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Argh! I’m running late!
Just a quick apology before we jump straight into last weekend’s big double header.
I’m having issues with receiving emails when people are clicking “reply” to the newsletter so apologies if I’ve unintentionally ghosted you in the last few weeks. For the time being, send me a new email to trailrunningnz@gmail.com, DM on Insta or FB messenger.
Alright, let’s get into it - it’s 6 am somewhere.
Tararua Mountain Race Results
Saturday, March 14
There was a lot of nervous refreshing midweek around the lower North Island as mountain runners searched for a more favourable forecast than what was loaded for Saturday’s Tararua Mountain Race.
“The Tararua Mountain Race
20 per cent chance of sun,
10 per cent chance of no wind,
100 per cent chance of blood, sweat and tears.”
Well, I guess it does kind of say it on the tin!
With a couple of pearler days forecast for Sunday and Monday, smoke was seen rising from the high points of Wellington on Thursday as lycra sacrifices burned around the region in hopes the Sunday weather window would move forward.
It would seem the weather gods were pleased, as the reborn Tararua Mountain Race got away for the 3rd time early Saturday morning in “good enough, we’ve got LandSAR on the tops” kind of weather.
Southern Crossing:📏36km | ⛰️2300M
Women’s podium:
🥇Ali Wilson - 5:58:01
🥈Allira Hanczakowski - 5:58:35
🥉Sarah Hodgson - 6:24:47
Ali Wilson Races, Ali Wilson Wins … Just!
I picked The Smiling Assassin aka Allira Hanczakowski to take her 2nd title in 3 years, but Ali “Cat” Wilson had other ideas, signing up just days before the race. Baller move😎.
Actual footage from the TRNZ intel hotline Thursday when I heard Ali Wilson was racing
Wilson may have signed up late, but Hanczakowski countered with her own power move, running out of the early 6.30 am wave and posting a time for Wilson to chase.
H-dawg had a rip snorter of a morning, taking 15 minutes off her 2024 title winning time. With the hard work done, she shot off to work and waited to see if Wilson could return serve.
With Wilson starting at 8:30 and limited coverage, she was left to race the Ghost of Hanczakowski across the range. Unfortunately, it looks like there was an issue with the splits, which makes it difficult for me to weave a half-truth, half bs race narrative, BUT what I can tell you is it came down to the wire.
With all the different waves starting to finish at the same time, it was an exciting watch waiting to see if Ali would beat Allira’s time. It was a bit like watching an Olympic time trial where it comes down to the very last run.
Now the timing on the results website could be a little bit iffy, as the event used Webscorer GPS, which I don’t really understand the dark forces at play that make it work. But Allira’s time matches up with her Strava (5:58:26), so I’m just gonna roll with Ali Wilson winning by 34 seconds, plus or minus a few hairs.
Either way, it’s great to see 2 of Wellington’s finest perform on the big stage and duck under the 6-hour mark💪. Fingers crossed we can line them up at the same time sometime soon!
Sarah Hodgson also had herself a day, coming over the bridge to take Bronze in a time that has been good enough for the win in recent years.
Here’s what Ali had to say about being back in the starting blocks:
We haven’t seen you on the starting blocks in the trail scene since your 2nd place at UTA last year- how did it feel to be back redlining it in one of the toughest races in the country?
“When an inclement weather forecast is predicted in The Tararua's, there's no better day (or place) to return to a start line.”
“The past year I've been focussing on my health (and returning to adventure racing). I enjoy running but motivations and perspectives change with each year that passes. I'm grateful I can turn up and still push myself to the same level. The TMR was a good test to see where the legs are after a few weeks of structured training.”
The big news last week was that you’ve signed with the Merrell performance team. Firstly, congratulations, and secondly, I’m guessing that means we’re going to see some more Ali Wilson appearances over the next few months?
“Yea I'm stoked that Merrell have had me join, I feel like Cinderella- the shoe's fitted and I can't speak more highly of them, or the team behind Merrell NZ. I'll be on a few more start lines in the coming months in NZ and Aus, no trips to Chamonix after I turned down my OCC spot, bike packing adventures in Peru took priority.”
Thanks for that Ali! Excited to see what comes next.
Sarah Hogdson and Ali Wilson on the TMR podium. Ali might have signed with Merrell, but Mountain Skag is where it’s at 😎
Men’s podium:
🥇Luke Brown - 5:18:48
🥈Brendan Varty - 5:24:13
🥉Paul Lenihan - 5:56:57
Last week I predicted the Masterton Kid aka Brendan Varty would come out on top. Well, I had the region kind of right; turns out my crystal balls need some fine-tuning.
It was Luke Brown from the endurance Mecca of Eketahuna who lifted the historic trophy in a showdown with one of the Tararua’s frequent fliers.
Brown and Varty set the early pace, quickly establishing that this was going to be a straight shootout. The last time these 2 raced, Brown finished 2m12s clear at the Jumbo Holdsworth Trail Race.
Somewhere along the wormhole of Marchant Ridge, Brown pulled away from Varty and ran into Alpha Hut (19km / 1300m-ish) with a substantial 8-minute lead.
Brown maintained his lead across the sloptastrophe that is the Dress Circle and into Kime Hut. 12km to go and 8 minutes back. It wasn’t Mission Impossible, but Varty would need to channel his inner Kilian on the descent to stand any chance of snaffling the title.
Varty clawed back close to 2 minutes on the rocky descent into Field Hut, keeping himself in the fight. But it was too little too late as Brown finished the job, running into Otaki Forks for the first time as the 2026 Tararua Mountain Race champion.
The final margin? 10 minutes. Varty also took 10 minutes off his PB and finished close to half an hour ahead of Paul Lenihan, who put together a killer back 9 as he jumped from 7th to 3rd in the back half of the race.
Here’s what Luke had to say about his TMR experience:
This was your first time racing TMR - What did you think of the course and what were the conditions like out there?
“Saturday was my first ever Tararua Mountain Race and my first time completing the Southern crossing. The course had abit of everything, the majority of the course to Kime hut was boggy and hard to run but it definitely made it interesting!”
“Having rolled my ankle a couple of times before Kime hut it made it hard for me to try and pump down the nice track back to Otaki Forks.”
What does it mean to you to win one of NZ’s most iconic mountain races?
“Super stoked to win the Southern crossing race and I'm looking forward to more.”
Brendan Varty, Luke Brown and Paul Lenihan. Is that another Mountain Skag T on the podium?
Thanks for that Luke. What an absolute beast. Running the Southern Crossing for the first time and coming away with the win.
Other notes:
Ehsan Lorestani set a new CR by 10 minutes in the Kime Climb at 2:51:46.
Maddy Watson won the Field Dash in her last race (for now) on Kiwi soil before heading back to Glasgow.
The 1990 founder, Brent Harrison made it to the finish line festival and was honoured at the prize giving. Here’s a picture of Brent and current RD Andy Carruthers. 2 absolute legends.
I ran the shorter Kime Climb as a last hit out for the quads leading into Ring of Fire in 2 weeks. I loved every minute of it, and would highly recommend it next year for anyone who wants to be involved in the event that can’t quite stomach the thought of dealing with all that mud on the crossing.
Now that the Otaki Forks road is open, the atmosphere at the finish line was awesome. War stories being traded in the sun over a sausage and plenty of people swimming in the river as everyone got their moment in the sun running over the swing bridge into the finish. A++ would trade again.
Full Results, including the Kime Climb, Field Dash & Teams results.
This Week’s Newsletter Is Brought To You By…
Only Fools & Horses - Saturday, 11 April 2026 Wedderburn, Maniototo, Otago
Sick of losing to humans? Why not get waaasted by two species instead of one?
Only Fools & Horses is back - the unhinged race where you line up against both humans and actual horses.
We’ve got plenty of horses. Now we just need the Fools.
If you: • Fancy trying to outrun a horse (there’s $1000 up for grabs) • Regularly sign up for things you regret • Get a little thrill at the idea of being trampled
A power vomit, an internal compass malfunction and some of the best trail runners in NZ couldn’t stop Frances Redmond aka Frog from continuing her ribbit rise to the top.
🥇The Routeburn, 🥇The WUU2K, 🥇Kepler and now the NZ Short Course champ at 3 Peaks +1. It’s been quite the busy last 18 months!
Frog took the early lead before making a leap for the wrong trail. Hannah Lund took the opportunity to launch herself down the descent and into the lead.
Before entering the Tunnel track, Redmond leap … frogged her way past Julia Chamberlain and into the lead. Odette Jennings, Hannah Lund and Laura Bungard were all still in the mix, with only a couple of minutes between them.
Julia Chamberlain giving it her all to come in 3rd at 3 Peaks Photo: Rocky Allan
Frog’s lead was out to 7 minutes by Bacon Knob Aid Station (27km). Now I don’t know how it played out behind her in this segment as there are a number of missing splits. All I know is by the time they had all gone through Swampy Summit, Frog still had a 6-minute lead, and Odette Jennings had moved into 2nd, with Lund in hot pursuit.
Now, if you’ve followed this race for a few years, you know nothing is decided until the final peak. Many comeback stories have come to life on the gently caressing slopes of Mt Cargill.
But not today Martha Farker! This was Frog’s day to shine in the Dunedin “sun”. She topped out on Mt Cargill with a comfy 8-minute lead and just 6km between her and a childhood dream coming true.
Jennings kept the pressure on, but it was too little, too late, with Frog wrapping her little green cold-blooded fingers around the 3 Peaks +1 NZ Short Course title by just over 7 minutes
Frog all smiles leaping into the finish Photo: Michael Sutton
Chamberlain had dropped to 4th through the middle section of the race, but she caught Lund on the way up Mt Cargill. It was all tied up at the top before Chamberlain unleashed a Mortal Kombat fatality worthy descent, running in to take Bronze almost 6 minutes clear of Lund.
I managed to get hold of Frog to hear all about her big day out:
What was your plan heading and how did your day play out?
“My plan heading into the race was literally non-existent. I wanted to feel really relaxed and my “A goal” was to enjoy being out of the trails. I needed a bit of a redemption run after the way I felt running Tarawera.”
“So the answer was to strip back to the basics and just be grateful to be out there. I was leading from the start until I tried to steer us off the course despite there being very obvious markers lol.”
“Hannah Lund then smoked me on the rocky downhill into the first aid station (amazing to watch btw). I retook the lead going into tunnel track and I just feel like I had a fantastic first half of the race.”
“My spirits were high and I felt on from the start. The second half of the race, my tummy started playing up and I couldn’t keep anything down. Did a big old vomit with 3 hours to go so I flicked into survival mode and just tried to control the controllable’s from there. Managed to hold on in a very competitive race pool!”
How does becoming the short-course national champ stack up with winning Kepler?
“Yeah NZ short course trail champ vs Kepler. They’re incomparable to be honest.”
“Kepler was a special life goal win. It was the first trail race I’d ever done 4 years ago and I never imagined myself winning that race. Like ever. It is such an iconic race and I have so much personal and social history with it that coming out on top that day was pretty magical.”
“Now being the short course trail champ, that feels fake. Haha. Because my goals were so far from winning, it came as such a surprise so I feel like a bit of imposter. It feels pretty cool to be able to claim that title and I spent a lot of the race thinking about little baby me, growing up in Ashburton and doing cross country because it was just fun and loving the challenge of pushing myself as far as I could.”
“I never podiumed on the big stage when I was little but always dreamed of it. I feel really proud of myself for winning a NZ title which seemed and still seems like an unattainable goal. That one was for little Frog.”
I’m not crying, you’re crying! Way to let it rip Frog.
Odette Jennings, Frog, Julia Chamberlain Photo: NK photography
3 Peaks + 1: 📏56KM | ⛰️2700M
Men’s podium:
🥇Logan Griffin - 5:23:22
🥈Joel Carman - 5:29:42
🥉Matt Adams - 5:37:32
Welcome Logan Griffin. You’ve officially arrived. Logan works for ON (the weird cloud shoe people) and is a born-again trail runner and founding member of the Whippets Running Project in Auckland(now based in Churchur) after seeing the error of his cycling ways during the 2020 “I’m bored at home” running boom.
Logan did a fantastic job telling me about how the race played out. I won’t tarnish it with my fluff, so I’ve pasted it below:
How did the race play out at the front?
“From the start Hywel actually took it out pretty quick and went solo early heading up Flagstaff with a group of 3-5 of us including the two Wellington Scottish lads Joel and Matthew forming a group behind. It came back together once we startted descending and we all took the long downhill pretty easy after that and a group of 5-6 of us entering the 1st aid station together.”
“The next 10k or so we pretty much stayed as a group before heading up theday’s second climb. I actually had to take a quick... nature break... at around 22k, and when I got back to the group Joel had pulled clear and gained about a minute lead as we worked up that 2nd climb. About two-thirds of the way up the though, I felt the rest of the group stalling, so I moved forward to follow.”
“I crossed the gap and caught Joel at about 35km and we ran together through what was some pretty horrific mud (not surprising when it’s called ‘Swampy Summit’). Nearing the top it became more runnable, and I made a push opening up a gap before the gravel road across the top. Once I was heading down towards Cargill, I felt more confident, having run this last section as part of 3 peaks 2 years ago.”
Joel Carman and Matt Adams chasing the Flying Logan Griffin
“The final test was a couple of low moments heading up Cargill but, as expected for my first time racing an Ultra. I was confident though that I was still extending the gap and once at the top it was all descent to the finish and I was still moving pretty well on the downhills. That’s pretty much how it stayed, Jole came in for 2nd and I’m not sure exactly how the battle for 3rd played out but from what I can see Matthew Adams must have pulled away from the others in the group after Swampy to secure 3rd.”
“It was an awesome day of racing, some good competition, and I’m pretty stoked to take out a national title at what is one of the best ‘little’ trail events in the country. The whole 3 peaks event is such a great balance of what feels like a grassroots, club-run community race, yet it has the proper course marking, aid stations and support out on course that you’d see at something much bigger and commercial. I’ll be back for sure.”
Logan Griffin coming down the finishing chute to take the biggest win of his running career.
What does it mean to you to become the NZ short course trail champion and is heading to South Africa for the worlds champs on your radar?
“Looking forward, I’m very keen to put my hat in the ring for worlds in South Africa, I believe the exact qualification criteria are still TBC but this was the first event in the window so couldn’t have really asked for better start.”
“Finally, just like to get in a quick couple shoutouts if I can.”
“First, to Andy Good who has been coaching me for coming up on a year now and has got me to a level a consistency and quality in my training I honestly didn’t think was possible, after 3-4 years of some real ups and downs with some good moments in there but equally some real dark spots with injuries and other setbacks. Both my physical and mental health have a lot to thank him for.”
“Also last but certainly not least, thank you to my fiancee Liv who was out there yesterday in the dark, then up some random hill, just to hand me some gels and who is also my #1 supporter when at home.”
Thanks for that Logan. You must be on Cloud 9. Hopefully you stay healthy so you can start aCumulusing more titles. If you’re Cirrus about going to South Africa, it would be hard for Afflettuce NZ to turn around and deny someone who’s won the National Champs.
It does seem a bit odd that we’re now in a new qualifying cycle for the World Champs but we don’t know what the selection process is until September. I’ve probably missed the memo that says nothing counts until 12 months out.
But if we’re going to continue being essentially fully athlete “funded”, aka pay for your own flights and uniforms you chumps, surely anyone serious about making the team needs more than 12 months to line up their training, life and funding for the trip.
In fact, if the majority of the cost is borne by the athlete, we should be gunning for as many spots as we’re allowed to expose more of our athletes to international competition. Apologies, I’ll try to keep my shower thoughts out of the newsletter next week😂.
Kea Series Three Peaks: 📏26KM | ⛰️1350M
Now I’ve been caught a bit short this week, so I’ve pasted in Michael Sutton’s fantastic wrap-up of the 3 Peaks Race, which was also the latest round of the Kea Mountain & Trail Series.
Women’s podium:
🥇Katie Morgan - 2:29:13
🥈Stephanie Wilson - 2:41:31
🥉Juliet Downs - 2:44:58
Katie Morgan of the Merrell Performance Team was the clear winner in the women's event by over 12 minutes. Her running was smooth and comfortable throughout, and she came off the climbs back into running with ease, using her experience from winning the 3 Peaks Plus One 56k in 2023 and 2025 to full effect.
Morgan said, "It was awesome, I really enjoyed doing the 26k instead of the 56k, today was the best conditions I've had running out there," and that there were both pros and cons to taking on the shorter distance.
Stephanie Wilson of Leith and Juliet Downs of Scotland had a good battle for 2nd and 3rd and were side by side through the Flagstaff descent. There were also some exciting battles further down in the women's top 10 with 4th through to 6th coming across the line in a rapid flurry, separated by just 14 seconds over 2 hours and 46 minutes of racing.
Men’s podium:
🥇Timothy Jorgensen - 2:05:58
🥈Simon Cromarty -2:08:27
🥉Jake Owen - 2:12:18
The most competitive racing of the day came in the back-and-forth battle between Tim Jorgensen of Christchurch and Simon Cromarty of Dunedin, with Cromarty smashing the early climbs, and Jorgensen using his marathon strength and aggressive downhill running to gain ground on the flats and descents.
Jorgensen made his first big move coming off the top of Flagstaff to push Cromarty before pulling back and then made the final move to victory coming off Mt Cargill. Jorgensen said: “I was definitely feeling it on the climbs, but I was pretty confident I’d get Simon on the downhills.”
In third, Jake Owen produced what was to be the standout run of the day, improving his time from 2025 by over 12 minutes, and said his only regret was losing time on the difficult and treacherous mud chute.
Cameron Livingstone finished an admirable 4th on the back of a tough back-to-back having faced the 15km 800m up & down course of the Motatapu Miners’ Trail last Saturday
Thanks for that Michael!
Overall, another great year of racing at 3 Peaks Dunedin hosted by Leith Harriers. Also a big shout out to Lydia Pattillo, who stepped up to fill the average-sized sandal-shaped void left by Steve Tripp, taking on the Race Director role this year.
Click here for the Full Results, including the 11km race.
Things You May Have Missed
I’ve Missed Everything This Week😂
This probably means next week’s section will be jam-packed. Email me at trailrunningnz@gmail.com with all the things that happened that I’ve missed.
WTF IS THAT?!?! WUU2K Give Away
Alright folks, if you’re reading this for the first time, feel free to skip ahead. You’ve only missed a chance to win 1 of 3 free entries to Wellington’s biggest trail party of the year, the WooOOoO2K.
A quick reminder of the last 2 weeks’ clues:
Week 1 & Week 2 Photo's
No one got close week 1 (surprise!)
Week 2 had some entertaining answers (a pigs aresehole ?!??!) and plenty of people got it right but there can be only 3 winners.
Congratulations too:
🥳Cullum Mangin
🥳Cain Soole
🥳Neil Wilson
Shout-out to Caitlin Knox, who was actually the first to get it right but couldn’t make the event, so she gave up her spot.
Click Here for more info on The WUU2K, cause like, you should probably just come run it anyway.
Want to join the cult so you can participate in the next paid subscriber giveaway?
Push the slightly shiny green button below.
Mountain Skag February Winner
Congratulations Martin Grethe. You supplied the best hit in February as voted by you the reader. He’s taking home the $70 Mountain Skag Gift Voucher.
Upcoming Events:
Northburn, Cromwell
Saturday, March 22
Northburn 100. It strikes fear into every trail runner’s heart.
Some are brave enough to enter.
Some are dumb enough to enter.
And no one really knows which category they’re in.
It’s known as NZ’s toughest 100-mile race.
Some will tell you that title now belongs to The Spectacle.
But you should always respect your elders. So as far as I’m concerned, Northburn is still the benchmark.
Here are the main 3 races on offer:
📏50KM🥵 | ⛰️2600M
📏100KM🥵🥵| ⛰️⛰️6350M
📏161KM🥵🥵🥵 | ⛰️⛰️⛰️10,000M
Check out the elevation profile of just the 50km 🤢. It looks more like my Strava training log than an elevation profile.
I’ll be following this year with extra interest as Wellington Big Sunday Run are sending a regiment of battle-hardened soldiers into the field, led by their fearless leader Chris Martin, who is definitely not a little bit scared and definitely not backing out to watch mountaineering movies on the couch.
Now, I’ve had a quick look through the starters list (here ya go) and there are a couple of interesting matchups of note.
In the 100K, Emma Timmis (if her ankle has been reattached after OGU) is coming up against Hannah Presswood.
There’s 85 in the 100 Mile field (most popular race) with a host of young guns entering the fray to try and peel the title out of Mark Dugan’s fingers. Can Matthew Gummer translate his 100km success into the miler?
Megan Eckert has also entered the chat. Thanks to DJ Rocky Allan for the hot tip. If you’re not familiar, she is the #2 ranked female backyard ultra runner in the world and also set a new women’s 6 day world record covering 603.155 miles last year.
Glenn Sutton, Jean Beaumont and Andrew McDowall are all on the list, primed to run Northburn for the zillionth time.
I got hold of Andrew to grab a bit of advice for some of the newbies who think they’re going to stroll on in and smash Northburn out of the park.
If you could give one piece of advice to someone running the Northburn 100 miles for the first time what would it be?
“One piece of advice is 'don't even think about racing it - unless you are Kilian or Coutney this course will smash you to pieces. I set my fastest time here when I put my watch in my pack for the entire second loop. Just running by feel alone.”
*NB: The exception is if you're feeling good on the third loop downhill after TW then yeah, go hard as full send.
Let’s see if Andrew can take his own advice and all the best to everyone running this infamous event for the first time! Let me know if the Terry Davis breifing is as good as advertised.
The Hootin Tootin Hunua Hillbilly is also on this weekend. Home to Auckland’s most hardcore race and ho down.
Races On Offer:
📏60KM | ⛰️3270M 📏42KM | ⛰️1890M 📏22KM | ⛰️880M
The main event is the 60km Ultra, a full circumnavigation of the Hunua Ranges, taking in every piece of technical singletrack and mud in the area.
The Hillbilly is known to be one of the hardest, pound-for-pound Ultras in the country. If you’re heading out to the event next weekend and want to tell us about your experience, by all means get in touch!
Check out the Website for more details, and follow on Facebook.
#Mountain Skag Pic Of The Week
This week’s pic was sent in by Bex Chapman from the Kime Climb at the Tararua Mountain Race. It wasn’t just the photo that grabbed me this week. It was the story behind it. I also ran Kime Climb, so I was immediately intrigued.
I dug a bit deeper and found her post about the race.
“Feeling like a winner cause the only person I was racing to beat is the person I used to be.
4hours 56minutes including the mandatory photos and stopping to remove layers
The hardest run I’ve ever done… an epic experience”
What I also discovered was that Bex is a recovering drug addict who has turned her life around, with a newfound passion for running. She’s a solo mum of 2 girls and a 4th-year building apprentice. Inspirational. I’ll pack away the “I don’t have time” excuse for another few weeks at least.
Every entry has a chance to win the monthly giveaway of a $70 MS voucher - check out www.mountainskag.com to see what you could be walking away with.
Tag @trailrunning.nz(NOTE THE “.”) and use #mountainskag. DM on Instagram or email trailrunningnz@gmail.com to enter (email is the most reliable).
We will be back next week with the latest from the Hunua Hillbilly and the Northburn results, hopefully … they can sometimes be a bit of a jumbled mess.
Picking up what I’m putting down? Send it to a mate who you know will be into it too!
PS: The weekend of the 28th I’m going to be travelling to and from and competing in the Ring of Fire. If you’re keen to write up / report on the Riverhead Relaps, please get in touch as the Paparoa Ultra is also on, and my brain is already going to be spread fairly thin.
Awesome report on the Tararua Mountain Race, love your work 👏
Appreciate your shower thoughts on Athlettuce NZ