This weekend the 8th Great Naseby Water Race will take place in the sleepy former gold mining town of Naseby, in Otago. The figure of 8, 10km loop race had a 100mile option added to the 100, 80 and 50km options last year and has quickly become the premier event at GNWR, with the biggest field this year.

50km- The best thing about the 50km field and possibly the whole event is the number of woman entries in the 50km! Actually both the 80km and the 50km have more women on the start list than men! This kind of growth is great for a small sport like ultra trail running! Picking a winner in either of these races is tricky- for me at least. LOTS of familiar names, but none jumping out for the win, which is great to see as the same old names can get boring….

The 100km has a great match up in Ben Aynsley (2013 Naseby 50km winner in 3hr49) and Simon Green (2nd 2014 Northburn 100km)  25/8 Simon has pulled out with injury. They both have similar Kepler times and this should be the “head to head” race of the weekend. Fleur Pawsey is a well known multi-sporter (former Coast to Coast winner) and for doing well at shorter distance trail running races. The GNWR 100km will be her first ultra running race, I believe, and I am excited to see Fleur race!

The woman’s 100mile field is about 1/3 of the size the men’s and it is fair to say Jean Beaumont’s 18hr24min course record from last year should be safe, but it will be a battle none the less. Lisa Nicholl and Penny Kirkwood bring a load of 100mile experience, both having finished big 100mile races overseas. Emma Johns is making the step up after finishing 2nd at the Naseby 100km race last year. She is probably the fastest on the start list, but lacks  100mile experience- but there is only one way to get it! Becky Nixon would have learnt a lot from her 35hr Northburn 100mile finish early in the year and it sounds like she has prepared very well for  Naseby.

Michael Rodliffe running the 100km at the 2012 Naseby event.

In the mens 100mile race John Bayne heads the field. John has won the 100km here in 9hr37 (2008) and was 2nd in 2011, running 9hr25. And most notably was 2nd in the 100mile behind Marty Lukes last year, running 17hr14. Michael Rodliffe will be (I believe) running his first 100mile race, having place 2nd at the 100km here in 2012, running 9hr23. Grant Guise (yes, I am adding myself into this race preview, but I figure would get more shit for not doing so, than doing so) was first in the 50km at Naseby in 2010, running 3hr45 and has 1 previous 100mile finish, a 23hr Ultra Trail Mt Fuji in 2013. (I was pretty confident a few weeks ago, pre flu and chest infection.)

Much has been said about Greg Yee’s build up and without doubt he would have learnt a lot from last year’s 16laps at Naseby and this year’s Northburn. He, along with Matt Bixley, will be looking to pick up the carnage in the wee hours of Saturday morning and make it onto the podium.

Ultimate Direction photo competition- Post your best photos from the Great Naseby Water Race onto the Ultimate Direction New Zealand Facebook page, or on Instagram hashtag them #UDnaseby Photos from the 2014 Naseby- taken by competitors, crew, supporters (anyone) and of any aspect of the event. The winner will get an Ultimate Direction FastDraw10 Handheld, and a BCR cap of their choice.

Backcountry Runner is very excited to present the New Zealand Premier of “In the High Country”.

“In the High Country will be a new kind of mountain/ running film featuring Anton Krupicka. Filmed and Produced by Joel Wolpert with the support of Ultimate Direction, this won’t be the usual running film – no “loneliness of the long distance runner” – “High Country” will take you where you’ve never been before.” – Buzz Burrell, Ultimate Direction.

In addition to screening “In the High Country”, Ultimate Direction supported runner Vajin Armstrong, who will present a talk/slide show on his recent trip to Europe, where he raced at the highest level, with podium’s in several races.

You can buy your tickets for the NZ premier of “In the High Country” on-line from the Backcountry Runner Trail Shop HERE. There will also be door sales on the night, but the venue is limited to 50.

Vajin Armstrong

The New Zealand Premier will be at Elevate, in Christchurch, on Tuesday October 1st.

• Tuesday 1st October
• $10 entry
• Elevate Bar, 2 Colombo St, Cashmere, Christchurch
• 630pm- doors open
• 7pm- start
• Ultimate Direction products on display to try on, spot prizes from Ultimate Direction and VFuel
• Limited to 50 people. Door sales if available.
• If buying your ticket from the BCR Trail Shop- please print out your receipt and bring along - this is your ticket, so make sure you have it! 

Buy In the High Country tickets now

The North Face 100 Australia

Leading the way for the kiwis was of course Vajin Armstrong, placing 2nd again and running an impressive 10min improvement from last year- 9hr42min22sec. We had a few folks get pretty close to this time in our UltrAspire Give-away, but no one guessed the exact time/place. Closest was Duncan Darroch.

While Vajin is a seasoned ultra runner, TNF athlete Whitney Dagg was taking on her first 100km race. Anyone that has lined up in their first 100km race will know what a learning curve this is, but Whitney took it all in her stride, finishing in 12hr47 and 11th woman! Talking with her the next day Whitney was all smiles and already talking about her next race and running 100km again! In our The North Face give-away Emma Inglis was the closest.

Other kiwis at The North Face- Running Wild’s Mal Law ran a big PB to get his silver buckel, as did Kieron Berry, running a 2hr PB. Frenchman now based in NZ (and 2012 NB 100km winner) Damien Sellier went sub 13hr, while Robert Jarvis was just over. Despite getting well on in age now Bernard Robinson cracked out a solid 12hr22. Recently crowned woman’s NZ 100km winner Shannon Leigh Litt had to drop due to injury. Very very sorry if I missed you- I am sure we had a bunch more kiwis racing this year’s TNF100! Please leave a comment below on how you did.

I had a pretty mixed day. Taking it easy for 55-60km and feeling good before throwing up for a while. I then had the pleasure to run with woman’s winner Beth Cardelli for the last 20+km. 11hr01 and 12th place was well off my best, but was a (mostly) very fun day out.

A big thank you to Vajin’s sponsor UltrAspire and to Whitney’s  sponsor The North Face for supplying prizes. Duncan and Emma you can e-mail at run@backcountryrunner.co.nz with your address and we will get away asap.

We will also start to have a few more give-aways on BCR! We now have a photo gallery on the right hand side bar, all I will say for now is if you have a BCR hat- start getting some good photos of yourself rocking it and if you don’t have one, you should!

Vajin on his way to 2nd place at 2012 TNF100 Australia

Backcountry Runner- Vajin last time we caught up was in a video interview the day after your 2nd place finish behind Ryan Sands at TNF100 in Australia. What has been happening since then? How was your recovery?Vajin Armstrong- Recovery went really well, I basically had one week off after TNF and then had another week of just jogging. After that I was really keen and excited to get back into some serious training. I had a lot of racing starting in March and going through to TNF in May, so I was looking forward to the opportunity to get in a good block of uninterrupted training.

BCR- The next big race for you is just a few weeks away now, White River 50mile in Washington State on July 28th- how has the build up been and how does your build up for this race compare to other big goal races during the year?

VA- This has been one of my best blocks of training both in terms of volume and intensity. I have just slightly stepped things up and I am feeling in probably my best shape ever. I have been using this block to really build a massive base for later in the year, so I have been doing big mileage and trying to get in plenty of vertical. I have been doing some really good long reps and long tempos as well so I am feeling aerobically really strong. I will save the real speed work until I am building up for Kepler.

BCR- While most kiwis would know you best as the 2x winner and defending Kepler Challenge champ, your biggest win would easily be American River back in April. I am sure that blind sided the N.American ultra running community, I guess they will be well aware of you on the start line at White River. Is this good pressure or bad pressure?
VA- I will take it as an opportunity, racing overseas is always exciting and fun as you are racing a completely different crowd.

BCR- American River and White River- I would like to think the reason behind choosing these 2 races in the US is deeper than you liking the word “River”- why have you decided to pick these races?
VA- I chose these races as they fit in well with my calendar  and they are both races that have good histories and that a lot of top guys have run. If you look at the guys who have placed well at White River over the last few years you’ve got
people like Tony Krupricka, Tim Olsen, Dakota Jones, Scott Jurek and the one and only Uli Steidl. When I was starting out in Ultras four or so years ago, Uli was the man to beat over 50miles in the US. He represented Germany in the Marathon so he was plenty fast and he put up some good times at White River and at TNF Championship in San Francisco. I like to have the chance to test myself against the best so racing courses like these are a good chance to do that.

BCR- What do you know about the White River course and your competition?
VA- The course at White River looks extremely beautiful with some amazing views out over Mt Rainier. It looks like it has a bit of everything, including two big climbs making for over 2600m of climbing. Scott McCoubrey, the race director says about the course “The race features rolling terrain, ridge tops, northwest forest, several sections of technical trails, and of course several demanding climbs and challenging descents.”
As far as the competition goes I have heard that Ellie Greenwood (owner of the new women’s course record at Western States) is racing as well as Sage Canady, recent winner of the US Mountain running Champs at Mt Washington.

BCR- Do you have any expectations/goals going into the race?
VA- My goal is first and foremost to go sub 7hours, but I would love to go 6.40ish. Tony Krupricka has run couple of smoking fast times there, I think he ran a 6.25 just after his 2nd placing at Western States, and Uli Steidl also ran a mid 6.30′s time. Apart from those two guys there are not too many people who have gone sub 7hours. I think last year Tim Olsen just sneaked in with a 6.59 and we have seen how that has worked out for him.

BCR- You recently placed 5th over all in the 10km South Island cross country champs. That is a pretty good result for someone that is clocking 200+km a week and whose goal race is 8x longer. Is it a reflection of the speed work you put in during the week, or the state of cross country running in the SI?
VA- Maybe a bit of both, but I do feel I am in pretty good shape right now. I closed out that race super strong, despite feeling that the pace was a bit on the quick side for the first half. Going through 5km’s I was probably in 11th or 12th so I definitely closed it out well, which is what I would want to see going into an ultra. For an ultra I don’t need to be running blazingly fast, but I do want to feel strong and feel like a can close well. I will definitely be doing a bit more speed work heading into Kepler, but for the races I have coming up right now I am really happy with how I am feeling.

BCR- How has the recent move from the University Club to Sumner Running Club been?
VA- Great, it’s nice to be part of a club with such a trail running heritage. I think I am the 5th Sumner runner to have won the Kepler Challenge. The club record for the 100km is 6.38 and then you have got a 3x Kepler winner and 6.46 100km guy as the Club Captain, so it seems like a pretty good fit for me.

BCR- We are drifting “off topic” a little now- Kepler entries opened on Saturday morning. A few fast lads from Aussie have entered by the sounds of it, what are your thoughts on this year’s race?
VA- I am hoping it is going to be an “Absolute Epic” with at least three guys under 5hours and then a whole lot more under 5.30. I am looking forward to it like anything, we have got eight runners from the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team entered so it’s going to be great to have a whole lot of friends racing as well.

BCR- Post White River you are spending a bit of time in the US?
VA- I am heading over with a couple of friends from Auckland so post race we have big plans which basically involve a lot of camping and trail running. We are hoping to run as much of the Wonderland trail as we can (super sweet trail around Mt Rainer) and then pretty much try and get on as much other nice Pacific North West trails as we can handle. I am then heading over to NYC to meet up with my wife, Prasasta and her family before running another ultra, this time a 47mile race at the end of August. But that is a story for another day…….

BCR- Thanks for your time Vajin and all the best at White River!

VA- No worries at all. I also just want to say a big thanks to my Sponsor’s Saucony and UltrAspire, two of the most forward thinking and progressive brands one could hope to involved with.

Saucony Give Away!!

We caught up with Vajin Armstrong

Backcountry Runner- Hey Vajin, thanks for making time to chat with us again. We just talked less than 2 weeks ago after your solid 2nd place finish at the Tarawera Ultra Marathon 100k, but already you’re packing your bags and on the move for your next ultra- American River 50 miler (AR50). Sounds pretty exciting, can you tell us more about it? 

Vajin Armstrong- Yeah I am pretty excited by the opportunity to race again so soon after the Tarawera. Sometimes I think you need a couple of races just to help get you back in the zone for racing. I had a good long block of training after the Kepler but didn’t get a chance to race much, so it kind of feels like it is just the start of the season for me now. I will be racing the American River 50 Mile Endurance Run which starts in Sacramento and finishes in Auburn, California. It follows the American River pathway as well as having some sweet single track, and for fans of Johnny Cash it does pass near Folsom State Prison.

BCR – I am guessing you’ve researched the course a bit, how’s it look, do you think it will suit your strengths?

Win a pair of Saucony Peregrine trail running shoes!Vajin’s shoe sponsor, Saucony, has be nice enough to put up a pair of their Peregrine trail (men’s or woman’s) for the person that correctly guesses Vajin’s time at the American River 50mile! Add your predicted time in the comments section below- closest time wins. Also add a placing as we will use that as a tie breaker in case more than one person guesses the correct timeSaucony Peregrine- “Trail runners helped pioneer the minimalist movement, so it was only “natural” to introduce the ProGrid Peregrine. Built on the same foot-form as the Kinvara and featuring a 4mm heel drop, the Peregrine is a must-have for any trail running enthusiast. Multi-direction lugs provide a sticky grip, so you can focus and feel your way through any terrain.” * • The trail blazing shoe that’s a must-have for the outdoor runner
* • Minimalist, low profile and incredible responsiveness on uneven surfaces
* • Multi-directional lugs and sticky rubber for amazing traction and grip
* • Weight: 258grThe Peregrine also won the Runners World Editors Choice award.