Well I figured half the battle was won by arriving at the start line. Oh how wrong I was!

Chamonix is an amazing place, huge mountains and glaciers visible from everywhere. Fit people striding around with their backpacks. Parapenters filling the skies. The town was absolutely  abuzz with race excitement. I enjoyed myself enormously in the myriad of sports shops. So it was with a SHOPPERS high that I found myself  in the front starting box of the UTMB.
They began to play their famous starting music ( which I found quite funny actually) and we were off in pouring rain. I made my classic and extremely witty “No one told me there were hills!” Joke and there was deathly silence ooops no one spoke English.
I was pretty happy until the first hill where I came to a grinding halt and was passed by streams of people marching up with sticks.

Mistake No1: I considered myself too high and mighty for  cheating sticks.

Jean having a sit down mid UTMB.

After a muddy downhill ( yahooooo) there was a muddy up . Without sticks it was one step up two steps back. Again heaps of people passed me. From this point on any delusions of grandeur I had were gone and  my aim was to enjoy myself and finish.
The rain stopped and the second major climb up Croix du Bonhomme was amazing. It was warm and clear, this weather lasted throughout the run ( so no excuses there!)
As far as the eye could see above and below me were thousands of head lights.
When I arrived at the top I decided to hug the ‘lucky’ aid crew at the top of each peak (I remembered the first two and forgot all the rest).
With 30 minutes to go to Courmayer I met a man who’s batteries were flat and he followed me closely down the hill. At the bottom were 20 or so spectators all cheering “bravo! Bravo!”, I fell on my arse and slid the rest of the way down ….so typical.

Mistake No2 :No dry socks in my drop bag.

At this point I was leading my age group by miles but I had no idea and assumed I was doing really badly.
Dawn was breaking and Italian  Courmayer was a beautiful town, all cobbled streets and wonderful buildings.
Another steep slow climb up to Refuge Bertone.
Amazing amazing scenery, here is where I saw Mt Blanc for the first time in all her glory!

There were wonderful fir tree forests and alpine flowers, glaciers and huge scree slopes.
At every village I passed people were yelling “bravo! Bravo! allez! allez!” Really cool. The Italian toilets though were those stand and crouch thingies. My legs were sore and I was seriously worried about being able to get up again!
Climbing (slowly… sorry was still not over my climbing speed) up Grand col Ferret my feet began to hurt. When I descended into La Fouly they became extremely painful and pins and needlely. I broke my ‘ no sitting till it’s over’ rule and sat down. And the DNF word crossed my mind I was bloody tired and thought my progress was very slow.
But I  decided to ignore feet and hobble on to Champex-Lac where my marvelous friend Jennifer was waiting. We decided to get my feet checked out in the medical tent. They cheerfully injected iodine into the blisters. This was excruciatingly painful. I had an audience of young boys who thought it was all very entertaining!

FINISHED! Jean, 2nd in her age group.

Unfortunately this took a long time and I lost 1hr45. However at the time I was so lala I had no idea of this. But I was keen to carry on for another night. And I had Jennifer to look forward to in another 17K at Trient.

Mistake No3: care about your competition.

Except for a couple of stops to adjust foot bandages the second night was pretty neat.
I would think I was approaching an aid station but it would be a flock of cows with their bells ringing. One aid station gave me some fatty steak, thought I’d died and gone heaven! Jennifer was waiting at Trient and I must admit I had lost focus by now and was cruising along on a happy high confident that I would finish. My first place status completely forgotten! And the winner sneaked past me at the next aid station.
The last major climb up Tete aux vents began easily enough albeit with some hallucinations and then became very steep. Near the top there was no track and a lot of boulders to clamber over. It became quite misty and surreal. On the final down hill it gradually became light and I could just make out some incredible rock formations.
Being in no particular hurry!!! I stopped at La Flegere for some soup. The last 8k from here was all runnable. Once I told my sore legs who was boss I was able to get some reasonable speed up. This was lucky as there were a couple more old ladies in my age group very close behind !
And then it was Jennifer and I running though the streets of Chamonix. I mistimed my AWESOME finish sprint twice thinking it was the end, but finally made it, finishing 2nd veteran woman!
And my prize? Probably the only UTMB Cow Bell in NZ!!!

The Northburn 100 took place this weekend in amazing and very ” un-Northburn” like weather. While in the past strong winds, rain and even snow have featured, this year’s race took place in clear and calm conditions. Little to no wind and cool nights made for good running conditions, but temps reaching in the high 20′s during the day did play havoc.

Wouter Hamelinck climbing during the 2nd lap. Photo: Northburn Facebook.

At 25km, at  the top of the first climb, a list of the usual suspects-  Ben Winrow, Glenn Kelly, Glenn Sutton, Malcolm McLeod and Malcolm Brown, were all within 4mins of each other. Also included in this group was Wouter Hamelinck, a name that we had not heard before.  By 39km Wouter had 10mins on the chasing group. Arriving at the base area, 50km in, I quizzed Wouter (aka Yeti) on his background- HardRock, Ultra Trail Mt Blance, Tor des Géants were just a few of the races Wouter had ticked off = loads of experience. By this time it was heating up and he also revealed he had dnf’d the Western States 100 last year because of the heat.

Arriving about 10mins after was 2012 winner Glenn Sutton, not even stopping as he just swapped pack and kept going. Glenn Kelly was a few mins behind. The next 2 laps (100km) things more or less stayed the same, with big changes coming from people dropping out from the heat- Glenn Kelly and Michael Beaumont to name a few. Wouter had a 90min lead by 100km, while Malcom Brown had moved into 2nd place, just 5mins ahead of Sutton at the 100km.

At the 100km point 2012 women’s winner, Jean Beaumont was in a league of her own, but an 1hr back on Brown and Sutton. But 60km later Jean finished tied for 3rd overall with Malcom McLeod, in 26hr24. Both Jean and MeLeod finished the last 60km lap very strongly, making up around 1hr on Glenn, but still 15mins behind – a replay of the 2012 race where Jean finished very strong. Both Jean and Glenn ran about 20mins faster than in 2012.

Wouter Hamelinck had it all to himself, stopping the clock in an impressive 24hr33min, in the 2nd fastest time recorded at Northburn.

The 100km and 50km races saw clear winners in the form of Matty Abel, running 11hr46 to beat his own 100km course record he set last year. Matty took control early and ran strong all day.

US runners, Sage Canaday and Sandi Nypaver both ran away in the 50km race, setting new course records of 4hr45 and 6hr08.

Matty Abel winning his 2nd Northburn 100km title, in new CR. Photo Barrett Hocking.

Northburn Results HERE

Northburn Facebook- lots of photos

Northburn100 website

Leading kiwi runners:

Ruby Muir on her way to owning the 2012 Kepler. Photo: Graham Dainty

• Ruby Muir (Vibram) last year’s winner in the 2^nd fastest time ever by a woman at the Kepler. It has been a MASSIVE year for Ruby, I know how she would like to finish it off, but it will depend on how the lingering injures and niggles are holding up- ‘’If my injuries let me through then I’m fairly confidant I can still run a time similar to last year as I have a whole year of running behind me instead of a year and a half on the couch.”
• Whitney Dagg (The North Face) had a great run at the Surf Coast Century 100km beating Australia’s leading females, but has struggled with a knee injury since. More than capable of going under 6hrs (6:10 in 2012), but a lot will depend on the long downhill and how her ITB holds up. -“I have only been back running for 3 weeks due to my IT band friction syndrome. So I have been doing some last minute Kepler training to try get as fit as I can for the race. I don’t want to miss out on a great race so just going to give it my best shot.”
• Shireen Crumpton (Mizuno) has run a 5hr46 (2010) and holds the long standing Luxmore Grunt record along with numerous national titles. Shireen is very experienced, getting up and over the hill will be no problem, you cannot count her out!

Internationals:

• 

  Kami Semick racing in China earlier this year.

  Kami Semick, USA (The North Face) Her record is long, most notably winning the World 100km and 50km titles in 2009. She placed 3^rd in the worlds biggest ultra-marathon, Comrades, in 2011 but was forced to withdraw in 2012 and 2013 with injury. You’d be wrong if you think she’s a road runner- 2^nd at Western States 100mile and course record at Vermont 100mile to name a few and Kami has been over the Kepler before. She will bring a mass of experience to the start line. “The build up has probably been the most unique of any race I’ve done. I had a 300km journey through Western China/Eastern Tibet in Sept, then quickly followed that with a stage race in Nepal a couple of weeks later. So I’ve had some good altitude exposure, but…doubt it will last!”

• Landie Greylings, South Africa (Salomon Running)- possibly a name that most have not heard of in NZ. A solid 9^th in the 2013 World Ultra Trail Champs in Wales shows she can run, but probably of more interest  to us, is the fact she was less than 4mins behind Ruby Muir at the Otter Trail Run in South Africa back in September- it promises to be quite the re-match! “I am looking forward to Kepler and had really high expectations, but came down with a terrible flu, so have been flat in bed since last Monday….”

Chase pack- The 2013 Kepler winner will likely come from one of the above 5 names, but on their heals, picking up the carnage that will no doubt result from a fast race up front will be the following ladies-

• DAWN TUFFERY (Vibram)
• JEAN BEAUMONT
• KERI HOUSTON

What are YOUR predictions?? Leave a comment! 

This weekend will see the 7th running of the Great Naseby Water Race, taking place on the gravel roads, old water races and single tracks on the outskirts of the small historic Otago town that is Naseby. This year will see not only the biggest field ever for the GNWR but also a 100mile option – both things are great news for ultra running in New Zealand. But it is not just the quantity of runners, there is also a quality field turning up to Naseby. Arguably the best collection of runners at an ultra in the South Island this year over the 50km, 80km, 100km and 100mile distances.

Below is a small preview and a few names to watch- we are sure we have missed some off- but are not claiming this to be an all knowing preview, please feel free to leave comments of other competitors. You can read History and the Truth of the GNWR in earlier posts on BCR.

100mile- the new Main Event

• Marty Lukes (Asics), the GNWR 100km record holder and NB100mile record holder is hands down the one to beat here. Expect the Chch school teacher to “cruise” a few laps, teasing the field, before dropping hammer, winning big and then crawling into his sleeping bag some time before 4am Saturday morning.
• And this is where the 100mile at Naseby gets interesting (sorry Marty)- there are 6-7 guys that will be smashing themselves and each other in the wee hours of Saturday morning. When the dust settles (and the sun comes up?) I
  

  Jean and Glen after there wins at the Northbrun 100mile in 2012.

think 2012 Northburn100 winner Glen Sutton and John Bayne will likely round out the podium to become the 2nd and 3rd people to ever receive a Great Naseby Water Race belt buckle. But my dark horse pick (of the whole weekend) is Mark Wareing.

• Jean Beaumont’s last romp at 100miles in NZ was at the NB100mile in 2012 where she ran 2nd overall in a smoking 26hr45. Jean is as strong as they come, with lots of experience. Given she likely is a bit fresher than Amy, we are picking her for the win.
• Amy Howse (Campbell) (Asics) would no doubt give Jean a real run on this course with fresh legs, but having just run the fastest ever time by a New Zealander at Badwater little more than a month ago we are thinking Amy might still feel that stella effort in her legs. We are hoping not and would love to see her and Jean battle it out!

100km-

Michael Rodliffe, Naseby 2012 100km

• Gary Melhuish (Patagonia/Merrell) is making his 100km debut and look for him to run away for the win, much in the same fashion we expect Marty to in the 100mile. But this will be Gary’s first 100k and anything can happen in an ultra- if he falters- look for the 2 guys below to take advantage. But if Gary nails his nutrition and paces well early in the race I am picking he could go close to Marty Lukes 100km record…….
• Simon Wooding is another making his 100km debut, but with a solid run at the kepler last year and a win in the GNWR 50km in 4hr04 in 2012 he is ready to make the step up.
• Michael Rodliffe is no stranger to either Naseby or ultras. 2nd in the 100k here last year in 9hr23, he has had some big training lately and it does not seem that Naseby is a focus race for him.
• Shannon-Leigh Litt is back to defend her 100km title from last year and is our favourite for the win in the women’s 100km. Since this time last year Shannon has raced her fair share of ultra, including winning the NZ 100km title in May.

80km

• The 80km at Naseby seems to always have the smallest field, and this year there is a clear favourite in Brad Monaghan who clocked 7hr10min for the 80km her last year (it is  apity he is not lining up at 6am!).

50km

• Well there has been a bit of talk about Kristian Day (Barefoot Inc) running away with the win and course record in the 50km at this years GNWR, he will be pushed and made to work for it. Certainly KDay is our pre race favourite, even with a few niggles that have seen him on the bike training.
• Ben Aynsley from Greymouth clocked a 5hr39 (12mins faster than Kristian) in a very competitive Kepler last year and will push Kristian for sure and no doubt has the speed and endurance to win (and get the course record??).
• Victoria Beck (Nike) is the favorite for the women’s 50km win- the 2011 Kepler winner is a class act. It is the one thing that I think is almost guaranteed to happen this weekend in Naseby (and I guess Marty winning the 100mile- but that is a long way and anything could happen over that distance).
• late entry- Nathan Jones- Nathan’s name just popped up on the start list this morning. Nathan has a strong background in multi sport (top 10 C2C) and good showings at the likes of Kepler and Routeburn, he should round out the top 3 in the 50km.

There is also a 60km (2x 30km) relay event at the GNWR.

More exciting than the top runners lining up this weekend is all the people that are lining up in their “first”- first ultra, first 100km or first 100mile. Unexpectedly and with little fanfare, the Great Naseby Water Race has become a key event in the New Zealand ultra running calendar. As much for its mid winter show down between some of the country’s top runners, but more so for its key role in the development and fostering of ultra runners and the ultra running community in New Zealand- with a fun, challenging and social event that brings together like minded folks. I won’t be at Naseby this weekend, so if you can please make sure to thank Aileen and Jamie for me!

Start- photo- www.outdoorphotography.co.nz

Northburn 100 this weekend, held on Northburn Station just outside Cromwell, seemed to have a bit of everything. The race itself is crazy hard, with the 100mile having over 8000 vertical meters of climbing, but what stood out for me this past weekend was the weather- easily the most changeable weather I can remember- gale winds that knocked people to the ground, warm temps, heavy rain, clear, starry skys and even a hail storm and a dusting of snow. 

I guess I feel a little burnt out on the NB100 after doing the live updates- but far out that was a blast! This is not a personal blog, so I will not get into it too much, but as my first “official” outing for this new website it was a really good time and the feedback and support we were getting via the live feed and from the amount of traffic this website has gotten during its first week of being up and running has been pretty choice- thanks for the support!

Back to the Northburn100!

The racing was exciting and not just for those top spots, but as the day wore on and a new one started, following all of those racing was a real treat. Below are a few of the highlights

• Blair McWhirter- not only is Blair super-fast, he is also one of the nicest guys around. I ran and videoed him coming into the 39km check point and he chatted away about his race. You couldn’t tell he had run 39km, 2000+ vertical meters and we were jogging uphill during the video! No surprize he smoked the 50k, winning by 40mins.
• Damien Seller- the Frenchmen picked the Northburn 100km as his first 100k race and nailed it. He was all smiles. Best part of the day Damien? “right now… if someone can get me a beer”
• Ray Sanchez- he was the favourite on paper pre-race and that was before he started talking about finishing the 100mile in 20hrs! Ray’s ultra-résumé is impressive and the article in the OTD where he stated his finishing time goal really brought an extra element of excitement to the race. Never mind that he got lost for 4hrs just before Mt Horn and DNFed at 100k, during the early stages of the race it was all Sanchez. Best part, chatting with him on Sunday morning it sound like he might be back next year.
• “Grand Central Station”- that’s what the big tent at the start/finish area was like, (where runners came back to at the end of each of the 3 laps), especially at the end of lap 1. It was madness, as runners, pacers, crew and supporters beavered around. Rachael and Emma kept the score board up to date, while the Cromwell Loins Club had the cheeseburgers cranking.
• Terry and Ed  (Highland Events), Lisa and Tom- they put on a great event- seeing Tom fang around on his dirt bike was a highlight.
• Glenn Sutton- 5+hr faster than last year – 26hrs33min and the overall win! Didn’t see THAT coming did you? Great run Glenn!
• Andre and Gordi- this side story is a gem. Gordi’s light was playing up during the 2^nd lap and as a result they spent the next 20 or so hours together. Strangers on the start line, these 2 lads could not have had more opposite NB build ups. Gordi injured and hardly trained couldn’t stay away and was a late entry- about 1 week before the race. Andre on the other hand has raced his ass off the last few months, including TuM a week before. Following these 2 along during the race was really good fun.
• Sam Gash- she won the woman’s 100k, smiling the whole way I am sure!
• Jim Kerse- yeah Jim dnf’d during the 2^ndlap of the 100miler- but the guy is 60+yrs old and a total legend in the NZ ultra-scene. You simply can’t not have huge respect for Jim.
  

  Jean- Photo- outdoorphotography.co.nz

• Jean Beaumont – she won the woman’s 100mile, was only 14mins behind Glenn,  and her new course record will be very hard to beat! It was her first 100mile race- no pacer, no crew, no support team. I was lucky enough to run a few sections with her getting photos and video and was so impressed. Jean also busted out the quote of the weekend to one Matt Bixley  “So…you just got Beaumonted”- this is because she ran faster than Matt’s 2^nd place finish time from 2011. She is also my new hero- sorry Marty Lukes, you are last week’s news buddy.
• All those that had the guts to stand on that start line at 6am Saturday morning! It was a real pleasure to track your progress throughout the day(s).

1^st Place Finishers-

50km- Blair McWhirter and Emma Bilous

100km- Damien Seller and Samantha Gash

100mile- Glenn Sutton and Jean Beaumont

Official Results

SportzHub Report