🏃🏃♀️Taupo Ultra Results & The Final Abel Tasman Coastal Challenge
“The course record is a nice. But it wasn't sub 4 nor first...”
Your weekly fix of NZ trail running news
Here’s what’s in the drop bag this week:
🏃🏃♀️Taupo Ultramarathon Results
🏃🏃♀️Abel Tasman Coastal Challenge Results
🎯Things You May Have Missed
🏁Upcoming events: Crater Rim & World BYU Championship
⛰️💊Mountain Skag Pic of the Week & September Winner
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.
Taupo Ultramarathon Results
Saturday, October 12th
Alright— I know we usually cover the results from longest to shortest … but I got a bit too excited about the 50km, so we are rolling with it up top.
📏50KM | ⛰️1000ish
🏃♀️Women’s Podium
🥇Ali Wilson - 4:04:39 🔥NEW CR🔥 & 2nd Overall💪
🥈Frances Redmond - 4:13:51
🥉Ady McKenzie - 4:47:47
Say it with me…
Ali Wilson races, Ali Wilson wins.
She didn’t just win, but she obliterated Sue Crowley’s CR by over 10 minutes. Wilson led from the start, with Frances Redmond sticking within striking distance if the wheels started to fall off. Wilson was up by 9 minutes on Redmond at the halfway point and sitting in 7th overall.
I don’t know who called her a whinging Pom at the aid station, but someone must have really f🤬cked her off. Her pace was ferocious through the back half of the race, torching everyone who got in her way. She finished 2nd overall to cap off another dominant victory.
Redmond kept pace through the second half, but the early lead was too large. If this were any other year, she would have taken the win and the CR, also finishing under the old record by 1m20s.
With Wilson & Redmond out of site by Kinloch, it was a battle for the bronze between Ady McKenzie & Zoe Van Mil. They went back and forth through the first half before McKenzie pulled away in the final 10km to claim her spot on the podium.
Ali Wilson managed to take some time away from signing autographs to answer a few questions.
Did you have a plan going in or just run fast AF and hope for the best?
“No plan going into it, decided to throw in a last minute entry into the 24km but it was sold out, so 50km it was.”
“Had a browse of the previous years race winning times the night before and decided to go hunting. I'm not really a race planner, I enjoy pushing hard and seeing what happens.”
How does it feel to kick everyone’s ass and break the CR?
“Feels good to be back racing and hunting down the runners in front of me. Was stoked to take the course record; Me and Sue Crowley have always had a good battle - the local legend. The course record is a nice. But it wasn't sub 4 nor first.. ”
🏃Men’s Podium
🥇Sam Rout - 3:43:30
🥈Richard Wood - 4:05:18
🥉Seamus Kelly - 4:07:29
The Northern Express, AKA Sam Rout, steamed home to take all the lollies, but a few black Jelly Beans were also mixed in🤢. Rout made no secret heading in that he was there to take down Backwards Cap Barneseys CR from 2023, but the ghost of Barnes held its own.
Rout took the early lead, and at Kinloch (26km), he was 3 minutes up on Barnes’s ghost. It was still game on until he had a problem in the boiler room at the 40km mark, which started to derail operation ‘sub 330’.
He got his cramp sorted and started steaming down the tracks again, but the CR was out of reach at this stage. Fortunately, he had built enough of a lead that he didn’t have to contend with a ravenous Ali Wilson.
Seamus Kelly led the early chase, trying to reel in Rout. At Kinloch, he was only 7 minutes down, but that was as close as he would get. Richard Wood wood get him on the Headland track, and he had just enough fumes in the tank to hold off a fast-finishing Jaime Casciaro by 14 seconds.
📏100KM | ⛰️1850M
🏃Men’s Podium
🥇Nathan Ryken - 8:13:13
🥈Cullen Rhind - 8:39:28
🥉Scott Bougen - 8:54:38
Nathan ‘The Viking’ Ryken defended his title, running 13 minutes faster than in 2023. He faced an early challenge from Scott Bougen, who looked to take the race to the defending champ.
He had success early, but Ryken absorbed the pressure before turning the screws on Bougen. By the 30km mark, he was in open water, never to be seen again.
Cullen ‘Bring Home The Bacon’ Rhind was sitting in 3rd through the race’s early stages, dragged along by the Bougen v Ryken battle. As Bougen started to feel the early pace, Rhind moved past Bougen, but Ryken was well out of sight.
Rhind made it 3 consecutive Silvers in this race, finishing 2 minutes ahead of last year’s time. 8:57:28 (2022) 8:41:14 (2023), 8:39:28(2024).
Scott Bougen brought the heat early, which brought the pain late. He had the right pacer for the job, with none other than the then-current CR holder, Carl Read, getting him across the line, taking 3rd place, and posting a 100km PB.
Here’s what Nathan had to say about his big day out:
“Was super sweet running with Scott for the first section had a yarn and thought we were both feeling comfortable early on.”
“Had some cramps coming out of Hingarae Road aid station. Luckily not soon after the 70km started and I started pacing off a few of them including David Nielson from Whangarei.”
“That headland is f**cken disgusting and I had some choice words to say about it when I was out there. Had a bit of a scare with 2km to go as I looked behind me thinking I saw Cullen so ripped it home.”
“Turns out I was being chased by a ghost. So stoked with winning back to back titles and proving my first time wasn't a fluke. Also a bonus having Sam Rout win the 50km.”
Nathan Ryken
🏃♀️Women’s Podium
🥇Emma Patton - 11:07:44
🥈Courtney Ryan - 11:18:47
🥉Renee Quinn - 11:36:04
Olivia Ray held the early lead before Courtney Ryan moved up and took control of the race in the middle stages. Ryan would continue leading through the back half before Emma Patton hunted her down.
In her first 100km race, Patton ran into the lead with just under 10km to go and powered home to take her maiden victory by 11 minutes. Hang them up now. You can tell your grandkids that you’re undefeated over 100km😎.
Ryan couldn’t hold off Patton but finished the job to take a well-earned 2nd place ahead of Renee Quinn.
Taupo 📏70KM | ⛰️1450M
🏃♀️Women’s Podium
🥇Courtney Pratt - 7:21:58
🥈Cath Braddock - 7:46:39
🥉Louise Espin - 8:10:39
Courtney Pratt was back on her favored central North Island trails, taking an early lead and adding the Taupo 70km title to her Ring Of Fire title she won in 2023.
Cath Braddock ran in 2nd all day, comfortably ahead of the revolving door that was 3rd, but unable to make any ground on Pratt. Shout out to Cath. Not only did she finish 2nd, but she took out the F50-59.
Louise Epsin paced her race to perfection, eating up several early podium contenders, fading around the Headland trail and into the finish to take out the bronze.
🏃Men’s Podium
🥇Kendan Gibson - 6:09:29 🔥NEW CR🔥
🥈Alex Gilbert - 6:11:25
🥉Leonard Terry - 6:23:34
Kendan Gibson came out on top over Alex Gilbert in a dong dong battle, which saw the lead swing each way by 5 minutes. The final swing would go to Gibson, who would take the tape ahead of Gilbert by under 2 minutes and set a new Course Record by 17 minutes. This one meant a lot. Kendan’s Insta post below.
“What an epic weekend in Taupō competing in my 2nd Ultra Marathon. This one was pretty special with months of hard yards put in training to actually pull off a personal goal of mine is a pretty unreal feeling and it was worth gritting my teeth through the pain cave towards the end to get to the finish line”
Kendan Gibson
Check out the full results here, including the 24km race and 100km teams relay.
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Abel Tasman Coastal Classic Results
Saturday, October 12th
The 30th and final edition of the Abel Tasman Coastal Classic. It was a glorious sunrise to start things off, with 10/10 running conditions. It’s not often Mother Nature follows our script, but in this case, it played along.
🏃♀️Women’s Podium
🥇Hannah Oldroyd - 02:44:39 🔥NEW CR🔥 & 3rd Overall💪
🥈Julia Grant - 02:53:36
🥉Nikki Everton - 3:10:06
🏃Men’s Podium
🥇Vajin Armstrong - 02:36:25
🥈James Richardson - 2:42:59
🥉Oliver Linscott / Tommy Hayes - 02:52:12
I’ll pass over to Gazza Southside, Nelson Events roving reporter, to fill us in one last time.
Take it away, Gazza!
It’s goodbye for now for Nelson Events, but they won’t be struck off the Company Register as all Creditors and IRD have been paid ..
Saturday though was their trail running Sign Off with the Abel Tasman Coastal Classic having its last and 30th edition.
Weather conditions were picture perfect.. a cloudless sky, calm seas with 335 aboard the boats and an hour trip from Kaiteriteri to Awaroa.
“Air New Zealand Mechanical Problems” meant one boat had a turnaround 10 minutes out to return to pick up a major piece of equipment…! With Race Director, Averil West , now on deck it was onward along the stunning coastline.
Competitors had a slightly longer stay on the beach that 40,000 crowdfunded $2,259,923.21 back in 2016 to buy off the BNZ ..but with the mid morning sun quickly warming their pre-run stretches , what better place in the world to sit back and relax.
Onto the Air Strip and their slumber was awakened and it was off, some to race but the bulk setting their target to reach their end goal 33kms and counting later.
Vajin Armstrong, perennial podium stander and twice winner was quickly into a class of his own, as was Hannah Oldroyd, keen to again take control of the 155 women, who were 46% of the field—a far cry from just 13% or thereabouts back in 1994.
Both had outstanding runs, Armstrong 2.36.25 and Oldroyd’s 2.44.39 having her coming home 3rd overall and a new course record that will stay on the Web forever.
James Richardson (Wellington) chased hard 6 minutes behind, with Nelson’s Oliver Linscott and Tommy Hayes(Auckland) holding hands as they crossed for third.
The nearby DOC Security Camera was called upon to separate them, Linscott, by a nose, a replay to ensure the correct judgment from Upstairs, but unfortunately, a virus had corrupted the footage… No Prizemoney to be split, hard to share a Royce McGlashen famed pottery creation but Hayes “more than happy” to head home second in his Under 40 Age Group and more the wiser…!!
Julia Grant ( Christchurch), second woman with 2.53.36, held off Havelock North’s Ultra, Nikki Everton 3.10.06.
Chris Gates accomplished his task of surviving to complete all 30 events. Also, a big thankyou to the Motueka Round Table and their “ remnants” for their outstanding and equalling contributions, manning the Torrent Bay Aid Station every year.
Lynda Watson from Hokitika the only other starter from 1994 known to return at this stage but with many having achieved “the equivalent of a marathon” many times before and loyally returning.
For Nelson Events, it’s now sit back, relax and sell off a few road cones as “The Land of the Long Orange Collection” needs more…!!
Thanks for that Gazza. And thank you once again for putting on such an iconic event on the running calendar for the last 30 years.
Click Here for the Full Results
Things You May Have Missed
Fresh off adventure racing in China, Weston Hill took the Upper Hutt Hardcore show on tour to Trensjeju by UTMB in South Korea, where he narrowly missed the podium, being snaked in the final 1km to finish 4th.
Another one bites the dust. Totalsport has ripped the upper clean off the T42 shoe after 14 years. Rapidly declining entries in recent years due to ongoing track issues have left Totalsport no other option. This year, we’ve lost Mt Oxford, The Wild, Abel Tasman Coastal Classic, and Motu Challenge, and that’s just off the top of my head.
Frontrunner Colombo has been belting out a new podcast. Now, I haven’t listened to this one yet. I’m pretty religious about what podcasts I listen to, but I have added it to the list to give it a try. Let me know your thoughts. If it’s any good, I’ll bump it up the queue.
Upcoming Events
Crater Rim Ultra
Sunday, October 20th
The Crater Rim is back for 2024 with a brand-new look. Out with the NZ Long Trail Running Champs and in with the NZ Mountain Running Champs.
You can separate the event into two categories
Trail running
📏53km 👆2250m SOLD OUT
📏30km 👆890 SOLD OUT
📏22km 👆750m
The 83km has been scrapped. It struggled for entries in both years it ran.
The 53km race is the OG. It includes a boat ride over the harbour to make it a point-to-point race following the Crater Rim Trail (shocking, I know!).
If you were sitting on the fence, the bad news is it’s sold out, as is the 30km Bellbird Ball Buster.)
If you’re still looking to get your legs twitching next Sunday, you’ll need to enter the 22km Kiwi Challenge or get involved in the 6 or 12km Mountain Runs.
Mountain Running
📏12km 👆400m
📏6km 👆159m
I know Mountain Running is about the design of the course (the amount of vert to distance, usually shorter races, etc) but my mind still glitches out reading that 6km with 159m of vert counts as a mountain race🤔.
I got a little confused reading this, but I THINK I’ve got this right.
Senior Men & Women (20-35) will be selected from the the 12km Rapaki Rumble.
Young guns (U20) and Masters (35+) will battle it out in the 6km Valley View. However, oldies Masters can also be selected from the 12km race as well.
I don’t know why it needs to be so complicated. It seems very Athletic NZy.
… Anywho, it’s going to be a massive weekend in Christchurch. I expect a lot of blood and swearing will be involved in the shorter mountain races.
Click here for more details. Entries are still open (some races are sold out)
For news and on-the-day coverage, check out their Instagram or FB Page
2024 World Backyard Ultra Champs
Saturday, October 19th
If you somehow missed my super duper midweek post dedicated to this bad boy, give yourself a swift uppercut and click the link below.
If you’re a skimmer, here’s the TLDR.
1 AM, Saturday morning, our top 15 ranked Backyard Ultra runners will take on 64 other countries around the world (Everyone runs in their own country, on their own course)
Every lap run by a runner is 1 point; the country with the most points wins.
The NZ team will be running in
Hakuna MatataOtematata, in the middle of nowhere down south. The main thing is that Steve Tripp has managed to find a super duper flat course right opposite a pub.
The NZ Team
Sam Harvey - PB 101
Anthony Kerr-Taylor - PB 52
Simon McLean - 51 PB
John Bayne - PB 51
Jeremy Pelvin - PB 50
Glenn Sutton - PB 49
Caleb Pearson - PB 42
Shannon Rhodes - PB 42
Brion Matthews - PB 41
Glenn Tomlinson - PB 41
Johan Bergman - PB 40
Chris Taylor - PB 40
Julia Chamberlain - PB
Carl Read - PB 40
Jane McAlpine - PB 39
Thanks to Shaun Collins, who’s running the DJ booth, you can follow the team on the NZ Leaderboard HERE.
You will also find links to the NZ live stream, international live stream, and international leaderboard.
All the best to our runners. Hopefully, it’s not worth tuning in to the 3rd day!
#Mountain Skag Pic Of September
Congratulations, Jub Bryant. You’ve won Mountain Skag for September. Free Sh💩t coming your way.
#Mountain Skag Pic Of The Week
This week’s #mountainskag is from Grant Pritchard’s Southern Main Range mission with Martin Sedy on Saturday. Suitably moody.
Tag @trailrunning.nz (NOTE THE “.”) and use #mountainskag 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 Crater Rim and, hopefully, just an update on the BYU World Champs from Otematata. With a bit of luck, they’ll still all be cranking along. It takes hours to write this newsletter but only 8 seconds to forward it to a friend.
PS: No Worst Run Ever entries at the moment 😭. Do we bench the segment? Is the chance to win a box of CurraNZ not enough incentive?