Juliette Soule won the 2023 Tarawera Ultramarathon women's TUM21. Photo / Supplied
The first four winners were crowned this morning at the 2023 Tarawera Ultramarathon by UTMB, with men’s and women’s 21km and 50km athletes setting blistering times on their way to the titles.
Course records tumbled in the TUM50, with Kiwi David Haunschmidt taking victory in the men’s race in 3:33:03, and American Allie McLaughlin securing top spot in the women’s TUM50 race in 3:43:38.
Wellington-based Haunschmidt executed a near-perfect race, allowing the leaders to go out hard early before reeling them in over the second half of the 50km course through the trails of Rotorua.
Haunschmidt took the tape in a new TUM50 course record, seven minutes ahead of Piotr Babis (POL) in second and Charlie Hamilton (AUS) in third. Kiwi Jonathan Jackson finished fourth.
“It’s fantastic, I completely did not expect that so I’m absolutely over the moon,” said Haunschmidt.
“I knew there were some world class runners there, I mean Jono Jackson had the record (before Michael Voss), so I let them do the work and took the first half pretty conservative and then from Blue Lake onwards I just went for it and kind of ran scared.”
Before moving to Wellington, the 33-year-old lived in Rotorua for a year and says he loved being back on familiar trails and enjoyed the huge crowd support out on course today.
Allie McLaughlin, who hails from Dayton, Ohio, also claimed a new course record in the TUM50, surpassing Caitlin Fielder’s previous time by 10 minutes. New Zealander Fielder finished second behind McLaughlin in today’s race, also ducking under her previous course record in a time of 3:46:59. Kate Avery (GBR) rounded out the women’s TUM50 podium in 3:54:52.
“I feel great, I will say that for the first 10 minutes after finishing my legs were like so achy and painful, I thought ‘oh no I don’t think I’m going to be able to move’ but it’s already getting better. I had so much fun, you can run all of the way, which in a lot of ultras there is a lot of hiking, I was watching my time, I wanted to get the record which I did so I’m happy,” said McLaughlin.
McLaughlin was making her Tarawera Ultramarathon debut and entered the event with the goal of securing her spot on the OCC (50km) start line at UTMB Mont-Blanc in August – achieved by the top three female and male podium finishers in the 2023 TUM50.
“That was my plan to come here and secure that spot. I will say coming into the last two miles I felt good but I was like man, OCC is a lot hillier and should take about double the time, I can’t imagine being out here for another three hours, I have a lot of work to do before August but that’s what made this race really nice, it’s not going to tax you as much because you’re not on your feet for six hours,” said McLaughlin.
Despite running a quick race and going under her previous course record, Caitlin Fielder had to settle for second place in 2023 after winning the TUM50 at the previous two editions of the event.
“It’s always pretty brutal, I definitely pushed myself harder this time than I think I have in previous years because of the competitive field, which is always really good,” said Fielder. “That just elevates the sport, and everyone is going faster. I kind of knew when I saw Allie coming that it would get broken, and I was happy to go under it as well.
“I went out with her for the first 15km and then thought I should tone it back a little bit, it’s easy to get caught up in other people’s race. It felt pretty good, I got a bit of cramp there at the end from going quite fast,” she said.
Like McLaughlin, Fielder plans to race in UTMB Mont-Blanc’s OCC race in August having qualified for the prestigious event today.
The first person to cross the finish line at the 2023 Tarawera Ultramarathon was New Zealand’s Mike Robinson, who won the men’s TUM21 race in 1:25:45.
Completing an all-Kiwi men’s TUM21 podium was Liam Dooley, second in 1:26:55, and Brent Kelly, third in 1:28:12.
“I was sitting about sixth for most of it and then started slowly picking them off and then I saw Liam about 30 seconds ahead at about 10km and then I slowly closed the gap, and on the last three km really upped the effort and pushed through and passed him with a couple of k to go and finished strong,” said Robinson.
Robinson was making his third start in the TUM21 and says he was delighted to back at the Tarawera Ultramarathon after the event’s two-year hiatus.
The Gisborne-based athlete’s win was even more impressive given he’s been battling sleep deprivation the last few days after welcoming a new baby to his family.
Sydney-based Kiwi Juliette Soule took the win in the women’s TUM21 in 1:40:59, with fellow Kiwi Sabrina Grogan second in 1:42:12 and Canada’s Neasa Coll third in 1:46:16.
“I feel pretty tired, pretty cooked, but it was a great run. I think we definitely all went out a bit hard, after the first kilometre I glanced down at my watch and we were running 3:45 pace which is really not sustainable, it definitely caught up with me in the last five kms. I was sort of hanging on but I talked to some of the other ladies and I think we were all in the same boat, but we all made it,” said Soule.
The 24-year-old was making her Tarawera Ultramarathon debut and says she loved the experience and hopes to use it as a stepping-stone to longer distances later in the year.
“It’s amazing, this is definitely the biggest race I’ve done so far, the atmosphere is fantastic. I’m planning on doing UTA100 in May which will be my second attempt at the 100km distance, I’m looking to do a 50km between now and then but haven’t settled on which one to do yet, that’s the plan,” she said.
For more information on the 2023 Tarawera Ultramarathon by UTMB visit: https://www.taraweraultra.co.nz
2023 TUM50 RESULTS
MEN
David Haunschmidt (Wellington, NZ) – 3:33:03
Piotr Babis (POL) – 3:40:02
Charles Hamilton (AUS) – 3:40:47
WOMEN
Allie McLaughlin (USA) – 3:43:38
Caitlin Fielder (Nelson, NZ) – 3:46:59
Kate Avery (GBR) – 3:54:52
2023 TUM21 RESULTS
MEN
Mike Robinson (Gisborne, NZ) – 1:25:45
Liam Dooley (Whakatane, NZ) – 1:26:55
Brent Kelly (Auckland, NZ) – 1:28:12
WOMEN
Juliette Soule (Sydney | NZ) – 1:40:59
Sabrina Grogan (Christchuch, NZ) – 1:42:12
Neasa Coll (CAN) – 1:46:16
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