Welcome to Trail Running NZ. The creator of VERTual July. Possibly one of the dumbest challenges ever conceived, but everyone is too stubborn to stop and say so😆.
Here's what’s in the drop bag this week:
🏃🏃♀️The WUU2K Results
🎖️Triple WUU2K With Olivia Lawrence
☠️VERTual July
⛰️Mt Marathon With Jackson Cole
😎Upcoming Events: The Northland 100
⛰️💊Mountain Skag of 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.
WooOOOOooOOOOOoo what a weekend🥳.
Another year of the WUU2K in the books.
VERTual July has taken over its own very small corner of the internet.
I’m running on a mix of adrenaline and FOMO.
Let’s not muck around this week. We’re diving headfirst into the Results Desk, brought to you by those cool cats at Kinisi.
Is there anything more suspicious than a perfect weather forecast for race day?
DING! DING! DING!
A perfect weather forecast for race day in WELLINGTON.
I was waiting for a southerly to rip through and make a mockery of the forecast…
But it didn’t happen.
The weather gods be pleased with Gareth and the WUU2K this year.
A cool start, clear skies and just a gentle zephyr stiffening nipples and shrinking appendages across the Wellington Skyline.
Perfect conditions. No excuses.
Put up or shut up.
Let’s see what the runners did with this gift from the gods.
🥇Hannah McRae - 6:59:53
🥈Naomi Brand - 7:01:31
🥉Rachel O’Brien - 7:26:21
My research department was caught napping last week, completely missing that defending champ Naomi Brand was in town and ready to rumble.
In a replay of last year, Brand took the early lead up the Kaukau stairs and was first over the summit, disappearing into the darkness along the Skyline Trail.
Hannah McRaeCrae from Straya🦘 bounded over just 35 seconds back, with Rachel O’Brien in 3rd.
Brand continued to stretch her lead, and things were looking business as usual.
First over Kaukau. First over the finish line.
That was the winning formula last year, and Brand looked to be following the same script. By the time McRaeCrae reached Mākara at 24 km, the lead was already over 6 minutes. At halfway, it had blown out to double figures.
This thing was looking over.
But if there’s one thing Aussies know how to do, it’s dig deep.
Dig deep and keep going to the bitter bloody end.
I’ve had my heart broken by the Black Caps playing Straya for 30 years. I know better than to count an Aussie out.
That’s when things began to get interesting.
By the base of the infamous Tip Track, Brand’s lead had been dragged back to just over 6 minutes.
There was no real change by the top, but I get the feeling that when McRaeCrae saw Brand coming back down, she tasted blood in the water.
She packed the poles away and, in my completely accurate reconstruction of events, let out a vicious war cry across Happy Valley:
“Struth! Stone the flaming crows, it’s time to put another shrimp on the barbie and give it some extra thong.”
The hunt was on.
By Tawatawa Aid Station, the gap had dropped to just 3 minutes, the closest it had been since the opening stages of the race.
Over the prick that is Mt Albert, and she had Brand in the crosshairs.
They may have passed the Zoo, but the pair of them went ape sh💩t.
Back and forth through the streets of Mt Vic they went before McRaeCrae made the final breakaway, steaming into the Velodrome to complete what might be the biggest comeback victory in WUU2K history.
The final margin was 1m38s, but it would have felt much closer for Naomi. As she entered her final lap of the Velodrome, Hannah was about to cross the line.
A battle for the ages.
Both should be immensely proud. Both are on their way to UTMB.
Watch this space.
Rachel O’Brien took Bronze in a cracking time of 7:26:21 after finding herself in the sausage zone early.
Too far back to get involved with the front pair, but comfortably clear of Amber Silich in 4th.
Hannah was kind enough to fill us in on her battle with Naomi:
“I had a plan to start winding up after the windmill (pun intended) but about the Tip Track section onwards was where the real racing began - I felt good along the beach to Red Rocks but I’d been hanging out for the Tip track section all day haha - brought my poles along ready for a good hike and then a smash downhill (and then find out how much you have to pay for said downhill over the last 10km 😂).”
“From there I started hearing some split times getting shorter, but the distance I had left to close it was also getting much shorter - I just told myself to keep pushing and give myself the chance to try!”
“I only just caught her up on the road section after the zoo - Naomi is one fierce competitor so there was a definite sprint effort push from us both once I pulled alongside, we spent a good few 100 meters neck and neck (me also trying to not fall down the stairs!) and those last few kms felt more like a parkrun finish than a 65km! It certainly made for an exciting race and I definitely didn’t know I had it won until the hairpin turn back into the velodrome with ~300m to go.”
Thanks for your time Hannah. All the best for the rest of your final push towards UTMB.
🥇Chester Holt-Quick - 5:43:24
🥈David Haunschmidt - 5:56:15
🥉Owen Perry - 6:04:34
Chester “Holy-Quick, Batman!” versus The Flying Doctor.
Both on their hometown trails.
Both flying the flag for Wellington Scottish.
Chester looking to make a statement that there’s a new big dog in town.
The Doc wanting everyone to know he’s back in the country, and no race is safe.
Haunschmidt flew up the stairs in his typical style. He races best as a front-runner, and today was no exception.
Up and over Kaukau, then out into the cool dawn air along the Wellington Skyline.
But that’s where things got interesting for Chester and unpleasant for The Doc.
Haunschmidt found himself pulled over on the trail, calling the Mākara pharmacy for an emergency prescription of anti-WTFISMYSTOMACHUP2 medication.
Holy-Quick didn’t need a 2nd invitation.
In what felt like a much bigger moment than a simple pass, he pulled ahead and disappeared from sight, running through Mākara Aid Station with a 5-minute buffer.
I don’t know whether Holy-Quick was landing the heavier blows or Haunschmidt was starting to wobble, but by halfway at the Turbine, the lead had blown out to 12 minutes.
What had looked like a heavyweight match for the ages was starting to become a rout.
But as we saw in the women’s race, this thing ain’t over until your feet are up and there’s something cold in your hand.
The Batmobile has suffered a couple of mechanical issues in the second half of races over the past 18 months. With the Tip Track still to go, anything could happen.
But not today.
Holy-Quick kept the Batmobile pointed towards the finish, but behind the wheel, things were beginning to splutter.
Still, after seeing the size of his lead while heading back down Tippy, all eyes turned to Sam Rout’s 2024 course record.
The Northland Express can breathe a sigh of relief. His record is safe for another year.
With the pain building and no one on his heels to push the pace, Chester rolled into the Velodrome and crossed the line in 5:43:24, just under 5 minutes outside the course record.
Haunschmidt found some life again coming down the Tip Track.
Strange what the smell of sh💩tty nappies can do.
He continued gaining ground through the streets of Mt Vic, chopping the final margin to just under 13 minutes.
But make no mistake, this was a statement victory for Chester.
Owen Perry took Bronze after a great battle with Josh Garrett through the first half of the race.
He then briefly moved into 2nd late in the piece before Haunschmidt found another gear, leaving Perry to lock away the final spot on the podium.
Here’s Chester with the low down from the front:
“I felt chipper for the first half of the race, legs were fresh and energy good through about 40km, was running well. From ~ 3.5h creeping nausea caught up with me and so I couldn’t get enough fuel in, so the last 2h were a gradual fade.”
“Bottom of tip track is about 55km so I was well into survival mode by then. Average pace was just under CR but I suspected my rate of fade was going to rule that out. So I was relieved to see I had a safe margin on David at that point, I think he had a worse time of it re GI issues that I did on the day.”
“This is right up there. Any time you can get a win over David is a cause for celebration as he’s such a good runner. This race helps to consolidate my confidence to committing to a good pace and believing, and also troubleshooting issues like nausea as they arise, trying to be skilful and patient about it rather than throwing out the baby etc. So yeah, pretty stoked.”
“The race, other participants and general trail community are super special its always a buzz throw down for the WUU2K (and the WAI2K!).”
Thanks for that Chester. Looking forward to whats next on the hit list.
🥇Joel Carman - 3:41:51
🥈Thomas Barnes - 3:49:12
🥉Ryan Tait - 4:01:30
No Cap Barnsey was back in Wellywood, lining up for his favourite WUU2K 45K.
Everyone was asking the same question before the race: would he break his own course record, or would someone else steal the show?
Well…
One thing was for sure. He wasn’t going to die wondering.
Barnsey was first over the summit, with Joel “Carman Carmeleon” in tow, 24 seconds back and seemingly content to watch Barensy do his thing.
By Mākara Aid Station, the gap was out to 2m34s. Not out of hand, but Carman couldn’t let it stretch much further.
That was as far as the lead would stretch.
Then Carman Carmeleon flicked out the long tongue, latched onto Barnsey and began dragging him back along the winding trails towards the top of Tippy.
Carman attacked the gap on the downhill towards Happy Valley, and by Tawatawa, the lead had been slashed to just 44 seconds.
With a little over 10 km remaining through the bumpy, lumpy back streets of Wellington, it was GAME ON.
Or was it?
It quickly became clear that Barnsey had fired his shot and was out of ammo.
Carman Carmeleon changed his colour from Silver to Gold, running away over the final 10 km to win by more than 7 minutes.
Barnsey was left wondering whether he should have packed the Backwards Cap after all.
He still held on to 2nd, comfortably ahead of Ryan Tait in 3rd, whose journey back to fitness after injury continues to impress.
Here’s what Joel had to say about his battle with Tom:
“The battle with Barnsey was great fun. He went out hard up Mt Kaukau so I decided to let him go and played the patient game. I saw him disappearing along skyline and heard it was about a 2-3 minute gap at the first aid station.”
“By Mākara carpark the gap was roughly the same then I managed to make up some time on the next section to turbine. At that point I was 1:20 behind and that’s when I started to believe. I was feeling pretty good at this stage in the race so I put in a shift along Barking Emu and finally laid eyes on him where the trail opens up just before the start of Tip Track.”
“My thoughts were I wonder if he can see me and I hope he doesn’t drop me on tip track descent. I held it together for the descent then made the overtake on the way up Tawatawa, from there it got pretty tough but I locked in and didn’t look behind.”
“Cheers to the WUU2K team and all the volunteers for putting on such a quality event. Means a lot to win at this epic local trail running event.”
“I’ve put in a big training block over the past few months targeting this race so it was super satisfying to have it pay off with the win. Shout out to coach Ryan at Innate running for cooking up the training plan!”
Awesome Joel! Nice to see a bit of patience paying off!
🥇Issy Coombes- 4:32:00
🥈Ali Campbell - 4:44:32
🥉Chrissi Faber - 4:50:05
Issy Coombes swapped Hyrox for high socks, taking the win in the longest run of her life just 2 weeks after pushing sleds around and throwing balls at walls.
But she didn’t have it all her own way.
Ali Campbell, the current Faultline 50K champ, set the early pace, with Coombes waving goodbye as Campbell descended off the summit of Kaukau and onto the Skyline Trail.
Ali had 2m17s in hand at Mākara Aid Station, but the Hyrox engine was beginning to fire.
Coombes got into the grind and started dragging Campbell back.
The pair were back running stride for stride by the time they reached the Turbine and stayed together through to the bottom of the Tip Track.
Then Coombes shifted up a gear.
She powered through the final 10 km to take the win by 12m32s.
Campbell held on to take Silver.
Behind her, Fast-Finishing Faber pulled away from Libby Sexton over the final 10 km to lock away Bronze in 4:50:05.
Here’s Issy with the lowdown from the front of the race:
“It was an amazing day to be out on the trails in Wellington for my first WUU2K. I tried to stay conservative over the first 25km to make sure I had enough left for the final climbs.”
“I caught Ali just before the wind turbine, and we shared a few chats as we made our way down toward the bottom of Tip Track. My body was still feeling good at that point, so I was able to push on strongly to the finish and was stoked to take the win!”
🥇Michelle Law - 2:24:29
🥈Rachael Hearne - 2:29:09
🥉Ruby Leverington - 2:30:43
Michelle “Out” Law took no prisoners as she galloped down the coast and into the hills.
Rachael Hearne was in hot pursuit, looking to show she can run the short stuff too after taking Silver in the Faultline 100K earlier this year.
Law still had a tight rein on the race at its only aid station.
She went through the checkpoint just over a minute ahead. Not home and hosed by anyone’s definition, but still firmly in the saddle.
Hearne chased hard, but to no avail.
Law crossed the line in 2:24:29, finishing 4m40s ahead of Hearne.
Ruby Leverington produced an impressive second half, chopping a gap of nearly 4 minutes down to just 1m34s to take Bronze.
🥇Marcos Valero Palacios - 1:50:25
🥈Hayden Smith - 1:56:29
🥉Ehsan Lorestani - 1:57:46
Marcos Valero Palacios took off at the start like the Football World Cup final had already kicked off and he’d just realised it was on.
Or maybe he was trying to shock his legs back to life.
It was Day 18 of VERTual July, after all, and over the previous 17 days he had already stacked 15,300 m of vert.
Whatever the reason, he tore down the coast and into the playground that is Te Kopahou Reserve.
Hayden Smith was in tow, with last year’s Silver snagger Ehsan Lorestani also pushing hard.
If either of them was going to move past Marcos, it needed to happen on the steep ups and downs through the first half.
That was where they could really test the state of his quads after 17 straight days of VERTual July.
But the challenge never came.
Marcos showed them a clean pair of heels through Tawatawa and kicked on to take the victory by 6m04s.
His prize?
Well, it was Day 18 of VERTual July, so he had to head straight back out and start running reps of Mt Vic.
He still had another 800 m to find!
The race for Silver was the tightest of the day.
Smith narrowly led Lorestani through Tawatawa by just 15 seconds.
He managed to turn the screws enough over the closing kilometres to eke out a small gap and take Silver by 1m17s.
Here’s what Marcos had to say about his VERTastic day:
“Surprisingly, my legs were feeling “okay”! It was my first WUU2K, so I was super excited.”
“The field was super strong but I was so happy that the first 4–5 km were flat, so I decided to take the lead right from the start. If anyone wanted to pass me, it would probably be on the hills or down the Tip Track. Luckily for me, I was able to maintain a good gap all the race!”
Thanks Marcos! Great commitment to VERTual July! Winning at the WUU2K and Spain winning the world cup, I’m not sure if you’ll be seen at work this week or not!
THIS WEEK’S NEWSLETTER IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY...
Last week, Olivia “Vert Queen” Lawrence was preparing to run all 3 WUU2K courses back to back, raising money for the Cancer Society in memory of her dad.
The 21 km. The 45 km in reverse through Friday night. Then straight onto the 65 km start line alongside a field of runners who hadn’t already been moving for 9 hours.
Roughly 130 km and 5,400 m of vert.
And guess what? She bloody did it.
Olivia completed the Triple WUU2K in 18 hours and 10 minutes, raising more than $5,000 for a cause that’s far too close to home for so many of us.
Here’s how the night and day unfolded:
“My final time was 18.10. I planned to do the first two race routes in 9 hours and was just under that. I had a decent break before the 65km, which I did in 8.24 – my goal was 8 hours, but shit happens when you’re sleepy!”
“At the start of the 65km I was fatigued, but I was excited to have people around and knowing I'd see daylight.”
“The strong wind at night wasn't ideal, but no drama. The lowest point was probably Saturday mid-morning when the tiredness was screwing with my vision, plus I hadn't been able to eat solids, and I was already sick of gels with another 48km to go.”
“The finish was never felt in doubt; I had a great time running along the skyline at the start of the 65, and amazing support throughout, so I was well ahead of cut-offs.”
“The start on Friday night was exciting. It was a beautiful clear sky through the night, and I had great support at road crossings (cheers, Josh!). On Saturday, it was nice being crewed at aid stations and having so many volunteers out.”
“I was happy to get to the turbine because it’s followed by fun running to the coast, then I had a friend join me for the final section. Getting to Mt Vic and hearing the finish line was also a highlight.”
“A big thanks again to all you generous people who donated! It’s also been very special having people share their own experiences with me – cancer affects almost everyone in one way or another, and all your stories gave more meaning to my run and fundraising.”
Thanks for that Olivia! What an amazing achievement. Both the run and money raised.
If you would like to chip in to Olivia’s cause you still can.
Sophie Grant is currently 15 days into an attempt to run the entire length of the Alps, travelling from Trieste to Monaco along the Via Alpina. She’s now past halfway, averaging 63 km a day with a quantum shit tonne of climbing.
The women’s record stands at 38 days and the men’s at 35, but Sophie is currently tracking towards completing the whole thing in around 30.
Absolutely mind-bending stuff. Fingers crossed she can keep it going!
If you’ve visited the VERTual July leaderboard this month, you may have noticed the website has had a wee bit of a makeover.
I’m slowly populating the Trail Running Calendar, along with a directory of coaches, physios, psychics and psychos if you need an extra hand with your running.
I’m also back filling some of the older Q&As and content from Substack into their own standalone articles.
Like this one on Steve Tripp, for example.
Take a look around, and if you’ve got a contribution to make you can submit listings to the calendar and directory.
Trigger warning: The following paragraphs contain discussion of AI-generated music.
I’ve been having a bit of a play with Suno throughout VERTual July, making one song a day for the challenge. You can check out some of them HERE (F🤬ck Bradley has been the biggest hit so far).
I’ve also been trying to bring the infamous “Sam The Man” Worst Run Ever story to life … check out the results here and let me know what you think.
I’m putting aside my anti-tarmac beliefs after being blown away by the achievement of my mate Kyle Malone.
Last week, he finished 5th at the Vol State 500K in Murica🌭, one of Lazarus Lake’s other crazy creations.
It’s 500 km across Tennessee on the road, self-supported, in the full heat of summer.
I think that’s the definition of hell for some of us!
Well done, Kyle. That is next level.
You can find out more about the race here.
Well, before this crazy challenge began, I thought the whole thing might have been wrapped up by now.
How wrong was I!
Now, where were we?
When last week’s newsletter came out, it was Day 15 and there were still 61 VERTathletes standing.
What happened next can only be described as a vertastrophe.
They had survived the 2-week milestone, only for the 1,500 m required on Day 15 to chop 29 of them at the knees.
With the field almost cut in half overnight, my belief that anyone would complete this challenge was shaken to its core.
But since then, it’s been a much slower bleed.
4, 2, 1, 2, then just 1 again last night.
In that time, every survivor has stacked another 10,500 m of vert, taking their minimum total to 21,000 m.
I think people are starting to realise I’m running a physio Ponzi scheme.
The craziest thing?
Tomorrow is Day 22, and only once they’ve completed it will they pass halfway through the total vert.
The final 9 days contain more vert than the first 21.
Let that little fact Uncle Fester for a while.
If you haven’t checked out the leaderboard yet, I suggest you do HERE.
We’ve added the total vert accumulated by every runner throughout the challenge, which has now topped 1.4 MILLION metres.
Yes, Million with a Martha Farking M.
You can also click on each VERTathlete’s avatar, with most now having a profile featuring a mini Q&A and their stats so far.
If you’re extra keen, you can turn on push notifications to keep you in the loop while you’re napping through the midweek toolbox meeting.
Here are the 22 VERTathletes still standing:
Andy “Which One?” Thompson
Bernard “Pie Eating” Campion
Brendan “The Kid” Varty
Carn Hemingway
Christophe Pinel
Craig “Chatterbox” Thomson
Dave Hume
Dean Stewart
Emma Rogers
Geoff Williamson
Isaac “Dont” Tripp
Jonas “The Great Dane” Boye
Kirsty Hamlin
Marcos Ángel Valero Palacios
Patrick “Sticky Shorts” Kalin
Ryan Hattle
Sam “180” Ashworth
Sara “Pocket Rocket” Vermeulen
Scott “The Boogeyman” Bougen
Simon “CurraNZ” Angus
Steve “Just the” Tripp
Wild Chris Taylor
Someone on that list is walking away with more than $2,000 worth of prizes.
This is going to have a wild ending.
I can feel it.
I don’t know whether it ends with 5 people dueling it out on the final day or everyone fizzling out before Day 28.
Either way, there’s a lot more left in this story.
Last week, I told you how Jackson Cole had been carving it up overseas, including finishing 4th at the iconic Mount Marathon in Alaska after taking the biggest fall of his life.
As promised, here’s a more in-depth chat with Jackson about Mount Marathon, how his race unfolded and what makes the event so bloody special.
“Mount Marathon is an iconic mountain race that takes place every 4th of July in Seward, Alaska. The race starts and finishes in downtown Seward, and in just 5k, climbs 1000 meters to the top of Mount Marathon and back.”
“The thing that captivates me most is the fact that runners can choose their own course, making the climb extremely steep and the descent even steeper! The race is iconic for its crazy scree descent and epic falls.”
“And since the race takes place in a harbor town on America's independence day, thousands of tourists line the streets as they cheer for you in the final 1k road stretch to the finish line. It’s a truly epic experience, coming off the mountain and having people screaming at you!”
“As for my race, I found myself near the back of the lead pack early on, and made my way up the field before reaching the summit in 6th place. I had been thinking about this descent for a long time, and when I finally reached the summit and looked down at 1000m of pure scree, I was pretty stoked!”
“I gave it everything I had, and I was really happy with how I was descending, but I was also totally out of control. I caught up to my friend Jessie in 2nd place, but as soon as I went for the pass I caught a toe on a bigger rock that sent me barreling down the steep scree slope. I had the sensation of being tossed around in a washing machine! It was mental.”
“I was a little shaken by the fall, and lost some momentum, and eventually finished 4th in 44 minutes. Which I was pretty stoked with.”
“This race embodies what mountain running is all about. It’s steep, technical, and obvious. And in its 98th year, it shows that when you have people who truly care about an event, it can last a long time! The funny thing is, Seward is not an easy place to get to, and the town is so small that it’s almost impossible to book accommodation.”
“Yet the 1000 runners and thousands of spectators find a way to make it work, because the race is so damn cool and aesthetic people just want to come. I think races can look at Mount Marathon and see that what makes a race successful is the course, and race organizers caring about the runners experience.”
“When you have a money machine like UTMB, the soul of the sport dies. The courses are tame, flat and fast, making them less exciting and uninteresting. Maybe trail and mountain running should be hard? Maybe the courses should be impossibly technical and sometimes slow?”
“You look at a race like Mount Marathon or the Goat, and you can quickly see how cool and interesting those events are, and you see the community showing up for it time and time again.”
Thanks for sharing that with us Jackson! That picture is soooooooo good. Amazing that someone managed to snap that moment in time!
Last year I went up to the inaugural Northland 100 to embarrass myself somewhere new.
Mission complete.
What I hadn’t bargained on was making some amazing new friendships that have extended through the past 12 months.
I’m once again excited to head up to Whangas for year 2 of the Northland 100. This time with the pom-poms in hand, cheering on my better half in the 82K.
There have been a few changes happening for His & Her Events.
Firstly, they’re working day and night to open The Hut HQ. their brand new retail store. Think Kinisi of the North!
I’m very excited to check out the new location and hear about their big plans to continue developing what is already a thriving Northland running scene.
Secondly, I’m guessing they lost the will to live dealing with everyone sending in screenshots of their watches and Strava.
They’ve now updated the course distances and added a shorter 15K option.
Cue all the races being changed back next year when everyone bitches and moans that the courses run short😉.
All 5 races are set in the Glenbervie Forest, just outside Whangārei, using a mix of 4WD roads and single track through pine forest and native bush.
There’s a bit more punch in the hills than you’d think, but she’s a fast one.
This is a runner’s race.
Don’t be fooled. This ain’t no Routeburn, nor does it try to be.
If you’re running this race, it’s because you’re challenging yourself to either go further than you have before or run faster than you have before.
It’s the perfect place to do either.
If this all sounds good … well, you’ll have to wait until next year.
It’s sold out, with 250 entrants locked and loaded and a bulging waitlist.
I’ve run out of time this week to make any predictions, but you can check out the start list HERE. The fields are looking particularly spicy this year, so looking forward to seeing how it all shakes out.
This weeks hit is from Lisa McFarlane from a recent trip to Auckland.
Now I get why everyone is calling Auckland the New Zealand Mecca of trail running🤔.
She’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: A big shout out to all the VERTual Julyers who pitched up to the WUU2K and got the job done. In particular, Simon Angus who came 5th in the 65K, backed it up with the Wellington XC champs Sunday morning and a cool 1900m of vert later that evening🤯.
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