Welcome to Trail Running NZ. “Insert your own witty intro I aint got nadda this week”
Here's what’s in the drop bag this week:
🏃♀️🏃Cougar Trail Results
⛰️VERTual July Update
👆Things You May Have Missed
⛰️WTF is Skyrunning?
⛰️💊Mountain Skag of The Week & Vote For June
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.
I... I'm not sure how this is going to turn out. My brain is being ravaged from within by the VERTual July virus. It started as a way to get myself off the couch and get a few others involved while we've got fewer events over winter.
What's transpired is that over 260 disciples of Vert have stepped up on July 1st to take on the challenge. It's only Day 6 as I write this and... I'm already farked. I can't stop checking the leaderboard to see who's safe, and the laundry is getting an absolute reaming.
More on that later... Let’s slip our way into the Results Desk, proudly brought to you by those cool cats at Kinisi Running.
Okay... when I first saw the banner below, I thought it was for some new NZ true crime podcast.
Maybe my view of Tokoroa is a bit jaded from growing up in Rotorua, but I thought it looked more like a hunt for a body than a hunt for 1st place.
We used to get a lot of sh💩t for the way the place smelled, so naturally we had to find someone else to sh💩t on to make ourselves feel better. That place was Tokoroa. Known for growing lots of pine trees and not much else😝.
So I was caught a little off guard to discover Tokoroa's best-kept secret was the Cougar Trail Run.
I thought it'd at least be some kind of crazy conspiracy where all the pine trees were a cover for a multi-billion-dollar weed-growing operation in the middle of the forest, with the paper mills actually processing plants for the Mongrel Mob, while the local council and police rubber-stamped the whole thing for a cut.
Anyway, I digress. The event started in 2020 before the world went bonkers, made a comeback in 2023, then got shoved back into the top of the Totalsport cupboard behind T42.
However, it made a triumphant return over the weekend. Let's see who landed a cougar at the event... and who ended up stalking around Scotty's Sports Bar instead🤔.
🥇Cameron Jacoben - 1:24:11
🥈Gary Carleton -1:27:12
🥉Sam Shergoldbronze - 1:35:09
Now I don't know anything about Cameron Jacoben, but he must have a solid chassis and a good set of wheels because Gary Carleton knows how to throw down with the best of them.
Gary's run 8:30 at Tarawera 100K and won the 2025 Faultline 50K, among plenty of other results. So well done Cameron, for getting one over Gazza.
🥇Nikki Everton - 1:41:53
🥈Simone Aldridge-Pokia - 1:48:57
🥉Anna Dean - 1:50:47
Nikki Everton will do anything for a bit of well-groomed central North Island mountain bike trail. It might not be her beloved Kinloch trails, but it was good enough to tempt her across from the mighty Hawke’s Bay to snaffle another trophy.
There was a bit of daylight back to 2nd, but it looks like Simone Aldridge-Pokia and Anna Dean had a good old tussle for the final two spots on the podium.
I got hold of Nikki to hear her impressions of the course and event:
“It was an awesome event! Trails were very Kinloch-esque - undulating, super runnable, basically like footpaths in the forest (my kind of “trails”). The irony of an old chick like myself taking out the Cougar title isn’t lost on me either! Always a well run event by the Total Sport crew - def one to put on the event calendar for next year.”
Thanks for that Nikki - I definitely wasn’t going to point that out.
Mid Course 14KM:
🥇Hariet Waffenschmidt - 1:11:01
🥈Sarah Fryett - 1:12:16
🥉Jessica Jackson - 1:15:47
🥇Matt Withey - 1:06:31
🥈Grant Mclaren - 1:02:50
🥉Flynn Ter Beek - 1:09:14
🥇Jacob Carleton - 28:46
🥈Steve Wenzlicke - 29:30
🥉Martin Carroll - 31:35
🥇Charlotte Edgar - 35:09
🥈Louise Wenzlick - 38:09
🥉Abigail Gardner - 38:31
This looked like a successful return for The Cougar with 597 runners, plus another 142 walkers. I'm sure Total Sport would be pretty happy with that. I think it attracted somewhere in the mid-300s back in 2023.
Considering pretty much everyone has to travel to some degree, things are looking healthy for the cougar breeding grounds.
Come join the fun on Saturday July 18th
Entries are still open for the 21, 45, and 65k.
Banged up at the moment? No worries. Bank some trail karma instead by volunteering and lying to runners out on course.
“You’re just 2 minutes behind” and “you’re almost there” are my go-to lines.
As I mentioned in the intro... I've been totally consumed by VERTual July. I have no idea how visible this is to those not competing because it's become the cornerstone of all my algorithms. Strava. Instagram. OnlyFans. It's all VERTual July.
At the time of writing, it's the end of Day 6, which means we're up to 600m. Barely getting started in the scheme of things, but it already feels like a lifetime😮.
We kicked off on Wednesday with 260-odd people. You might scoff at starting with just 100m of vert, but what's blown me away is how many people have never done anything like this, got involved, knocked out two or three days, and absolutely loved it.
There's something about having a common goal that's just good for the spirit. It's been a barrel of laughs with plenty of Strava fails (mainly on my behalf), some trying weather, and plenty of people starting to realise just how much bigger the task becomes if you're going to complete all 31 days🤯.
I keep bumbling between:
“Yeah, someone can definitely do this.”
and...
“Not a chance in hell.”
The second one usually hits halfway through my “run”.
There are definitely athletes in the mix with the capability. Whether they can combine that with motivation, logistics, and life admin remains to be seen. I still reckon it'll be a semi-retired 60-year-old living on a lifestyle block with a good old 200m grass hill out the back who wins it.
Is it too late to join?
Yes.
But it’s not too late to watch.
If you're reading this on Tuesday morning, there are currently 137 runners looking to knock off 700m of vert and hit the first milestone of the competition.
That earns them some That's It Anti-Chafe, 10% off at Kinisi and Huntaway Run Co, a $70 Merrell NZ voucher plus a free entry into Crush The Cargill 24 hour Challenge. Not bad for a free competition (and that’s just for week 1).
Then the games really begin. In the first 3 days of Week 2, you do more vert than you did in the previous 7. Let that sink in😝.
It's a bit like a backyard ultra. It's never the individual run or lap that gets you, it's the compounding effect. When you're one rep into a set of stair repeats and you know you've got to be back tomorrow for even more, it'll eat the best minds from the inside out.
I feel like I should finish with something motivational.
“Someone on the leaderboard has the capability to get this done. All the stars will need to align, but they will need to be brave enough to put there head up out of mediocrity. Take a look up at the sky tonight and see how your stars are looking
… or if that doesn’t work for you “Don’t be shit” as Ali Wilson would say.
Watch the leaderboard here, it updates every 30 minutes with who’s safe.
This time tomorrow, we'll know who's here to win it... and who was just here for some balls and/or flaps anti-chafe cream from Thats it.
Does anyone actually know? If you asked 100 people I’m sure you’d get 200 different answers.
“Isn’t it just another name for mountain running?”
“Isn’t it trail running with more rocks”
“Isn’t it just trail running with whips and chains and shit?”
Whatever your definition, this September us Kiwis will have exactly two athletes lining up at the Skyrunning World Championships on the Spanish island of La Gomera.
Brooke Cox and Matthew Gummer.
No manager. No physio. No team bus.
Just a couple from Lake Hāwea representing New Zealand at one of the most technical mountain races in the world.
They met four years ago while working for DOC in Te Anau, running up Luxmore after work. These days they call a tiny house in Lake Hāwea home and, in a couple of months’ time, they’ll be pulling on the silver fern.
Their race is 64km with around 4,000m of climbing and descending through steep volcanic terrain. It’s not the longest race either have done, but it’d have to be the most awesomeness looking.
So before they scoot off to Italy to train in the Aosta Valley, then onto La Gomera for the World Championships, I figured we’d find out a bit more about New Zealand’s entire Skyrunning team.
B+M: “Right now we are revving the engine pretty hard as we have shifted our training philosophy for this race. We are starting with a block of VO2 max and strength work.”
“Typically this is 3 x intensity sessions each a day apart, 3 x strength work, then a couple of real easy runs and a long run in the mountains. As we get closer to the race we will be increasing the volume, vertical and lowering the intensity of sessions.”
“A peak week will be in the Aosta Valley in Italy 2 weeks out from the World Champs. Around 170km and 15,000m vertical gain and descent on the famous route of the Tor Des Geants!”
M - “I love running Ben Lomond in Queenstown. It’s got everything and reminds me of running from Chamonix or Courmayer straight from town up to a magical view with a quad smashing descent before a plunge into the lake!”
B – “Mt. Iron laps. Repetition soothes the brain. I know every pebble.”
M - “I have had a few coaches down the years but now rely on my knowledge and experience of working in sport and exercise in my career.”
B – “Matt coaches me and I add my two cents.”
M - “Living in Mount Cook previously and now Wānaka this is not difficult as we are surrounded by amazing routes! It’s a little harder in winter with the snow conditions to factor in a carrying more gear, and of course we do not have the altitude here to contend with.”
“Another factor in NZ is the remoteness of some of the terrain. In Europe there is often a bigger safety buffer with chairlifts and rifugio’s dotted around the Alps. Here sometimes a helicopter is the only means of rescue, so more safety margin is required.”
M - “Be more curious about how to get up and down your local peak. Don’t just take the same route you always take. Is there another more interesting route? How about off-track while being sensitive to the landscape? Perhaps leave the watch and forget the numbers and go explore a ridge or face without worrying about pace, time or distance and discover the joy of flying off a summit via a line you created!”
B – “I think it’s looking at a potential line that scares you and having a crack. I take terrible lines sometimes, who cares. In Mt Cook we stared at a Wakefield scree slope every day and it felt so good to finally surf down it. Every path is the right path.”
M - “La Gomera is one of Spain’s Canary Islands, located off the northwest coast of Africa. It’s best known for its dramatic volcanic landscapes, deep ravines, ancient laurel forests and steep mountain terrain, which make it a world-renowned destination for trail running and skyrunning.”
“It’s also famous for Garajonay National Park and the traditional whistling language known as “Silbo Gomero.” For mountain runners, La Gomera is known as a place where there are very few flat sections—you are almost always climbing or descending!”
B + M - “Absolutely. Looking at course profiles is part of the excitement. The course has some serious climbing and descending packed into it, which is exactly what you’d expect from a Skyrunning World Championship.”
“While the distances aren’t extreme by ultra-running standards, the terrain and vertical gain mean it will be a very demanding race. It’s the kind of course where pacing, technical ability and smart decision-making are just as important as fitness.”
M - “Lining up on the start line wearing the silver fern about to go on a massive adventure in a new and spectacular landscape!”
B – “Ditto. Open-hearted to the journey.”
B + M - “We fly over 3 weeks before and have two weeks training in the Italian Alps in the Aosta Valley before a taper week and then the big dance!”
M - “The biggest unknown is how the race dynamics will unfold at a World Championship level. We have both raced strong fields before, but this will be another step up, with athletes from dozens of countries all competing for national teams. The terrain is also unfamiliar compared to what we typically race on in New Zealand.”
“While we’ve done everything we can to prepare physically, part of the challenge—and part of the appeal—is embracing those unknowns and adapting as the race unfolds. That’s often where the most memorable experiences come from.”
B – “For me, it’s how eating and drinking go in the heat. I’ve struggled to keep things down in the last couple of hot races I’ve done so tbc.”
As they mentioned, this is a self-funded trip, and last time I checked, flights to a tiny island off Spain were right up there with running the Tarawera Miler on the 2026 Runflation Index.
Brooke and Matt have put together some mantra bracelets to help fund the trip. You can grab one... or, if bracelets aren’t your thing, you’re also welcome to throw some cash monies their way.
Check out the bracelets here or donate
So I thought I’d help out too.
This month 10 x lucky subscribers can win a mantra bracelet.
All you need to do is email me or comment below with your idea for a mantra bracelet. It can be meaningful or for the lols. I’ll draw out 10 names in 2 weeks’ time.
My 2 picks would be “Dont be shit” and “Run hike survive”
It’s time to decide who’s walking away with the Mountain Skag trophy for June.
Here are your contenders:
Vote for your favourite below! One of them will be stumbling away with a $70 Mountain Skag Voucher. I’ve removed the names so it isn’t a popularity contest.
This weeks hit is from Joshua Lloyd AKA The Average Ginger Runner.
The thing is, there is nothing average about Josh. He’s a killer on the flat, and in the hills and he knows how to plan a mission.
Check out this snap from his Matariki mission in the Kawekas. Yes its smeary and not the most HD photo of all time, but man you can just feel the skag oozing out of it. That is living!
Read next week to get the full run down on the Mission Desk!
He’s now in the running for the monthly $70 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).
Picking up what I’m putting down? Send it to a mate who you know will be into it too!
Or leave a tip
PS: Hearty As the latest T from Mountain Skag is out now - limited stock available.
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