We never miss a beat, like your colleague who has the optimum annual leave application on the Boss’ desk on the first day back of the year. (Shout out to all those who had the foresight to take today off!)
Here's what’s in the drop bag this week:
🏃🏃♀️Tussock Traverse Results
💜Run Wild For Joe
⛺Mission Corner
🎯Things You May Have Missed
🤢Worst Run Ever
🏁Upcoming events: Pigs Backyard Ultra
⛰️💊Mountain Skag Pic Of January & 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.
Bradley Houghton flew off the front, taking the race to Zach Miller & Kilian Jornet. Beating them both to the top of the Tukino access road, Houghtons’ superior technical running skills really showed as he powered his way across the boulder-strewn desert to Waihohonu Lodge.
He had enough time to crack back a cold one before finishing the job, crossing the line a whopping 10 minutes ahead of both Miller and Jornet.
Ok, a man can only dream, right?😝
The above had about as much chance of happening as the Tussock Traverse did when Thursday’s weather forecast came in.
The 1 guy who drove up anyway just to make sure the weather was bad.
The following is an excerpt from Tussock Traverses’ Full Statement.
“Earlier in the week, we were looking at some rainfall and strong wind gusts. While we acknowledge weather conditions in an alpine environment are changeable - we never expected the level of rain, snow to 1700m, -2 degree windchill in some periods of the event course, 120kph+ wind gusts and minimal visibility all in the same weekend on course, in the middle of summer.”
“These serious adverse weather conditions have now extended through to the Saturday event timelines and have deteriorated to such a level that the only safe decision to make is to cancel the event. With the ability to fly a helicopter (a critical component of the event's Health & Safety Plan to manage extractions) severely compromised, together with the risk of prolonged exposure of competitors and staff to these weather elements, conditions are deemed to be too unsafe by our safety management team.”
Ultimately, it was a pretty simple decision.
❌No chopper, no race.
Kudos to the Victory Events team for making the call early, before most people had travelled.
I’m glad to hear that they’re looking into their no-refund policy, as I wonder how many people knew that there is no B-course option, and the race was so dependent on a chopper being able to fly.
Fingers crossed, the Tussock Traverse survives this setback and makes it through to its big 21st next year.
Yardies at the Shateau, anyone🤮?
Run Wild For Joe
Saturday, January 27
It was the Run Wild For Joe event on Saturday. If you were out on the trails Saturday, wondering why everyone was dressed like a purple wiggle.
Over 300 people gathered at Karori Park, AKA The Field Of Dreams, on Saturday morning to honour the life of Joe Benow and help raise funds for his family and the mental health foundation.
Joe was a prolific Wild Thing, a Wormer and had just started earning his Wellington Big Sunday Run stripes.
The idea was simple: run or walk as much as possible in 6 hours on 3 mapped-out loops.
Some went large, dropping 50km on the 1km Kpark loop. While others caught up with old friends running the aptly named Benbow Round.
People checked in all around the world. From the deep South, all the way to Bologna Italy
Not only was there an in-person event in Wellington, but there was also a virtual event in which people took part all around the country.
Instagram and Strava have been flooded with #runwildforjoe, and his impact on others’ lives is clear.
It’s fantastic to see so many people coming together for the cause.
A massive shout out to the magnificent Cate Shave, who pulled it all together. Of course, it takes an army to put these things together, so if you contributed your time and resources to the day, thank you.
If you want to donate directly to Joe’s family, you can still do that here.
“Say It Ain’t Dough?!?”
It was such a hit last time, and I thought we had better bring it back.
3 lucky paid subscribers this week will win a giant Moustache “recovery” Cookie or a smaller Box of 6.
Shown to support healthy recovery, performance and energy, Vegan-friendly option* CurraNZ Moustache Cookies supports healthy spike blood sugar and fat metabolism, normal cardiovascular function and immune defences to help you live life to the full in the moment and feel better about your sh💩tty training run.
To go in the draw, comment below or email trailrunningnz@gmail.com with why you deserve some cookies🥰. (Paid Subscribers Only)
Trail Running NZ is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
This week’s mission report is from the one and only Alastair McDowell.
📏40KM | 👆4600M
A skyline traverse of 9x Arthur’s Pass peaks from Aicken round to Bealey.
“It’s 5:30am, the street is dark and train rumbles through Arthur’s Pass village as I turn off towards the Mount Aicken track. Half hour later I emerge from the bushline in a cold sweat, the atmosphere is so clear & crisp”
“Across the valley, Mount Rolleston catches red glow from the coming dawn. Soon I’m on Mount Aicken, the first of today’s 9 summits. This is the Arthur’s Pass Round.”
“It had been a 3 year project of mine to complete this skyline traverse of Arthur’s Pass in summer, ticking off all the peaks either side of the road. Over the years I have loved the super accessible mountain running on offer here.”
“There is so much scope for single peak VK efforts (Avalanche, Bealey, Aicken), to multi-peak traverses (Cassidy-Blimit, Phipps-Temple) or all day epics, such as today’s mega 40km 4600m+ round.”
“From Aicken I head north towards Blimit. There are some legitimate sections of rock scrambling along here especially nearing Blimit, it’s not for the faint hearted I will be honest. Today is definitely blurring the lines between running and mountaineering though no climbing gear is needed, it’s exposed and climbing skill is required. The reward is the beauty of traversing this delicate ridgeline, continuing onwards over Mt Temple and Mt Phipps.”
“I take a direct line down Phipps west ridge to avoid the dusty Temple Basin ski field, this ends with some steep bush bashing which pops out at Otira carpark. Kate M meets me with snacks & recovery drink to fuel up for the second half, the bigger half. ”
“Up Philistine and into the traverse towards Rolleston. This is where the most spectacular scrambling is found, up a proud buttress to the high peak, on perfect greywacke. Even some good hand jams!”
“The Crow glacier below is dry and crevassed but fortunately you can avoid it by sidling Middle Peak staying on rock the whole way to Low Peak. Unfortunately, the only way to carry on to Avalanche Peak is down the ultra-chossy Rome Ridge. While a splendid winter climb in the snow, in summer it is an absolute quarry, big caution here. I teeter my way down, trying to avoid sending dustclouds of loose rock into the Otira valley.”
“I make it to the Rome Ridge Gap with relief and soon I’m drinking from a stream flowing off the back of Avalanche peak, weary from a long hot day on the tops. All I have left to keep me going over Lyell peak is one more caffeine gel, it works its magic. In the distance I spot a figure: it’s Kate M patiently waiting on Bealey. I reach her semi-delirious for the final descent back into the village.”
“The Arthur’s Pass Round is an excellent alpine running challenge for anyone who enjoys a bit of exposure mixed in with their running, and some of the best mountain running in the South Island at that.”
“If you’re new to AP, start small and slowly build up adding new peaks to your traverses, before long you will be putting together some incredible mountain running outings.
What a primo mission! Great vert to distance ratio too.
You can follow Alastair on Instagram and Strava, and if this small report interests you, check out his blog.
Send in your mission reports to trailrunningnz@gmail.com or DM on Instagram.
NOTE: Alastair is as clued up as it comes. Please dip your toes into Arthurs Pass before jumping in head first.
WUU2K entries opened this week. 162 keen beans have already entered. If you’ve never run in Wellington, this is a great way to sample the best of the Wellington trail network.
Worst Run Ever
THIS IS NOT A DRILL
Worst Run Ever is back with a banger. Some are funny, some are mildly amusing, and some (like this one) make my stomach drop😮.
Thank you, Jonothan, for being so honest; this was very close to a bad ending. Most people bury these stories, but people need to see how easily it can all go wrong.
Jonothan Armstrong, AKA The Celtic Tiger
Read the following in your best Air Craft Investigation Narrator’s voice.
“Well, we all got to start somewhere and learn from our mistakes…”
“On a nice winters day, it was Sunday, and I planned a short dash up ⛰️Mount Richardson in Canterbury and back.”
“A non-eventful ascent had me at the summit in good time, maybe just under the 2-hour mark. I did the gentlemanly thing and took a few photos of groups at the trig while also asking a group of 3 women to take 1 of me.”
“Following the photo, 1 of the ladies asked me my plan, and I confirmed it was an easy up-and-down car park to the summit. She suggested I take the alternate way down to make it a loop. I agree and set off on my merry way.”
“The snow on the track was thick, and there were not many footprints. A couple of decisions were made on directions, using my best instinct, and I eventually became lost. I was at the point of not returning the way I came, as it had been too many judgment calls into the descent to remember😫.”
“Having no GPS, no signal on my phone and no one else in sight, I begin to panic. An hour or 2 goes past, and I hear the sound of a river as I continue my descent. I reach the river and decide just to follow it as all rivers lead somewhere eventually. It begins to get dark as I follow the river, very steep on either side. “
“As darkness fell, it began to get dangerous to continue, and I had to make the call to stop and rest beside a tree just up from the riverbank.”
“For 15 hours, in minus 3-degree heat, I regularly listen to Eminem's “Lose Yourself” on my phone to spur me through the night💪.”
“I hold my bare feet every few minutes to try to warm them up. I urinate into a bottle and rest my feet on the bottle to make use of the warmth of my piss until it goes cold.”
“Very slowly, the night creeps through, and the sun finally rises, making it safe to continue. I actually have to break both my trainers before putting them on, as they are frozen solid.”
“I continue my descent downstream along the river, blowing my whistle and crying out for help. I begin to see trees in the distance as power poles and logs in the river as bridges. Both signs of civilisation, soon realising these were hallucinations.”
“A couple of hours pass, and I decide to try climbing a steep side of the river to get a signal. My battery is nearing empty, and I eventually get 1 bar. I email a work colleague in an attempt to try and explain why I wasn’t at work this morning. (A few days later, I realised I had sent the words “URGENT HELP! only)”
“I then make the call to phone 111, and eventually, I get a hold of someone. I tried to explain where I was, and they instructed me to lie on a large boulder in the middle of the river I was following.”
“My phone battery goes completely dead following the call and I am fully relying on a helicopter arriving. An hour passes, and still no sign. I decide to continue downstream as I can always lie on the next boulder I find if a heli is overhead.”
“After another couple of hours in a hypothermic state with no food intake in the past 18 hours, I finally came across an unsealed gravel track to one side of the river.”
“As I begin to follow, I see a heli in the distance. I wave violently in an attempt to attract its attention. With no success, I continue down the unsealed track, and eventually, a Range Rover comes into sight.”
“I wave down the woman driver and explain the situation. She lets me borrow her phone to call off the helicopter. I drive to her house, and she wraps my purple feet in heated tea towels from the tumble dryer. An hour later, an ambulance arrived at her house to drive me to Christchurch Hospital.”
“I spend the night with some of my work team visiting me in the ward. Several nurses asked to see my frost-nipped feet as they had never seen it before. I get the rest of the week off work, and it’s about 3 months before I have enough feeling in my feet to play football again.”
“Doctors confirmed if I spent another night, I may have lost both feet. A big lesson was learned following this experience, think very carefully before you change your planned route. As you can see from the photo, I was very casual and hadn’t packed much!!!”
Wet feet every lap. Just what you want when trying to run as far as possible.
I’ve had a quick scroll through the starting list. There are plenty of the usual suspects, but no Sam Harvey; he’s going after the Tarawera Miler.
My pick is it will come down to Shannon Rhodes (defending champ) vs John Bayne for the overall win, with Brooke Thomas and Fiona Hayvice fighting it out for the top female spot.
Every entry has a chance to win the monthly giveaway of a Mountain Skag T-shirt or hat.
Next week, we will have Pigs Backyard results and preview our first big clash of the year, Tarawera Ultrawhatevertheyrecallingitnow and Shotover Moonlight Marathon.
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MMMM, COOKIES! I deserve them because I've done ALL of my training runs leading up to Tarawera Miler (as I'm scared, and really should have attempted 100km first...). Now on taper, and could do with cookies pretty please! nomnomnomnom...
MMMM, COOKIES! I deserve them because I've done ALL of my training runs leading up to Tarawera Miler (as I'm scared, and really should have attempted 100km first...). Now on taper, and could do with cookies pretty please! nomnomnomnom...
Kerri “All In” Dewe - love it. What’s another 60km anyway? You’re in the draw! Looking forward to see how you go in a couple weeks