Taupo Ultra - Great race with Great company Oct 2022

I'm trying not to start every trail event blog with 'I was a bit nervous' but it is the reality of how I am before a race, even when I am just doing it for fun.

The Taupo Ultra event is run along the Great Lake Trail that meanders beautifully around Lake Taupo. There are 21km, 50km, 72km and 100km events so it's got something for everyone which I absolutely love about Taupo Ultra.

It's an area close to my whanau and where I grew up so I had spent a bit of time over the years training on this trail alongside my partner who mountain biked ahead. Also, when I was previously training for the 50km event, my dad surprised me on his bike with a ginger beer which was exactly what I needed at the time before the descent.!

Race Day

It was an early start at Waihaha carpark in the dark on the morning of 15th October 2022. We all lined up for the start with our running packs and head torches ready to go. There was a fairly big turn out for a 100km event with nervous/excited runners

jumping around to keep warm. 5.30am and we were off! It's a bit of a slow start which is typical when the trail is going to reduce down to single track. The fresh temperature was perfect, and I knew I needed to pace myself, so I tried not to get carried away. I recall as the sun rose, seeing a waterfall however, I was feeling strong so wanted to keep trucking.

There were sections of native bush and then farmland. I really wasn't looking forward to the farmland however, I got chatting with a friendly fella who had a similar pace to me and that made the running enjoyable. The undulations ended up being better than I expected. I then came across another crew of lads who were of similar pace. A couple of them were using the 100km as a training race for TUM miler in February so we all had some great banter and a good laugh.

The first aid station with a cut-off was Hingarae at about 32km mark. Stoked to see my old workmate who helped me get sorted at the aid station. I had grabbed my drop bag, some lollies and filled up my bottles, then continued to crack on with the remaining farmland section. I was really dreading the next 10km road section that I needed to run along to get me to half-way. Surprisingly, I really enjoyed it! It was a nice change from trail and farmland. I was also stoked that my trail shoes weren't too hardcore (I wear Hoka Torrent) as I could hear other runners squeaky trail shoes on the tar seal and thought that may have been a bit tough.

After the enjoyable road section, I made it to the half-way mark at the Airstrip on Whangamata Road. I knew the next 50km ahead was fun and beautiful scenery so I was really looking forward to it. I had made it to the aid station a bit earlier than anticipated so I didn't get to see my support crew. However, I headed on down the pleasant and steady decline toward the lake at Kawakawa Bay.

Kawakawa was absolutely stunning and a good opportunity to refuel and nip into the toilet. Then a bit of a climb before heading to Kinloch via a couple of excursions. It was a bit deceptive and got my hopes up (although it was clearly marked on the maps) as the trail headed up to Lisland Drive before Kinloch. My typical mind was living in hope rather than using logic. Good for me though, as it was such a buzz to see my whanau there waiting for me at about the 60km mark. I say a quick hello with a few hugs then back down to Kinloch via a little loop of the Whangamata Stream trail. I was starting to feel a bit fatigued, but still managed to shuffle along nicely. At this stage I was really looking forward to catching up with my partner who I would be picking up to pace me when I reached the Kinloch aid station.

I made it to the Kinloch aid station that was about 75km's in. One of my baby food sachets had popped in my bag so a lovely marshal helped get me cleaned up. Then my partner and I headed off for the climb out of Kinloch on the W2K trail The trail was stunning but I was not looking forward to the hardest section, the Headland Loop.

Each to their own, but I would recommend having a pacer if you have not done the race before. It was such a morale boost to run together. We made it to the start of the Headland Loop with plenty of sunshine left. I wasn't hurting so much but was getting really tired. It was a pretty long 10km and I think I may have gone quiet for a while due to fatigue.

We finally make it to the end of the Headland Loop with less than 10km left. Although the elevation maps look net downhill from there, it was very undulating and at that stage in the race, every baby hill felt like a climb. My partner was giving me heaps of encouragement that kept me going and I would have really struggled that last quarter of the race without him. It was beginning to get dark and I was very tired. We pushed hard to get to the final decline which meant there was only about 4km to go. Night time hit quick and we had to put our head torches on as it suddenly turned pitch black in the bush as we headed down toward Whakaipo Bay. It felt like we were going so fast but it must have been due to my body saying it had nearly had enough.

Only a couple kms left as we ran up the camping ground race at Whakaipo Bay. We were so happy when we could see the end and stoked to share the run across the finish line with my partner who got me home.

As far as a race goes, it was super well-organised and I see it as a fabulous way to get into trail running whether you want to hit 24km or if it's your first 100km. Great support crews, lots of aid stations and a variety of terrain to keep you entertained. The cumulative elevation was just under 2000m and hence, a great way to smash your first 100km!

If you are after a gnarlier race though, I would recommend something more like Shotover, Ring of Fire or Northburn and you can have a read of those in my other blogs.