Tarawera Ultramarathon is a trail running event which includes a 21km, 50km, 102km and a 100-mile ultramarathon trail race, with the inaugural even held in 2009, it is part of the Ultra-Trail World Tour.[1] It is held annually in February and takes place in Rotorua, New Zealand. Awards are given to top men and women finishers in each category.

The race was created by Paul Charteris.

Event history

The inaugural race was over an 85km distance and was won by New Zealanders, Kerry Suter and Jean Beaumont. Kerry backed up his 2009 win with a further win in 2010, this time over a new distance, 100km. In 2017 the 100km race was extended by 2km to a complete distance of 102km. In 2018 the inaugural 100 mile race was added to the event and was won by Frenchman Adrian Prigent and American Sally McRae.

The 2023 edition is hosted as part of the UTMB World Series.[2]

Course records

The course record in the 100-mile race is held by the Australian Vladimir Shatrov and was set in the 2020 edition in a time of 15h 53m 30s among a field of more than 1,450 entrants.[3]

Course Records
Distance Female Nationality Time Year Male Nationality Time Year
100 miles Camille Herron United States 17:20:52 2019 Vladimir Shatrov Australia 15:53:30 2020
102km Ruth Croft United States 09:21:03 2021 Tom Evans United Kingdom 08:03:29 2020
50km Allie McLaughlin New Zealand 03:43:38 2023 David Haunschmidt New Zealand 03:33:03 2023
21km Paige Penrose Australia 01:48:09 2020 David Haunschmidt New Zealand 01:24:49 2021

Results and past winners

Past 100km race winners include American Jim Walmsley, who described the course as “extremely hot, but beautiful” upon finishing the 2017 edition which was held in February of that year; seasonal rivers, chirping cicadas, and green tree canopy decorated the course.[4]

102km Winners
Female Nationality Time Male Nationality Time
2009[a] Jean Beaumont New Zealand Kerry Suter New Zealand
2010 Fleur Bromley Kerry Suter New Zealand
2011 Amy Campbell Sam Wreford
2012 Nicola Gildersleeve Mick Donges
2013 Ruby Muir Sage Canaday
2014 Jo Johansen Sage Canaday
2015 Ruby Muir Dylan Bowman
2016 Fiona Hayvice Jonas Buud Sweden
2017 Camille Herron Jim Walmsley
2018 Kelly Wolf Dylan Bowman
2019 Courtney Dauwalter Reece Edwards
2020 Manuela Soccol Belgium Tom Evans England
2021 Ruth Croft New Zealand Rhys Johnston New Zealand
2023 Nancy Jiang New Zealand Dan Jones New Zealand
100 Mile Winners
Female Nationality Time Male Nationality Time
2018 Sally McRae United States Adrian Prigent France
2019 Camille Herron Jeff Browning
2020 Ailsa Campbell Vladimir Shatrov
2021 Katie Wright Matt Urbanski
2023 Katie Wright Zach Miller

References

  1. ^ "Walmsley smashes 102km Tarawera Ultra record with speed off the mark". www.taraweraultra.co.nz. 11 Feb 2017. Archived from the original on March 20, 2017. Retrieved 2023-04-20.
  2. ^ "UTMB World Series Events". UTMB World Series. Retrieved 2022-12-08.
  3. ^ "Vlad Shatrov smashes 100 mile course record at Tarawera Ultramarathon". NZ Herald. 2020-02-09. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 2020-03-21.
  4. ^ "Winners smash Tarawera Ultra records". NZ Herald. 2017-02-11. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 2020-03-21.

Notes

  1. ^ 85km course
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