Several CurraNZ-powered athletes had top-class experiences at UTA, noting the views and crowds made it a fantastic experience as well as gracing the podium.
'I’d heard so many good things about the event and running in the Blue Mountains. The main goal for me was just to have fun and experience the UTA trails, as still building back after injury. It did not disappoint. Absolutely stunning place to run' says David Haunschmidt who was running the 50km course.
David is a Tarawera Ultra pro who holds the TUM 22km and 50km course records and found himself racing against Charlie Hamilton (2024 TUM 50km winner) for top spot.
'I took the first half a bit too conservatively and gave away way too much time to Charlie, who was having a great race on home-turf. I haven’t ran this distance or vertical for more than 6months, so was a bit nervous about my fitness and durability to handle the fast long descent and then the massive climb at the end. Got to 35k feeling great and then knew I’d stuffed up and could have went way harder. It was a joy to have just ran my own race though, had fun, and got a true feel for the UTA. One I’d definitely come back to in the future. Overall, a great tester for me and so pleased to know I am back on form leading into some racing over the rest of the year.'
Not far behind David was full time pro Scotty Hawker in 5th place. ' The Blue Mountains provided the goods yet again, I feel so lucky to have spent more time here on some beautiful trails. I’m really happy to run 4hr16min for 5th place at the end of my training week as I build towards Lavaredo in a little under 6 weeks time.'
Robbie Smith, who also podiumed at Tarawera 24, crossed the line in 10th place in the 20km event. Robbie has been using CurraNZ since Tarawera and has been finding great results from our blackcurrant supplement. '
The 22k race had just over 1000m of vertical climb. The first 7k was all downhill which got the quads firing but when I hit the ups I was struggling. I knew then that I didn't do enough hill training. The giant staircase (1000 steps) was a particularly tough section which got the calves burning but I just kept on digging in through the pain, knowing the end was within reach. Soon I could hear the sound of cow bells and I crossed the finish line in 10th place. I'll take that. Really happy using Curranz. I call it the purple magic pill.'
Robbie is an ex-pat Brit who has been residing in Queenstown and first heard of CurraNZ from UK 1500M record holder, George Mills.
9 days prior to UTA Sam Harvey had run 465km to win the Dead Cow Gully Backyard Ultra and decided to enter the UTA100 event for fun.
'I was off to Ultra Trail Australia to race the 100 km event, I knew there was a chance of the wheels falling off, even though I had bounced back quite well.
No matter the recovery, 9 days is a short window to heal between 465 km and one of the world's premiere 100 km events. I jumped into a lot of stretching, massage, protein-dense foods, and pumping the Curranz in.
I led the race for most of the first 20 km and felt great. Once we jumped from fire road to technical trail, my legs started to fall off a little bit. I took every opportunity to encourage and cheer on every one of the 100+ runners that managed to pass me by the end of it all. A pretty successful couple of weeks, enough to earn me a little rest I think.'