Table of contents for December 2020 - February 2021 in Trail Run

My feet are always my downfall in long events. They swell, blister and pop (sounds like a terrible breakfast cereal). This is especially true in hot, humid weather, and if my feet have been waterlogged for hours on end in the rain. I am a big fan of Injinji Performance Toesocks – especially the midweight mini-crews. Although they don’t entirely stop blisters from forming on my tootsies during ultras of 100km-plus, they do significantly reduce them. This is thanks to Injinji’s signature toe-sock design, which eliminates skin-on-skin contact between the toes. When I saw Injinji had a two-sock system of a Liner + Runner, I couldn’t wait to give them a try. The liner combined with a runner (outer sock) is designed to provide extra blister protection. The light-grey, ultra-thin…

I usually only wear gaiters if I know the trail is going to be seriously overgrown or if I am running through sand. I prefer not having them on, but if you do need them, they can be a godsend and make for a much more enjoyable day out. Altra’s Trail Gaiters are a unisex one-piece cylinder style, which means there are no side zips or Velcro, which I like. There is no strap underfoot, which I also like. You can quickly change shoes and socks at checkpoints without having to take them off. While these are made for Altra shoes, they will fit onto any other brand of shoe relatively easily. Altra now has the two-point system, with their shoes having the metal loop up front and a Velcro…

Hanging Rock is a commanding presence in the Macedon Ranges. The famous landmark, near the Victorian townships of Woodend and Mount Macedon, is one of the best examples of a volcanic plug or “mamelon” in the world. It’s been a sacred place for indigenous people and was also central to the eerie and hauntingly beautiful book by Joan Lindsay (and film by Peter Weir), Picnic at Hanging Rock. Runners can run around this mesmerising rock formation at Run the Rock, a Sole Motive event that’s focused on fun and community. The event takes runners along scenic trails and undulating country roads, with four distances to choose from: 22km (343m ascent, 351m descent), 13.5km (199m ascent, 207m descent), 5km and 2km. Those in the 22km, 13.5km and 5km distances run a…

Re-trace the steps of miners during the Gold Rush of the late 1800s at the Shotover Moonlight Mountain Marathon. This exceptionally challenging event at the family-run Ben Lomond Station near Queenstown, New Zealand, traverses the gold mining pack tracks miners used to access the goldfields of the Moonlight and Shotover valleys. Steeped in rich gold mining history, this event in the rugged high country will take your breath away. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Shotover, organisers are introducing the Shotover Moonlight Ultra – featuring more than 3,500m of vert across 56km of stunning high-country landscapes. This ultramarathon has everything: 16km of spectacular ridgelines, 10km of historic water races, expansive tussock country, beech forests, abandoned gold mining relics, waterfalls, a scree run, ladder and even a tunnel. There’s also the…

"I LOST MY FEAR AND WENT FOR MY DREAMS." Ferocious, formidable, relentless. The wind was Vladmi Virgílio dos Santos’s dogged companion along the seemingly infinite stretch of beach. It tested everything he had, physically and mentally. But the ultrarunner did not bow under the wind’s pressure. For he shared the same qualities as the gale that roared around him, and more. Vladmi was competing in the Extremo Sul Ultramarathon, a 226km beast of a course run entirely on the beach at the south end of Brazil. Starting at Rio Grande and Chui, and finishing at Santa Vitória do Palmar, in Vladmi’s home state of Rio Grande do Sul, competitors battle constant sand, river crossings, the changing tide, scorching sun during the day and freezing temperatures at night. Navigating around washed-up…

Hanny Allston stood on the coastline of the Atlantic Ocean in south-west France. It was 2019, and she was on the cusp of a three-week running adventure along the spine of the Pyrénées. Hanny had 700km ahead of her. It would be an enormous undertaking – physically, mentally and emotionally – but also an incredibly exhilarating one. “I didn’t really know what it would be like,” she says. “All I knew was there was this long distance between me and the Mediterranean coastline, and it was going to be a huge challenge. It was almost the same thought process I went through with writing the book.” Prior to her Pyrénées mission, Hanny had spent the best part of a year writing and going through the editing process for her memoir,…

Gels are not my thing. I’ve tried a few brands over the years and have found most to be sickly sweet with an unpleasant aftertaste. It always felt like I was sucking down a mouthful of chemically, unnatural stuff. Certainly not something I could consume for hours on end during a long training run or ultra. But I’d heard great things about Spring Energy gels from friends – in particular, from those who were generally anti-gel like me. My interest was piqued, so I had to give them a try. Spring Energy uses 100% natural products, and the gels sure taste (and look) like it. The list of ingredients on your typical gel packet includes slightly alarming-sounding stuff like maltodextrin, sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate and calcium carbonate. Spring Energy, on…

After a false start due to COVID-19, the inaugural Pirongia Trail Run is now set for December 2020 on the slopes of Mt Pirongia. Located 30 minutes west of Hamilton, in the Waikato region of NZ’s North Island, Pirongia maunga is an ancient volcano that dominates the skyline, rising 959m above sea level. You’ll be sweating your heart out as you climb through the ancient forest along the flanks of the maunga, with beautiful native trees such as large rimu, kahikatea, tawa, pukatea and kohekohe guiding the way. Once you reach the top, pause for a breather and take in the views, then buckle up, hold onto your hat, and go for it on the way down! Challenging? Hell yes! But fun is what the Pirongia Trail Run is all…

A scenic, multi-terrain course awaits you at the Great Southern Run Fest in Aldinga Bay, nestled between South Australia’s McLaren Vale wine region and the stunning Fleurieu Peninsula. Just 45 minutes from Adelaide, the event features a flat half marathon with 105m elevation (perfect if you are chasing that PB), 10km and 5km distances, as well as a 1,500m kids’ beach run. The 21.1km kicks off with a 4km stretch of hard-packed sand running on Silver Sands Beach, before winding through quiet country backroads and into the Aldinga Scrub Conservation Park. Runners skirt past vineyards under the shadows of the southern Mt Lofty Ranges, dip into a short section through the wetlands, then pop out onto Aldinga Esplanade for an 8km out and back. Then it’s back to the beach…

1. How did your group begin? About six years ago, one of Australia’s elite trail runners, Stu Gibson, thought that a group midweek mountain jaunt after work over winter would be a good idea as a social event. It started every Wednesday at 5.30pm under head torches, but then we moved it to a Tuesday evening – not sure why. It started just as a winter thing, but we soon realised it was best for the soul to do it all year round. New runners are welcomed to the group as “Scumbags”, and progress to “Dirtbag” status after a reasonably consistent effort at turning up every Tuesday evening. We have a small group of regulars, mainly women and “old” men, and have both consistent and non-consistent blow-ins join us, depending…

PLAN A In 2019, David Turnbull (DT) was scanning the ultra-trail horizon for a goal event in 2020. After a bit of research, he decided to lock in the 231km West Macs Monster in the Northern Territory, Australia. A long-held dream to run the full length of the Larapinta Trail was to be realised, with the possibility of setting a new FKT (fastest known time). DT’s relaxed and optimistic personality contrasts with his almost religious obsession with doing the training right. For the three months leading up to late May, DT was laser focussed on taking his base running fitness to the next level. He finetuned every fibre of running muscle towards his 231km goal. In the year leading up to West Macs, he had run a 79-minute half marathon,…

The final two runners stood in the race corral on the second night. It was lap 37, and they had already run 248.2km. Both runners were using very different strategies to tackle this backyard ultra. Event director Shaun Kaesler counted them down: 3-2-1. Like a horse out of a starting gate, the first runner disappeared into the night. The second runner, wrapped in a bathrobe to stay warm, let his robe fall to the ground and calmly walked off the start line. It was reminiscent of Aesop’s fable, The Hare and the Tortoise, and the spectators eagerly debated how the race would unfold. Welcome to Birdy’s Backyard Ultra, an event held by Ultra Series WA at Lake Towerrinning in the Shire of West Arthur. One hundred and twenty-five runners had…

New Zealand has done it tough this year. Devastating floods in February cut the summer season short, then COVID-19 put a halt to trail running events for months. So, it’s almost an understatement to say that Te Anau is over the moon to be hosting the 33rd annual Kepler Challenge in December. This year’s iconic not-for-profit mountain run sold out in record time when entries opened on 4 July. The main event (the 60km Kepler Challenge) sold out in just 2 minutes and 6 seconds, while the shorter but gut-busting Luxmore Grunt sold out in about 4 minutes. This year’s field is mainly domestic, with just under 30 internationals competing, depending on borders re-opening and coronavirus travel restrictions being lifted. But organisers are excited to see all contenders thrash it…

Kiwi ultra runner Ruth Croft started 2020 on a massive high. In February, she crushed the male and female fields in the Old Ghost Ultra, winning the 85km event outright and setting a new women’s course record of 7 hours, 31 minutes and 8 seconds. But then COVID-19 hit, and New Zealand was thrown into lockdown. Although her race plans for the year were turned upside down, Ruth didn’t let it get the better of her – in fact, she found many positives in the “new normal”, as she continued to run around her home base of Wanaka. I had a chat with Ruth about the lockdown, her race plans, and the launch of her new training program with Vert.run, a running plan tailored for runners who live in cities…

I’ve always been an Altra fan, and with a heap of updated models hitting the shelves this year, we couldn’t not review another hot new release. This month, I took a run in the new version of Altra’s flagship trail shoe, and long-time favourite of many a runner, the Lone Peak 4.5. While I have owned many pairs of Altras of all varieties, this is the first pair of Lone Peaks I’ve run in. I can’t say why that is exactly. In a midweight shoe, I guess I have always leaned towards the Timp. So, bear in mind when reading this that I am not comparing this shoe to the previous 4.0 or earlier Lone Peak models. The changes from the 4.0, however, are incremental. If you loved the previous…

This shoe review is one I know many will be excited about. The first Evo Mafate from Hoka One One was hugely popular, and this update promises that same performance and then some. Does it stack up, though? The Evo Mafate 2 has been out for quite a few months now, and we thought it was time to put it through its paces and let you know. Confession time: while I have run in a variety of brands on the trails, this was my first pair of Hokas. I hadn’t been avoiding them; they just didn’t reach out and grab me. One of the main reasons was that they seemed fairly narrow in the forefoot. Having Hobbit feet, this put me off a bit. The Evo Mafate 2 is kind…