Peak Trail Blazer start.

In near-perfect running conditions, a record-breaking 720 people took part over the two courses, with Mr Speakman crossing the finish line in an eye-watering 46:40 on the 12.8km Te Mata Peak trail, beating the previous course record of 50:54 set in 2012 by Scotsman Graham Bee.  

Mr Speakman also took home the newly-formed ‘Lucky Legs’ prize for both the quickest up- and down-hill legs pocketing a further $100 for his efforts, and was inducted in to the prestigious Hall of Flames sub 60 club along with 20 other runners, the largest number of people inducted to date.

An Olympic 1500m hopeful, Mr Speakman is a Napier Harrier who has recently returned from Stonybrook University in New York after graduating in May.  

Race Director Jo Throp said the results were amazing.  “We’d heard prior to the race predictions the Sub-50 barrier may be broken, and when we recorded Eric at the top of the Peak in 27:20, we knew it was game on!  But to break it by such a margin – we’re a little lost for words, really.”

Eric Speakman crossing the finish in record time.

Ruby Muir retained her Hawke’s Bay Orthodontics Queen of the Peak title for the second year, crossing the line in 55:25, convincingly beating her time of 56:06 from 2014 and setting a new female record.

But Ms Throp said that people shouldn’t be fooled by the apparent ease with which the top runners cross the finish line.  “I can tell you that these guys don’t just roll out of bed and run this fast.  It takes a lot of training and dedication to run like this – it still hurts, they’ll be wobbly on their legs for a few of days and most of them need to walk at some stage on the course.”

Rod McDonald Wines King of the Peak Eric Speakman said he was feeling pretty tired.  “The climb up Te Mata Peak was a lot more challenging than I remember, but it’s an awesome course – hard and fast to begin with along Joll Road, with little time for rest on the way up, but then you fly down the other side.”

He spoke at the prize giving about the amazing vibe of the event which he had been hoping to compete in for the last couple of years, commenting on the great ‘shout outs’ he’d received from others on the course on his way up and down.  

Walking on the Te Mata Peak trail, Derren Hutchinson took out the title crossing in 1:37:01 bettering his time from last year by a mere 40 seconds, while not far behind him Anna Treadwell came in at 1:40:31 in her first attempt at the Peak Trail Blazer.

Sixteen year old Napier Boys High School student Bradley Christison 52:30 took the title of Up & Coming (fastest 5-17 year old boy on 12.8km Te Mata Peak), coming 4th over all and running himself into the Hall of Flames.

Olivia Webster from Hastings out the female Up & Coming in a time of 1:17:09.  Both up and comings will get some guidance and training help from Steve Willis, Athletics NZ and local man Craig McDougall, Hastings Giants Boxing Academy.  

Second place in the men’s 12.8km Te Mata Peak trail went to Lucas Duross 51:14, who was the King of the Peak in 2011, and third place ($50) went to Devon Beckman 51:35.  Second place ($150) in the women’s 12.8km Te Mata Peak trail went to Dulia Daly 59:35 and third to Kirsty Skidmore 1:05:03.  

On the short course, the Tainui Trail, the title of Prince of Tainui went to Arthur Miller School student Seb Barton-Ginger 17:51 and from Parkvale Primary Aniela Apperley 19:13 on what had been a slightly longer course than in previous years due to the changes made in the Tainui Reserve because of safety concerns.  

Back on the 12.8km Te Mata Peak trail, earning themselves a bottle of wine each and a place on the highly-sort after Hall of Flames sub-60 club leaderboard which hangs at Hawthorne Coffee in Havelock North are 21 runners: Eric Speakman 46:40, Lucas Duross
51:14, Devon Beckman 51:35, Bradley Christison 52:30, Ross McIntyre 52:40, Brad Donovan 52:56, Duncan Morrison 54:15, Phil McKay
55:17, Ruby Muir 55:25, Steve Charles 55:25, Greg Thurlow 56:26, Dougie Kyle 56:35, Nathan Biggs 56:41, Kane Elms 57:18, Damien Christofis, 57:43, Leighton Clark 57:49, Ben Wright 58:02, Andy Horne 59:11, Dulia Daly 59:35, Vernon Preston 59:35, Stefan Holm 59:36.

Ms Throp said organisers were thrilled with how the day went.  “We certainly had our challenges this year, there’s always something to throw a spanner in the works, but the people who take part and their enthusiasm for the event make it all worth while and keep us coming back.”

The brainchild of three Havelock North Primary mums, Rachel Cornwall, Susie Devonshire and Jo Throp, the event aimed to raise funds for the school, raise the school’s profile within the wider community, promote health and wellbeing, and utilize the fantastic natural resources of the Tainui Reserve and Te Mata Peak.  

As well as raising funds for Havelock North Primary, the event has donated over $17,000 to the community to date.  This year 20% of the funds raised would be donated to the Te Mata Peak Trust and a further 20% to Heretaunga Women’s Centre.

Peak Trail Blazer gold sponsors are Aesthetic Dental, Rod McDonald Wines, Natasha Bousfield Tremains, Hawthorne Coffee, Hawke’s Bay Orthodontics, Bramwell Grossman Lawyers, BWR Chartered Accountants and SpecSavers Hastings, along with silver sponsors Good Pixel, MR Labels, Shoe Clinic Napier, ImThere and Simon Cartwright Photography.  The event is supported by Sport Hawke’s Bay.

Full results will be placed on the website as soon as possible at www.peaktrailblazer.co.nz

The 2016 Chia Abel Tasman Coastal Classic was run in perfect conditions on Saturday in a welcome contrast I’m sure to last year’s terrible weather that everyone experienced.

This was my first run in this premier South Island event and it feels good to have ticked this race off the list of ”trail run events you simply must do at least once in a lifetime”

Nelson Events duo of Graeme and Avril West with the support of their daughter Amanda , son in law Greg and team operate a slick operation.

Every aspect of the 36k  race is carried out with a military like precision and this provides competitors with a fantastic overall experience.

The day begins early with a finely tuned registration process at the event marque in Marahau and then loading a capacity field of 300 competitors onto well appointed launches for the cruise to the start line at Awaroa.

On the way there is plenty of time for a photo opportunity at Split Apple Rock and a short  diversion to observe the Seals basking on the rocks of a nearby island out crop.

At Awaroa we disembark onto the beautiful sandy white beach there and group together before embarking on a short stroll through the native flaura and fauna to the start line.

On the start line we meet Avril again and she runs through the  briefing with us all and then suddenly before you can blink the horn is blown for a mass start and we’re off on our way heading the 36k journey back to Marahau.

Florence Van Dyke along Onetahuti Beach, CHIA ATCC 2015. Photo: Paul Webster

The pace accelerates as we all jostle for position and within a few minutes the trail narrows to single track and passing becomes a little more tricky.

Soon I find myself  comfortably in 10th place overall and I feel quite relaxed and settle into a good pace.

The top three guys have fired the afterburner very early on and soon they are clear of the rest of us and their race continues to become literally a race of three.

Among them are the  pre race favorite, Nelsons Simon Mardon a seasoned campaigner and now running in the veterans category, in his company are both Chris Dunell of Christchurch and Sarwan Chand of Greymouth.

It is Dunell who eventually makes a break away from the other two at the half way point and continues to race ‘solo’ for the remainder of the race completing the distance in a very respectable 2 hours and 33 min,  Mardon is 2nd to finish in a time of 2 hours and 39 min with Chand 3rd in a time of 2 hours and 46 min.

Meanwhile I find myself rubbing shoulders with the early leading women and there are three young ladies running gazelle- like, pumping out a blistering pace and easily in the top 10 overall.

Leading the women’s charge is Nelsons own Lizzie Wesley-smith, she has really put the hammer down and is delivering a clear and firm message to the other girls, with a “catch me if you can pace”.

Lizzie eventually goes on to win the women’s race in a staggering time of 2 hours and 57 minutes for 4th place overall!. Equally as impressive it is Tania McWilliams of Christchurch who shines with a 2nd placing in the women’s field and 5th place overall! Fiona Hayvice rounds off the top three women with a time of 3 hours flat and 7th overall.

I’m now jostling with Fiona Hayvice, who is running strongly in her trade mark shoes, we keep trading the lead role for a good 23k before she catches a second wind and drops me leaving me to complete the rest of the race on my own.

At the  24k mark and with 12k still to run I am seriously thinking I may have underestimated the task at hand and I am regretting the lack of recent running under my belt.

Unfortunately the 7k training runs around the Jacks Point loop in Queenstown do not equate to keeping up this pace for too much longer and this lack of preparation is now becoming clear as I slow and lose the lead in my category to the hard man from Christchurch, Garry Jones, who comes smoking past me and then Dr Roland Meyer from Queenstown reels me in too, bugger.

However there is enough interest on the trail itself to negate the pain and the twinges of disappointment at losing this lead.

Stunning and inspiring technical trail underfoot with plenty of glimpses out to the turquoise waters, white sands and secluded bays of this coastal trail make for some of the best trail I’ve experienced and ever will I imagine, all in all these distractions are truly spell binding.

Eventually the finish shute finally looms ahead and I cross the finish line more than happy with my effort and very pleased to complete this epic journey in a time of 3 hours and 7 minutes for a 3rd place in my division and 13th overall.

I am immediately  handed a very welcoming bottle of Chia drink and I help myself to the fresh pineapple and orange quarters on offer.

Now I can relax and lay in the sun waiting for my friends and then look forward to the complimentary  lunch provided, a hot shower and then the all included delicious buffet dinner followed by rewards ceremony, all of which exceed my expectations.

Huge ups to all the Nelson Events team and their crew of “helping hands”.

Thanks to my good buddy and Great Wall Marathon travelling companion Genessa Tabak for encouraging me to do this event and for hosting my stay at Kaiteri with Aaron.

Also a special mention to my personal sponsor Inov8, to Air New Zealand and of course my partner Toni Bird who help make these events happen for me.

Huge congratulations to all the competitors who completed this spectacular run, you are all very much enriched by the personal achievements you have experienced I’m sure and we are all very piveledged to have have been a part of such an exciting experience, running one of New Zealands most unique and  treasured tracks.

Now you may wish to contact Graeme and the team to find out about another epic trail they are planning very soon on the renowned Heaphy Track? I believe this trail is also very  stunning.

Hope to see some of you at  the Pyramid Run in Twizel next month, part of Labour Weekends Hard Labour events.

Outside Sports 21k Half Marathon

About 7 or 8 weeks ago I got an email from Daniel Jones. It went something like “Do you want to do a race with me in China?”  Yip! What is it? I thought. The email continued. “It’s a 100km ultra near Zhangye. In teams of two. Last years winning time was 15 hours 20 min.” Ouch! I thought. I did a bit of research on last years race. The winner was a team including Yun Yanqiao who has a pretty impressive resume. That pretty much ruled out finishing in the daylight. After a little more investigation I realized we would finish in daylight. Last years race started at 9pm. It had a total elevation gain of 6000m “Ouch!” An average altitude of 2500m. “Ouch!” And a max altitude of 4200m “Ouch!”
Having raced with Daniel’s Dad and adventure racing legend Neil Jones in my previous life as an adventure racer I figured if Daniel was half as strong we should go well. I’ve raced Daniel quite a number of times given that we both ran for Whakatane Harriers a few years back. Daniel has been in the U.S. on a running scholarship for 4 or 5 years and is currently on a bit of a gap year racing here, there and everywhere. Should be fun. In a strange kind of way. We were both going into it a bit green. It was Daniels first race longer than “about 32 km” and no racing at altitude. It was my second 100km with no altitude racing under my belt since my aforementioned previous life.
Emails flew back and forth as we coordinated flights, accommodation and organised Visas. The race was also evolving a little from last year. It was now an individual race. 5000m elevation with a max of 3800m. Also now it was 102km. Still “Ouch” though.
The weeks also flew by. I few good runs under my belt and feeling healthy I headed to Zhangye. I met up with Daniel on the Wednesday before the race in Lanzhou, with just the final 1 hour flight to race HQ to go. Flying north to Zhangye we were told on the plane that it was 30 degrees Celsius on the ground. As we approached I looked to the east and saw a massive expanse of desert and some rolling hills. I looked across the plane. Then I tapped Daniel on the shoulder and pointed out the windows to the west. “Snow!” He exclaimed which put an instant smile on his dial.
Once we were on the ground we were lucky enough to catch a ride with some of the race crew to the race HQ. The following day we were even luckier to get a guided tour over a large section of the course. Sections of the first 50km were on road and gravel 4×4 tracks. As part of our guided tour deal, Daniel and I along with Chinese women’s favourite Dong Li and race organiser Wei Jun had to do a few (20 to 30) poise run through shots for a promotional video for the race. We walked from about 3000m vertical to 3400m. While we weren’t pushing it at all the affect of the altitude was noticeable. Getting snowed on as we descended made us realise just how quickly the weather can change at that height too. It was a great insight into the course but it had us thinking that times would be a lot quicker than 15 hours especially considering that the race was now going to start at 5am.
On Friday afternoon, Taiwan based Kiwi Ruth Croft joined us. Ruth was there to have a crack at the 50km before heading to Europe for a few key races.
Come race morning we both woke before the 3:30 alarm and crammed down some breakfast. We both had slightly dodgy stomachs for the first time on the trip. Nothing too major but not quite normal. After early morning gear checks before being allowed into the starting box, Daniels curly locks were attracting a bit of media attention having to do a few interviews pre race. He seemed to be taking it in his stride though.
Under the starters orders we hung back a little to keep clear of start chaos. With about 15 km of road to start the predicted chaos never really happened. Everyone obviously respected what was in front of them. About 30min in Daniel jogged up beside me chomping at the bit and said something along the lines of “Is this pretty much it for 12 hours?” “Pretty much.” I said with a smile. However after hitting the first checkpoint at the 13km mark clearly under an hour I thought the second half must be slow.
After CP1 we headed for the hills up a large valley. 10km later at CP 2 the lead group was down to about 12 but it was all about to get interesting. We left the 4×4 track and hit the stream bed. One Chinese athlete went off the front. After a gap had opened up two more went after him. Daniel tagged along looking full of running. Over the next 20min Daniel gradually got away from me and I could no longer see him. I seriously hoped that he wasn’t cooking himself and strangely I also hoped that I wouldn’t see him until the finish, hoping he could carry on that form all the way. Through the stream I was happy in 8th place. Not really pushing it and kind of enjoying the cold stream crossings.
My vague race plan was to run to the 54km mark at CP 4 where the course pitches up steeply. Walk to the top, cruise to the 70km mark back down to about 2700m then try to pull myself together. Seeing as it was only my second 100km race and first time racing at that altitude I was open to suggestion.

Back to the race at hand, I hit CP3 40km at a little over 3:40, then the altitude hit back at 53km and 2900m. I began to walk. I did have a small laugh on the inside as I saw the irony. I began to walk about 400 metres before the site of our first run through photo shoot site a few days before. I had unintentionally made my way from 8th to 6th as a few runners began to drop. Then back to 7th as Aussie multisporter Klayton Smith went by just before CP4. I ate as much as I could and filled my bottles at CP4 knowing that there was 16km of slow going without aid stations in front of me. So my bladder and both bottles were full of electrolyte drink. My stomach was feeling a little odd so I figured I would take an aid station water bottle with me for an extra option. I was promptly told via sign language that the bottles could not leave the aid station. I hastily drank as much as I could then headed off up the mountain. I last saw Klayton a few km later. The terrain was getting tough which I would normally love but I was having trouble getting going. I was reduced to adventure racing trek pace on the ascent.
6km into the mountain crossing stage and at 3600m above sea level and 60km through the race I came to the realisation that I might be turning into an ultra runner. My positive spin on my snail pace was that I only have another 200m vertical to the summit and only 42km to the finish which will effectively be down hill.
I dropped back into eighth just before the top which was quite handy over the open paddocks  for the next 10 km, giving me a little focus. We followed fence lines along an exposed ridge for what seemed like forever. The scenery was pretty amazing, having the desert and open plains disappearing behind us and snow capped mountains all around. Running through paddocks of a breed of small yaks I kept thinking to myself “They will shift out of my way. They’re more scared of me than I am of them. That’s a high fence with barbed wire on top to jump. Those are some big horns!” Evidently my mind was wandering.
I was struggling to take on food and just wanted straight water. Whether it was the something a bit dodgy inside or just the altitude I wasn’t totally sure. I wasn’t really pushing to a lung bursting level. My effort was determined by my uncomfortable stomach. 10km later at CP7 I could still see 7th a few minutes in front and was feeling confident that last years record would be smashed even by me in 8th.
Dong Li caught me shortly after I refuelled at CP 7. We ran together for over an hour. Dong Li would lead on the downs and I would take the lead up hill. Ascending the penultimate hill of the day through untracked low scrub filled paddocks in the heat of the afternoon sun I actually stopped for the first time in my trail racing history for no other reason than being a little cooked. Hands on knees for a few seconds a few deep breathes then I was off looking up toward the saddle. Dong Li was a little way behind as I neared the top but on the down hill she skipped away from me like she’d just started the race.
The course undulated a little before we hit the long descent to CP 8 where it would mark only 20km to go. I met the marshal at the top of the climb, said “Hey” then  began heading to my right and down the ridge. Before I had made a nav mistake  the marshal called to me and indicated that the track was off the side of the ridge. There was no track! I ran, walked and climbed down 600 vertical metres of what was a cross between a steep hill and a cliff which then flowed into a dry stream bed. It was almost as if a few kilometres had to be cut from the course so it took the straightest line possible. It was a fun piece of track and would have been a mission to scout out for the organisers.
At CP 8 I made the most of the aid station and simply walked off down the road drinking red bull and eating crackers and bananas. When I was done still with no one for company I plodded off down the road. The rhythms running down a gentle grade for 5 km was a nice change of pace.
The night before the race I’d written the length of each section on my arm plus a rough estimate of ascent and descent per stage. So I knew there was only 15km and one climb to go followed by a 500 metre vertical descent to the finish. At the top of the final climb I was surprised to see another aid station. Even more of a surprise was the Cp sign saying 97.6km. So only 4.4km to go! Only 20 to 25 minutes in my current state. The track got wider and descend down a valley. As the valley opened up the track turned to loose scree. It was such a heavenly way to finish. Loose scree in soft Hoka Huaka shoes was like floating. After 15 minutes of floating and clock watching I came back down to earth as I passed an unmanned CP10. According to my arm “Now” I had 4.4km to go. 20 - 25 minutes from now. A slight mental readjust. Someone had got something wrong but I wasn’t too major.
After quite a few sneaky looks behind as the course left the hills and entered the streets I was finally confident that’s how I would finish. 8th. I crossed the line in 13hours 25minutes relieved, exhausted and pretty happy to stop and lie down. I congratulated Klayton beside me. Having finished some time before he’d decided the recovery tent was a good place to stay.
I hadn’t seen Daniel since about the 25 km mark. I was totally relieved for him for two reasons. Firstly he certainly hadn’t blown up and secondly we didn’t have to race as a pair so he could show how good he is. He finished in second place after 10 hours 50 minutes. A truely classy performance.
We both came away from it with a great experience, a few lessons learnt and some room to improve. At least Daniel left himself one place to improve.
In the 50km largely up hill race Ruth had cleaned up and was still looking as fresh as a daisy the following day while Daniel and I had our old man walks going.
I always find it funny that in the heat of the race when things are going tough I ask myself why am I doing this and tell myself I will never do this again. Yet moments after finishing I think of ways I could have done better and will do better next time.
Thanks to Ron Hill clothing and Hilly socks for my threads. Thanks to Hoka one one for the shoes on my feet and the fast recovery.

The Mt Difficulty Ascent on Saturday delivered on its promise of a brutally steep, demanding course. While the races namesake, Mt Difficulty its self, lacked any significant snow cover, the wind picked up the slack (and almost some runners) and added an extra element to the race.

From the gun, Australian John Winsbury set out with a firm race plan of running the runable sections hard and walking the steeps with purpose. Not a surprising tactic from John, but what was a surprise was that no-one went with him. Other pre race favorite Andrius Ramonas choose to  hang back with the social run group of Tom Hunt and Grant Guise, as well as 1/2 marathoner Andrew Town (Andrew went onto win the 1/2 for the 2nd year running) .

By the 18km mark John’s aggressive tactics had yielded him 10+min lead over Andrius, Tom and Grant, with Matt Bixley  with in 3-4mins of the chasing group. From this point the course climbed 1000m in less than 4km. Positions were maintained over this section, with John firmly in control- it was a race to see who would round out  the podium. The chase group splinted at  the 23km aid station and 12km later, with 8km, 800m downhill to the finish Grant held a questionable 3-4min lead over Tom, with a similar gap back to Andrius.

Despite a questionable fashion sense, John Winsbury is all smiles with 8km to go. Photo: I am Alice

Things stayed this way to the finish, with Matt Bixley rounding out the top 5. But the day definitely belonged to John Winsbury, who ran strong from start to finish and was a class above. He collected the big points in the Skyrunning Series and plans on running the remanding races- he is making a late run.

The woman’s race had a lot more jostling for the win, with at least 4 different woman leading the race. A late starter was Wanaka Adventure racing guru Jo Williams, which added to an already competitive field. Mel Aitken took the early lead, running with the leading guys up the first climb over Nipple Hill, before being past on the first of 2 steep descents by Jo Johansen, Whitney Dagg and Jo Williams.  The 2 Jo’s lead up the 2nd climb, with Whitney, pre race favorite Beth Cardelli from Australia and Mel in pursuit. On the major climb of the day, both Jo’s still held 1st and 2nd, with Beth in 3rd, until the summit of Mt Difficulty, when Whitney Dagg started to move through the field.

Just before the days highest point Whitney moved into 3rd, then just 2km later, at the 23km aid station she caught Jo Williams, moving into 2nd. From here Jo Johnsen was in sight and by the time the Slapjack Saddle aid station was reached at  29km Whitney had moved in to first. Whitney held the lead, in the end wining by 9mins, with Jo Johnasen 2nd and Jo Williams in 3rd.

Whitney around 10km in.
Photo: Flashworks Media/John-Jo Ritson.

It was exciting to see the marathon grow from 11 starters last year, to the much bigger and competitive field of this year. Certainly the Ascents inclusion in the Aust/NZ Skyrunning Series helped boost interest and race numbers, but personally I think it has more to do with a growing interest in this style of race.

Results-

Woman-

1. Whitney Dagg- 5hr54
2. Jo Johansen- 6hr03
3. Jo Williams- 6hr10

Men-

1. John Winsbury- 5hr18
2. Grant Guise- 5hr27
3. Tom Hunt- 5hr34

FULL RESULTS

Friday saw the Buffalo 26km (which was changed to a 31-34km race depending on who you ask) and Matt Bixley lined up, set to tackle what was being dubbed the “Buffalo Triple Crown”- the 26, 75 and 42km races over 3 consecutive days. A mammoth undertaking but one which was right up Matt’s ally. Well, it would have been if he had not taken on the Barkley Marathons just a few weeks earlier. Matt crossed the finish line understandably spent, saying Barkley might have taken a bit more out of him than he expected.

Saturday morning saw the majority of the New Zealanders lining up- Whitney Dagg, Jo Johansen, Fiona Jane Wright Hayvice, Matt, Marty Lukes and myself (Grant Guise). The race went out at what felt like a ridiculously slow pace, with Tom Owens, Andrew Tuckey, John Winsbury and Mick Donges in a small pack, followed by a massive chase pack, with myself floating between, alone. I could see Marty, Jo and Whitney all behind me as we started out and was then past by James Roberts. I figured that was the last I would see of those boys out in front until the turn around on top of Mt Buffalo, but to my surprise, as I started down Mick’s track, John, Andrew and James where just in front. I found a nice line to descend on what is a silly steep (and fun) gradient and with little effort I arrived at Bakers Gully in 2nd, behind Tom who already had a big lead and was well out of sight. 2nd place 7km in was the last place I wanted to be and more so was the last place I belonged. But I figured I was here and may as well enjoy it…..

Your’s truly, nearing the top of “The Big Walk”. Photo: Mitch Lane

The 4 of us ran more or less together to the top of Keating Ridge, with Andrew and myself breaking away here. Andrew gapped me a little but we left Eurobin more or less together. Then Andrew gapped me properly early on the big walk, around the same time I started to hear John heckling me from below. John stormed past me, and then Tom Brazer blew past about 3/4 of the climb up. Marty, who had left Eurobin 10mins after I had, reached me at the top of Buffalo and we started the 7km loop together, before I was quickly dropped. There was a pattern forming and it consisted of me losing time and placings fast. During the loop I got to see Tom and Andrew flying past, as well as those behind me, including Whitney, Jo and Fiona- who were all running in the top 10! With Whitney looking super strong in 3rd place. I also saw Matt, who had pulled the pin, with Barkley finally catching up on him.

From here we re-traced our steps back to Bright. Down the Big Walk and back over Keating Ridge, I finally spotted someone closing in behind me- about time! I had been moving slowly, and was waiting for it to happen. Clark McClymont was closing in- he had his wizard sticks out and was tapping away, working his magic on the climb up Clear Spot. I recovered a little once we got off the real steep stuff and made a little ground before Clark stomped down to Bakers Gully and was on my tail. I hammered the flat section to the base of Mick’s track and was greeted with the ass ends of both Tom and John- what a lovely surprise!

I had visions of last year’s past glory and finishing strong in 4th place. I told myself I could do it again and got to work. But you can’t check out of a race like this 30km earlier, neglecting nutrition and pace and then decide to tag back in. I really was kidding myself and before long Tom and John walked away into the distance, Clark tap tapped his way closer and I dreamed of having a nap. Clark later told me I had a side to side stumble going on- the lesson here is if it feels like you are stumbling sideways, you probably are.

I pushed as hard as I could down Mystic and suffered the last flat 3km home, stopping under the big water fountain just before the finish line.

Tom Owens crushed it, Andrew Tuckey knocked 20mins off his time from last year and Marty showed his class and the young fellas how it is done, taking 3rd! It is very very cool to see Marty back running well- he is a force when in form.  Unfortunately, Whitney was also already at the finish, having had to drop at 60km with stomach issue. She was in 3rd at the time and after such a long injury lay off she is definitely back!

Jo crossed the line in 5th and Fiona in 9th+ in a very competitive women’s race, ending a successful day for our small team of kiwis.

Scott crossing the marathon finish in 9th.

Sunday saw what was viewed by many as the most competitive fields of the weekend, with the men’s and women’s marathons stacked. “Representing” NZ was Auckland based Lithuanian Andrius Ramonas and New Zealander Scott Hawker, who is living in Australia’s Blue Mountains. The race went out at a cracking pace and in the end the day belonged to young Australian Blake Hose and American Stevie Kremer, who both had strong wins, especially Blake. Andrius and Scotty both ran very strong and held their own, finishing 7th and 9th. Also running was Ann Bixley, once again resorting pride to the family name.

For me the Buffalo Stampede again delivered- a tough course, strong competition, well organized with great aid stations and course markings and an excellent venue in the town of Bright.  A big thank you to all involved in the weekend- our NZ crew of 8 that traveled together, Scott and Liz who baby sat me during my run, Bright Brewery for making such tasty brews and Sean and Mel for again hosting us and putting on such a great event! Thank you for the support you gave to Team UD in getting us over!

And thank you also to my sponsors (and employers )Ultimate Direction NZ and La Sportiva NZ.

More info-

Buffalo Website

Buffalo facebook

How do you write something about a race that continues to strive to remain a mystery, an enigma. I tapped out on Sunday afternoon, it’s now Wednesday and it’s still difficult to find the right terms to describe “What is the Barkley?” in any sense that can convey what the Barkley actually is. Because for the majority of those who would like a slot, it’s not what they think it is.

I arrived at Frozen Head State Park and the Big Cove Campground a week before the race was to start. Part recovery from travel, part course learning on the candy ass trails and part getting into the culture of the event. It’s that final part that I think most are missing when they think of the Barkley. Hanging out with the Characters, learning about the history of the race, the variations on the course and the unbelievable fight that continues to this day to keep the race alive and well in Frozen Head. The Park Superintendent doesn’t want it there. But there are good people fighting for it and I got to meet those people and feel their passion for the race.

I’d done my research, so I had a very good idea where everything lay on the park map. There were pieces that were difficult to decipher from all the descriptions, but once Nicki Rehn (Aussie/Canadian – but definitely an Aussie twang) showed up with her old maps I was able to piece together the final sections and hear from a fellow Rogainer her interpretation of the course in terms that I could relate to. But Navigating is just one of the myriad of skill sets required to successfully negotiate the Barkley. The tried and true approach for a virgin is just to follow a Vet and learn the lines and book locations. That’s all well and good but if they’re too fast or too slow for your goals or if they don’t know where the books are then eventually it will go bad for you. Actually it will go bad for you anyway.

Sunday to Tuesday I ran parts of the course on the candy ass trails, having a look and getting a feel for the shape of the terrain, the underfoot conditions and the unrelenting steepness of the off trail climbs. If I was able to describe a single climb and the terrain it would look something like a vertical slope up a distinct ridge, with a few rocks here and there. There bush is sparse, mature Oaks, with very little ground cover. Perhaps like running through beech forest with 70% of the tress missing. Sounds easy, and it is, for 1 climb, but each loop has 13 of them.

Loop 1 – Laz finally, to the frustration of the vets, blew the Conch at 10:22 for an 11:22 start. Why? Because exactly 9 hours later it was the end of Civil Twighlight and the 2nd loop would start in the dark for everyone. Book 1 was negotiated with a large group following multiple fun run finishers, Alan and Bev Abbs, we then shot down to Book 2 where Alan may have been playing games and didn’t hit it. Virgin scrapping is taken seriously, Tim Dines and I left them to get a fixed point and came back to the book and then started up Hillpocalypse, at a rough grade of 40% for the next 30 minutes or so. Across to the Garden Spot and Book 3 with another vet, but then a missing turn found us well above where we needed to be for the Buttslide and Book 4 followed quickly by Book 5 and then the complicated descent of Stallion/Fykes Peak to the New River. I dropped the vet I was running with here to catch another going through the now infamous Vagina Book on a new section and then the new descent to Raw Dog Falls. Now the biggest choice of the whole day. Danger Daves Climbing Wall or Pussy Ridge. Danger Daves it was and a scramble up an 80% slope to drop down onto the Barrel and Book 7 before the monumental climb up Rat Jaw and the plummet down to the Prison, the Tunnel and more rock climbing up a vertical wall. Just 2 more huge climb remaining, the Bad Thing and Big Hell with the shitty descent down Zipline to the Beech Fork in between. After the 45 minute run down from Chimney Top, if Laz had the Easy Button out I’d have hit it. But I was under no illusions of how difficult things were going to get. By the time I arrived 3 had already tapped out and in my turn around I heard the bugle play twice more.
Loop 1 – ~9:30 about 12th place

Loop 2 – With a goal to be efficient, Mike Dobies (card carrying beer SNOB) who’d been mentoring me for the week in both the course and beer tasting, had me turned around in 12 minutes and only 25 minutes down on the Abbs, who’d left a trail of virgin carnage in their wake. The night was cold, there is much debate as to how cold it really was. It felt around the -5 Celcius to me, but others will swear black and blue that it was lower than -10C. I was still running in shorts until 1am or so, with an Icebreaker T, Thermal Top and light Shell, eventually putting on thermal pants when I waited for a vet just behind me to help get the correct line through the Garden Spot-Buttslide section. Didn’t quite nail the descent off Stallion this time but still hit the road crossing, then Book 6 where the Abbs had dropped after spending some looking for it. Rat Jaw was now a feared beast as the sun rose and the expectation was a 2 hour climb, but pleasently just 1:20. Night had taken it’s toll on many and slowly those in front came back to us, even at the glacial slowness we were moving. Back at the Yellow gate after a cleanish but somewhat slow 14.5 hour loop and a meagre 4 minutes inside the cut to continue for the 100.

Matt with Barkley RD, Lars.

Loop 3 – having joked at the gate that I wished I was slower so that I didn’t have to go back out there, the reality was I felt fantastic. Legs obviously tired, but mentally alert and ready to tackle each of the climbs one at a time as efficiently as possible and carry on getting pages until Laz said I couldn’t anymore. The 3rd Loop is the 1st in Reverse. So I left the gate, now in 4th, staring at a 1.5-2 hour climb up over Rough Ridge and on further to Chimney Top. It was going fine until the last steep upper section and I found myself lying on the ground (sounds familiar to Ben & Blake at Buffalo last year). I have no idea what happened which threw all sorts of doubts into my head. I dropped back to the saddle and lay in the sun and napped for a few minutes. But I think I’d already quit. I was disconcerting to know that there were places I was going where collapse could cause a lot of problems for a lot of people, at the Barkley you rescue yourself. In the 30 years of running, no one has ever needed to be rescued. They ALL find their own way back to the yellow gate. As it turns out, everyone around me also tapped out or endured a long 2nd night completing the loop only to be tapped out at the gate. Three even tapped out within 1km of where I lay on the course. All strong people, all found a limit that seems so short, but going further and further away from the gate with some many hours to face alone, it gets to you.

The Barkley attacks you, but it is addictive. It is not the race the many who seek to do it, think it is. Please don’t ask for the details, especially if you’re a girl, the race is too hard for girls. Laz genuinely wants people to do well, he doesn’t need to extend the already extensive list of people with no hope of anything more than 1 loop. Yes It is actually hard to get around 1 loop. The ground conditions, while OK by NZ standards, are rough. If you want to line up, you should consider yourself one of the best Adventure racers or Rogainers in the Country. The closest I can get to describing how hard it is, is to imagine doing the Motatapu Adventure Race, from Fernburn to Macetown, then return, then go back to Macetown etc etc. Now imagine doing the out and back and it feels easy. That is as close as I can get to describing how monumentaly hard and unrelenting the course is.

A huge thanks to Ultimate Direction for all the gear, there were numerous PB Adventure Vests on course and it was fun camping with the US Ambassador Heather Anderson. Also to Andrew and Heather at Enduro Safety for their support.

Its not just the toughness factor and the out of this world scenery of Waterfalls, massive sand dunes, clifftops and hundreds of years old native Kauri forest that keeps me coming back to the Hilliary, it is also now part of the Oceania Skyrunning series. I had alot more fear and anxiety going into the Hilliary this time as my performance at TuM left me seriously doubting my abilities as a runner. Under new Guidance and help I was nervous but had trust in my training and was looking forward to seeing how the race pans out.

We start at the Arataki visitor center where Sarah Hilliary handed Shaun a very special meaningful scarf from Tibet associated with her father, the late Sir Ed.

The countdown starts and we head off on the trail named in honour of Sir Edmund Hilliary-what a legend. We start off comfortably in the dark its very muggy and murky and the sweat is dripping in the first 5kms, I just knew from here that this is going to be a hot day. The trail starts out very technical from go with lots and lots of tree roots, twists and turns, steep ups and downs- I love this type of technical running through native bush. At this point dark is turning into light, I meet up with Fiona and soon enough Beth and an Aussie guy who is doing his second ultra and coached by Brendan Davies.. We have a good banter about races and the trail for a wee while till we pull away from each other. I follow Beth and not long after that I take my first fall when heading into a dip jumping on a log to slip right off smashing my knee into another log losing all grip, hats, headlamps and all. With the knee throbbing I keep my speed to catch up with Beth and within a couple of kms of running downhill fast I completely lose control on the trail and go right off course into scrub and bush. I find this more hilarious then hurting. Coming out the bush I roll my ankles twice. In total for the day I counted 10 times I rolled my ankles- the next event they will be strapped!

Coming into Huia I was already limping but felt strong and happy. I grab a whole lot of gingernuts, a banana, water and head off. Here was the first big climb of the day – less then 2k up to the ridgeline, with just over 400m ascent. Basically when you leave each aid station on The Hilliary trail you always climb up. At this stage leaving Huia, Beth was just in front of me, as we start this steep climb, which we hike fast. Getting up onto the ridgeline it flattens out to some short fast running and then after some big undulations we top out, the cloud has lifted away and we are on clifftops, with views of the harbor and Whatipu Valley. This is probably my favorite part of the course and I am filled with excitement with being in such a wild environment.

Running on the edge of a sharp clifftop in between native bush with waves crashing below, only you and nature. This was only the time I forgot I was in a race. It was a steep descend into Whatipu aid station. Out of water I was quick to hydrate and for the first time ever I use the sports electrolyte drink supplied by R-line ,which I actually really liked and went down well. I was also going with eating alot more real food then usual, taking my time at aid stations looking at what I actually felt like instead of speeding through. It was a day of hot cross buns, tonnes of gingernuts, bananas, snacklogs,snickners bars and a few gels. Seems alot and when I look back and at times I felt heavy- funny that, so next time I wont over load.

Leaving Whatipu into a 200m vertical climb with weaving technical single track ahead. Throughout the course there are a series of foot baths where you brush your shoes and stamp over a spongey soapy path. This is to stop the spread of the  Kaui dieback disease.We want to keep our native bush thriving and surviving- not dying. Once again the climb flattens and undulates then to a big zig zag steep descent into the marshlands. It was a relief to cross through a high stream cooling off the legs and face. I made the most out of each stream crossing as I ran out of water all day long . Moving round the broadwalks you climb up a valley that drops into Kara Kare. Starting to feel the pain here and knowing the suffering is about to start, I am not really worried bout catching Beth or Fiona catching me, I focus more on being able to see my brother at Piha which will be delightful and just what I need.

Jo refueling at Piha.

The heat of the day was in full force, but at least the further into the course, the less technical the trail gets. getting to closer to Piha I started to see more people out and about and the track was much more easier. Running along the tarmac road was not as bad as I thought, but cars, people, a big sun beating down and each step hurting, I was hating the arrival into Piha, that was until Is seen my brother standing there. The guys and girls on the aid station here are fantastic and are onto your needs before you even need to think about it. Knowing my brother will see me at each aid station from here until end reassures me. From here you head along the very busy beach for a km or two and it is hard to pinpoint where to pull off the beach,but thankfully a could see one runner 400ms ahead.

Knowing its only 34ks to go I am slightly uplifted and  focus in on get the job done. Another 200m climb- we head up onto farmland and in the open from now on with wide clay tracks that are a nice change and easier to run. Passing by waterfalls  (which I nearly jumping in) you then come to the walls of the Bethells sand dunes, first thing I think of is great hill repeat training here. You follow the stream below then pop out onto a road at Bethells beach. I’m pretty full from food here and feeling a bit over it, suffering with heat and hurt As I load the coke in a see Fiona arrive! Biggest fright I ever got and I forget about standing around and take off. For the first time I feel a burst of energy-  all the pain has gone and I am fighting for my position. It must be adrenaline, I just dig it in and say to myself that I am gonna push it like never before. I kept thinking I had been wasting my time feeling sorry for myself suffering mid way through the course.

The Hillary top 3 girls- Beth, Jo and Fiona.

The Last 16k is not far but there are other runners from the 16k & 34k distance on the course. Feeling the pressure I wanted none in the way and being on the narrow Te Henga walkway in the open sun was very challenging. Looking over my shoulder constantly I could see that I had pulled away from Fiona but I maintained my focus right till the end. Running out of water coming into Constable St aid station I abuse my brother for water. In a panic I drink lots of coke and go, the last 7 kms go quickly which is a surprise as I usually find the last kms take forever. Last 2kms come and I am absolutely busting to pee, but I definitely not stopping!. I am stoked to finish without any major problems, having a great day running and new experiences. Thank you so much Shaun for putting on another great, well organised event.Thanks to all the volunteers, supporters and my brother Joseph.Cant do it without these peeps- Ultimate Direction (Jenny Vesta and AK trucker for sun protection) , Hoka One One NZ (Kailua) and Marmot NZ.

At Tarawera I had decided to run my own race, ignore everyone else. Pretty much jog for 60km then hopefully begin to push a bit harder over the final 40km. Didn’t quite work. It was more a case of 60km jog, 30km slower jog and then 10km pushing hard. However at The Hillary my plan was to try and keep in touch with the leaders while aiming for under 9 hours. In my head the guys pushing at the front would be offshore kiwi Scott Hawker fresh from a win at the Ultra Easy 100km six weeks earlier, Andrius  Ramonas fresh from a bunch of NZ trail victories in the last few months and who also passed me at the 85km mark at Tarawera and the not so fresh but tough as nuts Ironman Sam Clark who had the misfortune of having to ride an extra 77km at Ironman Taupo 7 days earlier to get his finishers medal.

The alarm on my phone went off just before 3am. Sleepily I lied back down waiting for my alarm on my watch to go off. Shortly after I got up anyway and went to cancel them before they went off. It was already 3:10am. They should have already gone off.  Opps!  Set on pm not am. That would have been a disaster.

A quick bite, a nice hot shower at the Muriwai motor camp and then a 3 minute walk to the race finish where the bus would pick us up and take us to the start. What could be easier? It also meant I didn’t have to navigate my way through Auckland at night.

With Cyclone Pam bearing down on the country I was a bit surprized to find the gear requirements had been relaxed a little. No jacket, no hat and no gloves.  I quite like it when there is more stuff to carry for some reason. It must be the adventure racer in me. However, a quick repack and I was ready to go. A few nice words from Sarah Hillary, (daughter of Sir Edmund Hillary) and we were sent on our way to enjoy 80km of trail heaven that race director Shaun Collins has worked so hard to establish a race on for us. How lucky are we. Thanks Shaun.

Sam Clark was the early leader until he made a crucial mistake 3 minutes in by missing the first shoe scrubbing bay. There were 17 shoe baths and scrubbing  bays along the way to restrict the spread of Kauri Dieback. As Sam doubled back I took the lead as we headed into the official Hillary trail following the start loop. The 6 am start meant we were in darkness for the first hour beneath the thick canopy of the Waitakare ranges regional park. After about 40 min I settled in behind Andrius and Scott but slowly began to drop off because my light wasn’t as bright. (that’s what I keep telling myself anyway). While running by myself, my race nearly came to an abrupt end as I jumped across a small muddy creek bed. Watching where my feet were going, I didn’t notice a rather large branch sticking out. The branch skimmed off my collar bone and hit my trapezius from the front, just missing my neck. One step backwards while grabbing the guilty branch for balance, I said “ouch” and few other things before continuing on my way. The lights of Andrius and Scott slowly disappeared from view just as the daylight began to make things a little clearer. Coming out onto Huia dam after an hours running, I was 200m behind while a small group behind were about the same distance back. Drinking and eating as much as I could was my main focus for the day. Coming into the Huia aid station my supplies were pretty much empty as planned. I quick top up and I was underway again but with only a small gap to the leaders.

Just out of the  Huia aid station the biggest climb of the day takes us up over 400m. Tagging on behind Scott and Andrius the uphill was comfortable given the early stage of the race. Across the tops we chatted back and forth about races coming up and ….. nah, that’s pretty much it. Just races.  Along the open peaks before the Whatipu aid station I notice Scott admiring the scenery. Relaxing for a bit I did the same, realising it’s a long day and I might as well enjoy it before the time and distance sets in and moving takes all of my focus. Two minutes later, Andrius was off the front and Scott was trailing 20m behind in second. I’d been dropped or my legs didn’t really want to respond. Perhaps both. In hindsight I probably should have stayed in my happy place just cruising along in third instead of tagging on for the uphill.  Drinking and eating.

I refuelled at the aid station with the leaders out of sight. Was that it for me for the day? Was I about to start going backwards? I kept on piling the food and drink in. By now I was craving water. The descent on the Muir track couldn’t come soon enough. Unfortunately, with it came Sam Clark. We chatted for a bit. I told him when I’d last seen the guys up front and they were both pretty talented guys. Sam said something about “even guys with long fuses can blow”. Before I could come up with a witty or rude reply he was out of ear shot.

Crossing the Pararaha stream I took a big drink and filled a bottle. “That’s high quality H20” I thought before chasing Sam up the Buck Taylor track. At the Karekare aid station I was told that the leader was 15 min in front then the other two were only 5 min in front. Something had happened. After  a slightly slower refuel, noticing the aid station table for the first time rather than just my drop bag I headed for the hills banana in hand. I settled into a pretty good rhythm even though it felt slow. I was beginning to find it hard to eat all my drop bag food and drink my fairly high concentrated drink but as I wasn’t really having a great day I figured I should still load up my pack with all my drop bag food because if I didn’t eat it today I could eat it tomorrow climbing Mount Ruapehu with Mal Law in quest to raise $400,000 for mental health in the high50 challenge. I was hoping there would be a lot of walking.

Sam Clark running along the Piha Beach (we didn’t have a photo of Chris!)

Piha Aid Station came and went. With another banana in hand as I hit the beach and headed for the Piha Surf club tower.  As I ran along the beach I was thinking “Where do I turn in? Where are all the markers? Someone should be out here directing us.”  It was about then that I realised I was running on the foot prints in the sand of about 100 runners who had just started the 34km event 10 minutes earlier. As my eyes traced the tracks along the beach I spotted a marshal off in the distance. “That way then” I thought. Off the beach and beginning to climb I met the tail enders of the 34km. That gave me a bit of focus. I knew the more I picked off the faster the next ones would be.  Andrius had come through with a sizeable lead and well clear of the 34km competitors. Sam had come through in second still in front of the 34kers while Scott came through shortly after. Not knowing this at the time but my chasing position through the 34kers after they had spread out possibly helped me focus more so than getting passed by them would have.

By now the sun was scorching hot. I was dipping my hat in every creek I crossed and drank from a few of the better ones. Running through the stream out of Lake Wainamu at the Bethells Beach sand dunes made me want to stop and go for a swim, but I was so close to the end now with only one real hill to go. While stocking up on food and drink at the Bethells aid station I notice a few big bottles of sunscreen. I left a minute later with a really bad paint job.  Two full bottles and pockets packed with surplus food I was beginning to feel quite good. Forgetting the 64km I had just run. I only had 16 to go. That’s not far. I focused on runner after runner. Nearing the top of the last “real hill” of the day I saw a group of about 6 trampers ahead of me. As I approached I noticed one of them was the familiar figure of Scott, not looking very spritely.  I asked a fairly stupid question like “Scott, how’s it going?” when I obviously knew the answer. I then asked him if he had any food because I had heaps. He explained that food wasn’t the issue.  He was having hamstring problems. He then told me that Sam was only 12 minutes in front. From having an average day, to feeling good, to feeling like bridging a 12 minute gap in the last 90min happened in about 60 seconds. I took off after Sam. With about 2km to go on the Te Henga walkway  I spotted him across a small gully. At about the same time he spotted me. I stuffed some food down followed by a drink thinking that I wanted to be fuelled up in case I have a race on my hands. As I approached I realised Sam was in a bit of difficulty cramping up pretty badly and just generally not enjoying himself. I gave him an electrolyte tablet but he was out of water. I was pretty low at that stage too so wasn’t much help. I explained that the next aid station was less than 3km away but I don’t think that helped either. Any other day I’m sure Sam would have run away from me. I’m also sure that he’ll come back stronger, wiser and more determined next year.

The Hillary 80km top 3- Scott, Andrius and Chris.

I hit the Constable road aid station in about  8hours 20, giving me about  4 minutes to bridge the 5km gap to Andrius out in front. Breaking last years record by over 14 minutes and oblivious to the carnage that was going on behind him, Andrius crossed the line in 8:23:59. I crossed in 8:55:31 for second while the positions continued to change behind me. Scott came through for third and Sam came home in fourth.

The finish line. What a place. A big aid station, ice creams, hot food, ice baths, tents and chairs. Amazing. It’s the small things at big races that make the races a success and The Hillary had it all. Big thanks again to Shaun, his crew and the huge number of volunteers out on the course for making our day the easiest a technical hilly 80km race can be.

FULL RESULTS