⛰️Vert Day & a story about a chaffing cowboy
"The burning stingy combination of sensitive skin, salt water, sand and wet running shorts brought me to my knees🧎"
Your weekly fix of NZ trail running news
We’re like a buoy in the sea of your work week. We keep you afloat through the waves of boring water cooler chat on a Monday morning.
Here's what’s in the drop bag this week:
Vert Day Wrap Up
My Worst Run Ever
Things You May Have Missed
Mountain Skag Pic Of The Week
Vert Day Wrap Up
It’s been getting bigger and better every year💪, and this year was no different. What started as a showdown between Big Sunday Run Wellington & Canterbury has now spread around the country. Vert fiends gathered at trailheads in the dark, nervously waiting for the 6 AM start🌙.
Some were there to find new limits, and others because they made a poor decision after 1 too many beers at a pub run🤪. Either way, everyone had fun; some got more Type 2 than others.
Wellington Big Sunday Run crew line up at the Dawn Wall.
Here is a brief recap of what Vert Day is if you missed the preview a couple of weeks ago
Vert Day celebrates the day Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay “knocked the bastard off.” It is a virtual event so you can participate anywhere in the country.
Vert Day is all about dat sweet, sweet Vert. The idea is to accumulate as much vertical gain between Saturday 6 AM & Sunday 6 AM.
This will look different for everyone, but the main thing is to challenge yourself to see what is possible.
Entrants are encouraged to donate to the Himalayan Trust. They fund projects that provide better health and education for remote communities in Nepal.
It’s fantastic to see the numbers that the top guys and gals post up. But what makes Vert Day special is all the different groups involved and the camaraderie created. A big shoutout to Craig Blacklock, Chris Martin, Natasha Furness, and Hadini Woodruff(apologies to those I’ve missed), who all organize and promote Vert Day. Hadani from Canterbury BSR sums it up well below:
We put up an aid station, started our watches and pressed play on the music speaker🔊. This was 6am, the start of ‘Vert Day’, we were in a competition to collect as much Vert as possible in 24 hours.
There are not many events or competitions where distance doesn't matter but ‘Vert’ means everything on Vert Day. Well we are in competition with our friendly rivals, BSR Wellington.
What does the winning team receive? Nothing, just bragging rights until next years event. Some people manage to stay upright for the whole 24 hours bagging some thousands of meters of vert, others bring their kids🧒, dogs🐕 and carry their babies👶 in a backpack to gain just a hundred.
One time, BSR Wellington even had a runner with a broken leg in full plaster complete with crutches achieve 30 meters. In the end it’s all for a good cause as the main reason for this event is to fund raise for the Himalayan Trust and of course, to have a bit of fun
Hadadni Woodruff
Team WoRM(Wellington online Running Meet up) is ready to get their Vert on Photo: Natasha Furness.
Top Dog
I thought we would start with the most prestigious award of the day. Some people said she had lost it; others said her legs were too short to become the top dog. But here she is, at the top of the pile. Haters gonna hate. Maisey, the Mountain Dog, put on 2500K of Vert on the dawn wall of Chamonaenae. That’s 12,500K in Doggie Vert.
Maisey the Mountain Dog
Overall Top Vert
Who’s going to lift the boats? Chris Fahey is going to lift the boats!
Overall top Vert went to the Vert Monk - Chris Fahey. You will not meet a nicer, more humble, savage AF vert fiend than Chris. Chris overcame several injuries this summer and was not planning to put in a significant shift. However, such was the crew's spirit at the Dawn Wall in Chamonaenae. He pushed on to set the new record at a whopping 11K. When I talked to Chris, he nervously sat by the phone, waiting for the “Congratulations, you’ve qualified” call from Crush the Cargill. Here is Chris’ take on the day.
❝
Conditions were quite challenging, extremely slippery and with light rain off and on for the first 8hrs🌧️. The community vibe at the Dawn Wall was great though, its a lot easier to keep going with so many friendly faces around😬. I was pretty ready to call it around 9k but the guys still going hard💪 inspired and encouraged me to keep at it. I managed to convince myself to keep going til the end by just thinking about one more lap each time.
Chris Fahey
Special mention to Kerry Bennet (9136M) and Martin Sedy(10,230M), who also went all day and night to help propel Chris forward to glory. Iain Gover was BSR Canterbury’s top individual, posting 9,005M.
Martin Sedy is working on his new tattoo design.
Raechel Keepa took out the Top Vert on the female side of the draw, posting an equally impressive 7,050M🥳. Jean “Make sure you say I’m slow and old” Beaumont got in on the act early and knocked out 6,015M on Wednesday. Liz Palmer took 3rd with a very respectable 5,628M.
Now, I left things a bit late this week and couldn’t get hold of Andy Dubois. So I thought I would throw the question out to you, the reader, the trail running community.
When it comes to Vert Day - Do you think everyone is on an equal playing field, or do men still have a distinct advantage?
Vote below, and feel free to comment to let me know. This isn’t a troll; just interested to see what people think.
Do you think Men & Women are on a level playing field when it comes to a Vert Competition like Vert Day?
Vote below
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Top Shorts
This is a toughie. Michael Stuart brought his A-game (as per), but Alex Jones came in hot with an old-school yellow number. So we will have to take it to a vote.
A - Michael Stuart
B - Alex Jones
Who wore it better?
Vote for top shorts below
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Wellington BSR vs Canterbury BSR
The votes are still being counted, but it’s clear that Wellington Big Sunday Run has taken down the title. I have the tallies at:
Big Sunday Run Wellington - 129,816M
Big Sunday Run Canterbury - 72,024M
“Hey Don, how big is Vert Day?”
It was great to see WoRM get involved this year. There were also small contingents from Tauranga, Hawkes Bay, Whanganui, Wanganui, Manawatu, Wanaka, and Dunedin.
There are so many running groups around NZ - if you think you and your running mates are up for the challenge - spread the word for next year, as Vert Day isn’t going anywhere.
Congratulations to everyone who participated and, most importantly, donated to the Hilary Trust. You can donate directly to them or chip into the ‘give a little’ set up by Chris here. The total currently stands over $1200!
My Worst Run Ever
This week’s Worst Run Ever reminds you to ALWAYS have anti-chaffe on you.
Keep the stories coming in!
Please send them to [email protected]
They can be short or long. Funny😂 or sad😭. They can even have a happy ending or be made anonymous.
This week’s matching masterpiece - Chafing is bad, Mmmkay?
My Worst Run Ever still brings a tear to my eye thinking about it😢.
I got up late on a Sunday morning after 1-2 bevvies turned into 6-7🍻. As the good committed runner I am, I made some toast, a coffee☕ and then sat on the toilet scrolling until my feet were numb.Anyway, I got out the door eventually and headed out on my normal Sunday long run. It was the middle of Summer and I was up a tad late, so it was already 20 degrees🌡️. Everything was going ok, all be it, a bit hot and bothered. I laboured my way up the tip track and then start heading down to the coast.
I was seriosuly starting to over heat now🥵, and my dry hungover mouth could not be satisfied. I eventually slid my way down on to the beach, man that water looked inviting🌊 … I was planning to go for a swim later, but I made the ill-advised decision to take a wee mid-run cooling dip.
I stripped down and scampered into the water. It felt amazing😲. The run might have been a bit average, but it was worth it for the swim. I got out of the water and put my kit back on. I took off towards home but came to a screeching halt😧.
The burning stingy combination of sensitive skin, salt water, sand and wet running shorts brought me to my knees🧎. What am I suppose to do? I had left my phone at home so calling for a pick up wasn’t an option. It was unlikely to get better, and walking would probably be just as painful as running.
What ensued was 7KM of pure agony😭. I’ve run some tough races, but I have never felt this much pain. I did my best to position my shorts in the best spot and try to recreate my stride. The only way I can describe what I must have looked like is a cowboy running to the closest toilet…Anyway, I made it home eventually. It didn’t get much better in the shower … and that is My Worst Run Ever.
John Wayne
Things you may have missed!
Andy Carruthers dropped a teaser for his upcoming SK Film, which has made the cut to be shown in the NZ Moutain Film Festival. Book tickets here
Nancy Jiang is in ‘Merica🌭 and exploring the Western States course in prep for the big dance. It looks like snow shoes will be required.
Mountain Skag pic of the week
This week's #Mountain Skag pic is from Andrew McDowell - An absolute ripper from the Omanawanui track in the Waitakere ranges.
Tag @trailrunning.nz and use #mountainskag on Instagram or email [email protected] to enter.
Every entry goes into the monthly draw to win a Mountain Skag T-Shirt or hat.
We will be back next week with more trail-running news, yarns, and glory.
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