This is far from a  ”Race Preview”, but rather a quick look at a few names that jumped out on the start lists. So remember- don’t fold under the pressure if you see your name and don’t get hurt feelings if it is not listed

Adventure Run runners nearing Jack Hall Saddle during last years event.

Marathon- Without Vic Beck or Sarah Douglas running this year one might think the women’s race is wide open- enter Mel Aitken. Clearly in good form, Mel is a favorite for the marathon win, with Johannah Jackson another name to watch.

Vajin Armstrong will be looking for his 2nd win at Motatapu after running 2hr51 for first in 2011 (and 2hr57 for 2nd in 2012). Mr ActiveQT Adrian Bailey’s name is on the list  and it will be good to see him lining up, but we are not sure what sort of form he is in. After marking out the Shotover Moonlight course he will be strong if nothing else. Eliot Drake, formally from Reno, but now Queenstown based will mix it up and be in the top 3 to arrive in Arrowtown. Former New Zealand age group title and record holder Dominic Channon is now based in Wanaka and lining up- if he has been training Vajin might not have it all his own way.

Adventure Run- For the first time the Adventure Run can be completed as an individual event and despite a smaller field this should offer some good racing, at least for the minor placings. American Jason Schlarb, who finished 4th at last year’s Ultra Trail Mt Blanc, is the clear favorite. Bas Smith (along with Jess Simpson) has the course record of 6hr40 in the teams race and will be strong. As will Andy Millar who is looking to build on a solid summer that has included the Ultra Easy and Bedrock50. If Paul Timothy can build on the form that saw him run sub 5hr50 at the Kepler in December he should be in the mix also.

In the teams race, the Dynamic Duo from Alexandra, Malcolm Mcleod and Ned Kelly will take the win with ease, even with Mal’s dodgy knees.

Miners Trail- Few names jump out here. No course record holder Alun Williams this year. Andrew Town is returning again and will be in the mix, as long as he can stay on course…

Surrounded by native Podcarp forest, Papatowai is a small settlement located in the Catlins, 50km south of Balclutha. Perhaps the best thing about this tiny settlement is the Papatowai Challenge, a 15.5km off road run. The Papatowai Challenge always attracts some top runners and this year was no exception with Nathan ‘Guns’ Baxter taking up the challenge to break the course record set by Dougal Thorburn in 2012 (51.31). The race started at 1pm outside the cabin of event organiser Wayne Allen and the pace was quick from the start. Guns took the lead from the gun and Neale McLanachan and I sat in behind him for the first 600m over the bridge and into the native forest. It was here he started to pull away and before long Neale and I were left by ourselves. Breaking through the bush and onto the beach we were greeted by ankle deep sand, we both moved quickly onto the hard packed sand near the water line and settled into a quick pace helped by a strong tail wind. Only 2km onto the beach Neale started to pull away from me, at this stage Gun’s already had a good 700m on the both of us. I didn’t panic too much as I felt comfortable that I would catch Neale on the hill. I took a quick glance behind as I left the beach to see Stewart Paul, Alan Funnell, and Andrew ‘Boney’ Lonie close behind.

Start line of the Papatowai Challenge.Photo courtesy of Mel Aitken.

Settling into the steady 6km climb I started to pass the walkers who provided some much needed encouragement. Every time I made some ground on Neale he seemed to surge harder. I pushed hard over the top of the hill and managed to get within 50m of him but he then showed his phenomenal leg speed on the downhill and was gone. I was left by myself. Reaching the bottom of the hill I was left with a good hard 3km into a head wind to finish in third place in a time of 58.27, Neale finished 2nd in 57.39 and Guns took out the race in 52.46, the second fastest time ever run on the course. Had it not have been for the tough headwind over the last 3km perhaps we could have seen the record broken? In the Veteran Men 40+ Stewart Paul had an amazing run to finish in 59.45 to crack the 1 hour mark with Alan Funnell (1.01.20) and Andrew Lonie (1.02.25) close behind. Sasha Antunovic (Senior Women) managed to outsprint Mel Aitken (Master’s Women 35+) to take women’s line honours in a time of 1.05.27 with Mel finishing in 1.05.35. Phil Napper managed to break the course record for Legends Men 60+ in a time of 1.10.37 as well as Barbara Patrick who broke the Legends Women’s 60+ record in a time of 1.24.15.

This is a great race for anyone who enjoys a mixture of forest trails, beach running, farm tracks and gravel roads

From left-Glenn Kelly, Mark Howard, Malcolm McDonald, Matt Bixley, striding out a few km’s in to the Big Easy.

It is a race that I have been keen on for a few years and having just moved to the Southern Lakes- 2 blocks from the Albert Town Tavern- the finish line for the Big Easy, I was hard pressed for an excuse not to turn up. The last Highland Events race I did, the now defunct Skyline Traverse, ended with me throwing up and a bad case of dehydration. That was in 2010 and I think it has taken me this long to prepare for another one of Terry and Ed’s races.

From the get go the pace was solid- well under 5′/km pace going uphill- the group of 5 quickly whittled its way down to 3 and at around 3km in I almost expected to be running by myself. Thankfully Matt Grummer decided to keep me company and the 2 of us kept a solid pace climbing up towards Mt Pisa. I was enjoying the company, but found it easier to listen to music and take in the stunning views rather than chat. It was the first time I had ventured into the Pisa Range and my mind drifted repeatedly, dreaming of what it would look like in winter and what the ski touring options would be. In and out of Sally’s Pinch and down to Lake Mckay I was in dream land, looking around, when Matt went flying past- I snapped out of it and reminded myself that this was a race. We cracked along and I gapped Matt as he stopped at the 20km aid station for water, but this was short lived as he was descending like a demon.

It was perfect- once off the hill we had 14km of relativity flat and fast trail along the Upper Clutha, the harder Matt worked to catch me on the down the less he would have for the flat and fast stuff to come- at least that was what I was hoping…..

Once we hit the flat after the Wool Shed at 30km I made my move, quickly putting space between Matt and I before we hit the Upper Clutha Trail. I guessed about 30sec and growing- I guessed wrong. Looking back on the winding trail I couldn’t see Matt, but at the Stevenson Rd aid station, at 36km, young Matt was still too close for comfort. I was lucky enough to have Jane and little Bella (guess Zach decided just to hang at home??) clapping for me here and I even had George Dog tear off with me for the final km’s. A km or so later on I managed a time check- 40sec tops back to Matt- he was hanging tough and blowing my plan of a solid training run- rather making me work (hard!) for it. Reaching the “4km to go” sign I did some quick calculations and figured Matt and I would be well under last year’s winning time (which at the time I believed was the course record). The river trails around Wanaka are littered with rabbits running a muck and GDog never misses a chance to chase them. I think yelling out for George to hurry up was a great way to let Matt know I was just around the corner.

With less than 1km to go I finally felt I could relax a little, I ducked under the Albert Town bridge and up the steps to the A-Town Tavern like I have 30 or so times before in the last 10 weeks since moving here, this time with a number on my front. George took line honours and I feel like we might have caught Terry and co off guard at the finish. I slumped over on the bouncy castle and Matt arrived a minute later.

Big thanks to Ed, Terry and all that helped put on this race. And to Matt Grummer for pushing me hard- it was great fun. With out Matt cranking along it would have been touch and go on getting the course record, but in the end we both ran under it by 10+ minutes.  I am savouring  the win, as you never know, it could be the last.

In the women’s race Mel Aitken made it 2 in a row, but did not better the stella race record she set last year. The cold and wind seemed to slow a few folks down this year compared to last year’s times.

Post race there was a bottomless bucket of cool beers and a big spread of roast chicken and salads, but these were totally outdone by the mass of prizes on offer. The event as a whole is a big winner and I highly recommend it. It is a fairly fast course- bring your down hill legs, or at the very least save something for the last runnable 14km.

Pre race write up in the ODT

Full Results HERE

My GPS “Move” of the Big Easy