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KIA ORA TARAWERA

Exploring New Zealand enroute to photographing the Tarawera 100k Ultramarathon

Story by Matt Trappe February 9th, 2016

eXPLORING the South Island

When I was invited to shoot images for the Tarawera Ultramarathon in New Zealand I was excited to say the least. I was able to land a client athlete shoot prior to the race itself but wasn’t going to miss the chance to explore the rest of this incredible country as well. After flying into Christchurch I picked up a campervan and set course for Wanaka to hike up Roy‘s Peak. During the steep 4 mile hike the views just kept coming. The next day I drove to the iconic Milford Sound enjoying the rugged mountain views along the way.

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The Routeburn Track

From the Milford side of the divide I hired the guys at Trackhopper to drive my car from one end of the Routeburn Track to the other so I could fastpack the entire track in a day. The Routeburn didn’t disappoint with ~20 miles and 4300’ of climbing to go along with some world-class views. My Suunto took a bit to figure out where on earth I was so the start is delayed but here’s the Strava data.

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Heading North

After an easy night in Queenstown I set a course up the West Coast to see the disappearing Fox and Franz Josef glaciers and some top surf spots. I had been to Franz Josef back in 2009 so to see how much it had shrunk in just 6.5 years was truly stunning and scary.
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Abel Tasman Coast Track

For my last stop on the South Island I couldn’t pass up the pristine beaches and butter-smooth trail along this iconic trek. At 60km in distance I didn’t have time to fastpack it all but instead hopped on a boat to do a 12km section somewhere in the middle.

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On to the race

With Tarawera race activities beginning the next day I made my way to the North Island via the ferry across the Cook Straight and then drove to the town of Rotorua for the start of the festivities. A boat cruise, rogaine, Maori welcome ceremony and expo filled the next two days in this geothermal wonderland.
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The start

The forecast called for rain and plenty of it but that didn’t stop 1,000 runners from lining up in the Whakarewarewa Forest at 6am to head off into the bush.

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The tough get tougher

The excitement at the start wore off and the race turned difficult in the back half. A formidable feast and upbeat volunteers at each aid station helped keep spirits high.
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The finish

At midnight the final runners made their way across the finish line and the results were tallied. The prize giving ceremony the following morning wrapped up a phenomenal weekend at one of the most well-organized ultra events I’ve been fortunate enough to attend. A massive thanks to Tarawera and Hoka One One for making the trip possible.
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New Zealand