🏃🏃♀️The Summer Race Season Is Upon Us
'My temperature plummeted to 35.1 degrees and I kept going at that temperature for another 11 hours.'
Your weekly fix of NZ trail running news
We’re the whitebread of the trail running scene—basic and budget, but somehow always in the cart😎
Here's what’s in the drop bag this week:
🏃🏃♀️The Race Season Is Upon Us
🎯Things You May Have Missed
🟣Worst Run Ever
🏁Preview: Race Tekapo
⛰️💊Mountain Skag Pic of the Week & August Vote
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The Race Season Is Upon Us
Spring is here. It’s that weird time of year when you get one day of sunshine and fool yourself into thinking summer is almost here before it pisses down for 2 weeks straight (or dumps 1m of snow if you’re down south), and there’s always a headwind. Always.
It also marks the end of the NZ winter trail running race famine. This weekend was another one with nothing on the calendar. Yes, we’ve had some great racing over winter, but there’s been a few awkward silences between the bangers.
Next weekend is Race Tekapo, which I’m officially calling the start of the race season. In only its third year, it has over 1500 entries. With those kinds of numbers, you would think it’s on the Run The Forest circuit.
Following that, the Blue Lake Challenge rounds out September. Last year, it came to a muddy halt after torrential rain destroyed the trails and base camp, and everyone decided it would be a lot more fun just to go home, have a hot shower, and sleep.
Rumour has it that a few eager beavers are eyeing up The Claw again this year. I’m sure Simon Cochrane will be watching with interest. Also, who can compete this year with WoRM in the best-dressed contest?
October brings Day Light Savings and with it, the sold-out Rakiura Challenge. If you’re unfamiliar with this event, it is one of the best ways to experience Rakiura/Stewart Island if you’re short on time.
They know how to put on a show. For $320, you get two massive meals (night before & post race), transport to the start (no extra $40 bus ticket here), an event T-shirt, the usual free sh💩t in a bag, and you can also get discounted rates on flights or ferry fares to get there.
Last week, we had the entree (Offroad Kinloch Marathon); on the 12th of October, we get the main. Taupo Ultramarathon has been a staple of the NI Ultramarathon scene since its first year.
The races are just getting more and more competitive as well. Last year, we saw Nikki Everton and Thomas Barnes break the 100k & 50k course records. Rumour has it that Sam Rout is heading down from Whangavegas this year to go after Backwards Cap Barney’s 50km record. Game on.
The same weekend is also the last-ever Abel Tasman Coastal Classic… well, under Nelson Events management anyway. Graeme West and his team have served the endurance community for over 30 years. I would say they’ve done enough for a mallow puff. Fingers crossed for perfect weather for Gazza and the team's final send-off.
Crater Rim is back a week later with a new look. It’s no longer the NZ Long Trail Champs but will now hold the Mountain Running Champs. It would be fair to say that the 85km has struggled for numbers in the past. It will be interesting to see if numbers increase or decrease with it not being the championship.
TLDR: A tonne of races are coming up over the next few months.
What I’m most excited about, though, is we are entering mission season. The intel machine is going to be working in overdrive to keep up with all the rumors of Triple crossings, Up down & around, Harcomme Rounds, Loop the loops, and all the other bat sh💩t crazy things get up to in their spare time.
Things You May Have Missed
Total Sport is downsizing to just operate it’s Taupo office events. The Auckland Xterra series, Hunua Hillbilly and Trail Challenge Waihi are being taken over by Dave and Julianne who have formed Trail Events NZ (no relation😂).
Sam Harvey placed 5th at the Hakuba Classic 50k 2024, part of the Japanese National Golden Trail Series.
Worst Run Ever by UTMB 🟣CurraNZ
This week’s story is from the one and only Shannon-Leigh Litt.
She’s up to Ultramarathon #259 in a row, just in case you were feeling insecure about your running achievements for the year!
“In December last year I ran the 100 miles in Chiang Mai and it was one of my hardest runs. I went to Chiang Mai 2.5 weeks before the race to acclimatize and even run on the course. It helped to be there to get used to the heat.”
“I started off well, the first 40 km was super hilly but runnable, then disaster struck with prune feet, I got my feet wet and the shoes I was wearing were more minimalist and they didn't suit the course.”
“For over 100 km my feet were in absolute agony and sore. I had some vaseline or something that resembled it and kept stopping and putting it on my feet. I now realise after running over 250 ultra marathons in a row that the trick to foot care is actually to keep the feet dry. I am pleased I kept going because it made the next 100 miler the TUM feel much easier!”
“The course was so up and down and I used my poles, though to keep going for more than 40 hours was super tough! I used babies powder daily and I have had no prune or sore feet, it is a cheap trick that I recommend.”
“On the other extreme, more recently I ran 85 km in Austria as part of around ultra 150, there was a hurricane in the race and only 2/3 of the field got through for the check points. So soon into the race, My temperature plummeted to 35.1 degrees and I kept going at that temperature for another 11 hours. It was probably the hardest worst run I have ever done and I didn't really enjoy it too much.”
Thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedule Shannon.
You’re in the draw for some little purple pills from 🟣CurraNZ.
They won't help with prune feet, but they may just help you get to 365 ultras for the year!
Keep the stories coming in! Send them to trailrunningnz@gmail.com
They can be short or long. Funny😂 or sad😭. You can own it, or it can be made anonymous. They can even have a happy ending.
Upcoming Events
Race Tekapo
Saturday, September 21
Race Tekapo might be the fastest-growing race in the country, and it doesn’t even have Forest in the name😎.
2022 - 600ish
2023 - 950ish
2024 - 1500+
1500 entries! That’s 3 x Tekapo’s population.
What makes it so popular?
It’s in Tekapo, not a bad spot
It’s within road trip distance from the majority of SI cities
With 7 distances, you can fill a van with people, and there’s a race that suits everyone
The terrain makes this a perfect event for rookies but also encourages the elites up front to rip each other’s legs off
The entry fees are reasonable
Did I mention it’s in Tekapo?
Just check out some of the images from the Race Tekapo gallery.
Breakfast Menu:
50km📏 | 1100m👆
32km📏 | 800m👆
21km📏 | 550👆
16km📏 | 200m👆
12km📏 | 300m👆
5 km📏 | 1.6m👆
The courses are a mix of fast, non-technical trails with some sealed and gravel roads.
Mt. John provides a much-needed nicotine patch for the vert addicts, but it will be short-lived.
Check out the elevation profile for 50km. It must be one of the fastest courses in the country.
If I were a real journalist, I would drop a chart here with the country's top 5 fastest 50km courses by course record.
Speaking of course records (I’ve been working on my segways💪), a few might be under threat this week. Not only are the fields getting bigger, they’re also getting deeper.
People To Watch
50KM: Michelle Ashley, Mel Aitken, Nikki Everton, Amanda Rowe
Sam Rout, Greg Bassam
32KM: Hannah Oldroyd, James Millar, Sanjeev Deo, Harry Wager
21KM: Beth Garland, Alice Cuthbert
12KM: Xye Doyle, Rhys Johnston, Sarah Jenkins, Lee Calderon, Penny Mouat
There’s also a rumour that a runner called Jan Dones will be on the start line, distance TBD.
Normally I painstakingly scroll through an entrants list looking for names I kind of recognise. This week, I tried out ‘The Pain Cave’ thanks to Brad Coleman.
Brad has uploaded 1000’s of results to the site and has even added a race preview tab. All I did was search Race Tekapo and it ordered the entrants in order of ‘Most Wins & Placings’.
You can look yourself up on The Pain Cave to remind yourself of all your previous glory (and in my case, disappointment😭). Even better, you can look up ya mates to check if they’ve just been talking sh💩t at the pub all these years🤣.
Click Here to find out more.
#Mountain Skag Pic Of August Winner
Congratulations, Chester Holt-Quick. You’ve won Mountain Skag for August. Free Sh💩t coming your way.
#Mountain Skag Pic Of The Week
This week's #Mountain Skag is from Jub Bryant. He’s currently touring ‘The Stahns’ post UTMB.
It looks like he’s found plenty of #mountainskag to help with the UTMB come down.
Tag @trailrunning.nz 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.
I’ll be back next week with Race Tekapo results and whatever else is popping off after an anonymous post in the Wild Things Facebook Group.
It takes hours to write this newsletter but only 8 seconds to forward it to a friend.
PS. If you wanted a mid-pack perspective of UTMB, this is a good watch. My favorite part is the French patented pole overtaking manoeuver.
Yes!