field all the way to Lake Titkitapu.
However, Hawks and Robbie Simpson turned the screws on the run home, with Hawks gapping Simpson to take home an impressive victory and a new CR.
Voss held on to finish in 3rd, also finishing well under the old CR of 3:30:48 set last year by Ronnie Sparke.
Michael was kind enough to give us some insight into what it was like up front.
You looked to be setting the pace on Saturday - how did the race play out at the front in the 50k?
“I found myself out the front with Robbie Simpson in the first few km. He was pushing the descents and technical parts, and I’d just try keep the pace up on the flat sections.”
“We got a bit of a gap on the field, and then Hayden joined from about 25k.”
“From there on, the pace and intensity felt like it just increased every km, and at 40k I was struggling to hold on.”
“I fell off those two and just tried to hold a solid pace until the finish, as I didn’t know where 4th was.”
“I’m happy with how the race played out. I took a chance by pushing early, and managed to run a quick time in the process. I learnt a lot and enjoyed mixing it up with those top guys.”
Tarawera 21K
Women’s podium:
🥇Jessie Speedy (NZL) – 1:35:21 🔥New CR!
🥈Phillipa Williams (NZL) – 1:37:54
🥉Shelly Schenk (CHE) – 1:40:15
Speedy by name, Speedy by nature.
Jessie Speedy saw off the early challenge thrown down by Phillipa Williams before stretching away to course record-breaking victory. It’s been a great start to 2025 for Speedy, who finished 🥈2nd at The Goat in January.
Williams couldn’t match Speedy up through the climb into the Redwoods and had Shelly Schenk of Switzerland on her tail, only a minute back at the aid station.
Williams found another gear to kick well clear of Schenk and also finish under the old CR of 1:40:59 (Juliette Soule)
Men's podium:
🥇Joe Steward (NZL) – 1:18:47 🔥New CR!
🥈Benjamin Otis (USA) – 01:19:28
🥉Michael Sutton (NZL) – 1:19:46
Michael Sutton won this event last year in 2024 in a time of 1:28:45.
When he woke up Saturday morning (after running the Ben Lomond VK the day before in Queenstown), if you had offered him 1:19:46, he would have replied, “Lock it in, Eddy!”
Unfortunately for Micahel and his poor beat-down legs, Joe Steward, Casey Thorby and Benjamin Otis had other ideas.
They lead the field through the first 6KM in 19:24, with Sutton just 6 seconds back.
Joe Steward kicked clear on the climb through the Redwoods to find himself 30 seconds clear of Otis at the aid station. Sutton managed to claw his way past Thorby and was 30 seconds back from Otis.
Steward hammered it home to victory over Otis. Sutton made some inroads on, which was probably due to Case Thorby coming back at him hard, chasing him into the finish only 8 seconds back.
Well, that’s another year of Tarawera in the books. By all accounts, it sounded like a much smoother operation this year with much more media coverage.
The ‘new’ 102km & 100-mile courses sound like an improvement over the last 2 years as well. Full credit to the Tarawera team 👍.
Click Here for the Full Results in all the distances & check out Tarawera & Freetrail on Instagram for more coverage of the event
This Week’s Newsletter Is Brought To You By…
It’s 68 days to the Faultline Ultra
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🤢DNF’d Tarawera and are looking for revenge
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Shotover Moonlight Results
Ben Lomond VK Challenge
The Ben Lomond VK Challenge kicked off the weekend’s events.
There is nothing flashy about this one.
3.9 km of off-track tussock bashing with 1200m of vertical gain🥵.
Find the back of your pain cave and, start digging … and sobbing … and then start digging again.
Men’s podium:
🥇Luke Wilson - 56:56.9
🥈Ryan Carr - 57:44.8
🥉Diego Bazzoli - 59:07.3
Luke Wilson from team Kinisi Running took out the race, 56 seconds off the CR set by 2-time champ Toby Batchelor.
There was also a rare mountain ferret sighting, with Ryan Carr back racing, putting in an impressive climb to take a convincing 2nd place over Diego Bazzoli.
Women’s podium:
🥇Kate Morrison - 1:10:13.5
🥈Jess Short - 1:13:57.2
🥉Zara Mackley - 1:18:09.6
It was a weekend of three-peats, with Kate Morrison locking away the VK trophy for another year.
Her time was 5 minutes off her scintillating CR from 2024, but she was still well clear of Jess Short and Zara Mackley, who battled hard to finish on the podium
Moonlight Ultra:📏56K - ⛰️3500M
Women’s podium:
🥇Hannah Wall - 7:50:52 🔥New CR!
🥈Lohyer Jessy - 8:37:15
🥉Laura Bungard - 9:14:46
Hannah Wall monstered the Ultra course, taking over an hour off Hannah Presswoods CR from last year💪.
Not content with dominating the women’s race, she went to work sausage hunting, taking down all but Majell Backhausen in the men’s field to finish 2nd overall.
Lohyer Jessy also went under the CR time in 8:37:15, but that was only good enough for 2nd, finishing well clear of Laura Bungard in a very respectable 9:14:46
Hannah was kind enough to fill in a few details of how her day went:
How did the race play out at the front of the race? Stoked to get the win and CR?
“I was happy with the decision to pull out of Tawarera 102 and just keep it local, stick to what I know I’m good at, hillz and thrillz.”
“Hot pace at the start with hotter temps to come later in the day so I put in the work early to spend as little time out there as possible.”
“Those ridge lines were the stuff of a trail runner’s wet dream, the moon was still out as the sun was rising, the race that lives up to its name.”
‘I’m so happy with my run overall, and really grateful for the opportunity and organisers. Final thoughts; screw ‘here for the woman’s race’ I’m here for the men’s!”
Men’s podium:
🥇Majell Backhausen - 7:05:19 🔥New CR!
🥈Ed Hoon - 7:52:13
🥉Remi Lafreniere - 8:05:33
Majell Backhausen also had a record-breaking run, taking 31 minutes off the 7:36 run by Arran Whiteford in 2021.
He didn’t have it all his own way - Jub ‘The Bearded Kilian’ Bryant set the early pace before getting himself a little bit lost 13 km in (I’ve heard a few people had issues staying on course).
Ed ‘Lets Go For A’ Hoon came in 2nd, dipping below the 8hour mark in front of Remi Lafreniere from Quebec.
Moonlight Marathon:📏42K - ⛰️2500M
Women’s podium:
🥇Eva Dethlefsen - 6:28:17
🥈Tanya Copeland - 6:59:57
🥉Jennifer Coatsworth - 7:13:52
Eva Dethlefsen stuck her head down and got to work. She didn’t realise she was even in the lead until a volunteer told her at one of the aid stations.
She may have “cooked her goose”, but luckily, everyone else’s goose was burnt AF too. She took the victory by 30 minutes over Tanya Copeland, who won the 30km race last year, with Jennifer Coatsworth taking home the bronze.
Thank you to my South Island correspondent, Jub Bryant for getting in touch with Eva.
How did the race unfold at the front and what does it mean to you to take out the victory in such an iconic event?
“It was all about staying cool from the start as we knew it was going to get seriously hot later on with the second part of the course being fully exposed.”
“I had no idea I was in the lead before someone told me at one of the checkpoints and I didn’t see any of the other women during the race.”
“Was getting worried about being caught near the end as things slowed down for me. But think everyone was struggling in the heat. The last climb was an absolute goose cooker and I thought it was going to be the end of me so the death march set in.”
“Luckily the race finishes with multiple river crossings which saved me. It’s a proper mountain running race with steep and technical sections, no great walk vibes around here So fun!”
“My day was pretty uneventful compared to some of the battle stories that others were sharing at the end. Being from Queenstown it’s so great to have an event like this on our doorstep”
Men's podium:
🥇David Haunschmidt - 4:55:26
🥈Dean Stewart - 5:13:45
🥉Andrew Boyd - 5:43:07
The Flying Doctor is relentless.
🥇The Goat
🥉Jumbo Holdsworth
🥇CTC Mountain Run
🥇Shotover Moonlight
4 races in 4 weeks, with just one blip coming at Jumbo Holdsworth, where he arguably saw the strongest field he’s run in all year.
He ducked under 5 hours on a scorching day, finishing 18 minutes clear of Dean Stewart from Invercarrrrgill who found himself in no man’s land. He was too far back from Haunschmidt to make him sweat and out of sight of 3rd place Andrew Boyd.
Shotover Adventure Run:📏30K - ⛰️1400M
Men’s podium:
🥇Ben Williams - 2:44:35 🔥New CR!
🥈Ryan Carr - 2:52:00
🥉Lewis Latham - 2:58:51
Young gun Ben ‘West Coast Is Best Coast’ Williams was back on the starting line and taking souls. He set a new CR, beating out Ryan Carr (backing up from the VK) and Local Legend Lewis Latham.
Women’s podium:
🥇Talia Flannery- 3:35:49
🥈Ruby Knight - 3:40:57
🥉Chahira Moussa - 4:00:54
Talia Flannery from Wellington broke up the Queenstown party, stretching out the women’s field and beating out locals Ruby Knight and Chahira Moussa.
Click Here for the full results, including the 10km & 21km and check out their Facebook page for more coverage
Pigs Backyard Roundup
Saturday & Sunday , February 15th & 16th
Saturday 10 AM, 72 little piggies gathered in the starting pen to take on the 4th edition of Pigs Backyard.
Last year, the event was hit with torrential rain and a cold front. Glenn Sutton adapted to the conditions the best, coming out on top over Hunter Wight, winning with 34 yards.
This year, 30+ degrees was forecast, triggering Inch events to hit the emergency beach party theme button.
Overall Winner:
🥇🏆👑Glenn Sutton - 32yds / 214.72km
Top DNFs
🏃☠️Hunter Wight - 31yds / 208.01km
🏃☠️James Chancellor - 27yds / 181.17km
🏃☠️Isaac Tripp - 26yds / 174.46km
🏃♀️☠️Lydia Pattillo(🏆🏃♀️LWS) - 21yds / 140.91km
🏃♀️☠️Shela Bahian - 16yds / 107.36km
🏃♀️☠️Ella Chibnall - 15yds / 100.65km
Well, it turns out … not much has changed in a year!
Glenn Sutton defended his title, once again out duelling Hunter Wight. They ended up 2 yards less than last year; we’ll call that heat tax.
With only 6 piggies making it to the 100-mile mark, it was always going to be tough for the field to push up towards the 40-yard mark that we got so used to seeing last year.
To sum it all up:
James Chancellor went to market
Hunter Wight stayed home
Glenn Sutton had roast beef(🏆)
And Petrus Hedman had none
And Isaac Tripp cried wee wee wee all the way home🐷
Lydia Pattillo put in a stellar effort in the heat to take out Last Women Standing and set the new Mrs Piggy Course Record, breaking Brooke Thomas’ 20-yard effort from 2024.
It sounds like the smaller field didn’t hamper the vibe. It looks like the craziest year yet.
Here are some shots from NZ’s best-running event photographer, Rad Piers.
Before we move to the next segment, though, can we just sort something out?
Next on the NZ Backyard Circus Tour is The OG. Riverhead Relaps(Auckland) in March and the all-new Carousel BYU (Alexandra) in April.
Check out Backyard Ultra NZ for all the intel on everything Backyard Ultra related.
Check out the Full Pigs results here. For more pictures and coverage, check out the Pigs Instagram.
Things You May Have Missed
Karel Sabbe Sub 33 arrives in Bluff
Just before midnight, the Yellow Sabbe Marine pulled into Bluff in an astonishing 31 days, 19 hours, and 41 minutes. That’s 17.5 days faster than George Henderson’s previous record🤯.
It will take someone special to look at that record and think they can better it. I think we will see a lot of variations of the TA for a while AKA ‘Fastest TA walking backwards’ ‘Fastest TA listening to M’Bop from Hansen on repeat’ ‘Fastest TA carrying a bike’.
Ben Gatting Completes the 2nd 11 in 11
After supporting Bridget Johnson in the first-ever 11 Great Walks in 11 Days attempt, Ben Gatting has just completed his own attempt and is the first to go South to North.
Ben is raising money for Kiwi Harvest - A charity that helps reduce food waste and feed families in need in the Southern Lakes region. He has raised just over $17K so far. If this speaks to you, you can donate here.
Kate Morrison & Alastair McDowell 5 Passes FKT
Not satisfied with their performances at the Ben Lomond VK, these 2 went out the next day and set the new FKT on the Mt Aspiring 5 passes route in a time of 16h34m57s. Who will be up next to see if they can lower the time?
Shannon-Leigh Litt ran Ultra #412 at Tarawera 50K
Just in case you have forgotten, Shannon-Leigh Litt is still on her mad ultra streak. Based on her Instagram, she’s aiming for 500. To prove she's not just mailing it in, she ran #412 at the Tarawera 50 over the weekend in a time of 5:25:29. Obviously not her full send, but still bloody impressive, all things considered.
Who’s Going To Carry The Boats Bikes?
Ali Wilson and Ryan Tait must have misheard David Goggins and carried the bikes instead of the boats😝.
In one of the more niche adventures I’ve seen recently, Ryan and Ali slapped on the lycra and rode out to Otaki Forks. They dismantled and carried their bikes over the Southern Crossing in the Tararua, and then they biked back home.
Will this catch on? It sounds like it already has! This was the 2nd successful completion of what’s being called the ‘Psysco Crossing’ in the last few months.
Upcoming Events
Old Ghost Ultra
Saturday, February
One race this weekend. Phew. It’s been a hectic few weeks on the event desk.
Straight out of NZ’s most hotly contested event on the trails to one of the most hotly contested events to get into - Old Ghost Ultra.
If you’ve never run or heard of the Old Ghost Ultra, watch the video below.
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 your calves start to revolt, you get a chance to beat down your quads over 24km of flowing downhill to the finish!
Last year, the event had some of the shine taken off, running a punishing out-and-back B course. The least fun part of the course twice. Doh😣.
Fortunately, the weather is looking half-decent for next weekend, so we should get our normal viewing.
This is always a hotly contested race, and there have been some awesome battles over the years. The current starters list is available here.
Without giving it too much scrutiny, here are a few names that jump out:
🏃♀️Kate Loye, Katie Smith, Nikki Everton
🏃David Haunschmidt, Ex AB Captain Kieran Reid
Follow along on Facebook, where they livestream the event, and check out the website for more details.
#Mountain Skag Pic Of The Week
The insatiable vert addict, Jennifer Tregurtha is your Mountain Skag dealer this week.
This snap is from the very boring-looking Mt Bealey Avalanche Peak traverse.
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. Can we spread these events out a bit please … this one almost killed me💀… Thank you for your patience.