Video: Fierce Racing at Motatapu 2026 as Course Records Remain Intact

2700 people took to the high country of Wānaka and Arrowtown today for Aotearoa’s largest off-road sporting event, the Motatapu. With five events on offer — a 52km ultra run, 42km trail marathon, 47km mountain bike, 15km trail run and 4km junior trail run — Motatapu brings together first-timers, seasoned weekend warriors and elite athletes.

 Running for over two decades, Motatapu has grown into a bucket-list challenge for New Zealanders and attracts entrants from Australia, Europe, the UK and beyond. One of the event’s biggest drawcards is the opportunity to travel through some of the country’s most spectacular high country.

 Epic racing and tight podium battles lit up the high country at Motatapu 2026, but the course records stood strong — giving the highly competitive field something to chase next year.

 The UDC Finance Motatapu Miner’s Trail Run took competitors on a challenging 15km journey through the hills above Arrowtown with 800 metres of climbing and descending packed into the course.

This year’s field was one of the deepest assembled for a New Zealand trail race, with more than 600 competitors entered, including a strong contingent of Kea Series athletes lining up for race three of the new national series.

The men’s race delivered exactly the close contest many had predicted. Cameron Swales, fresh from a third-place finish at The Goat and a win at the Luxmore Grunt, faced strong competition from Michael Sutton, who recently claimed victory at the Shotover Moonlight Half, and Timothy Jorgensen, runner-up at the 2025 Queenstown Marathon.

In the end, the battle for the top step of the podium came down to the final 250 metres, with Swales finishing in a time of 1:13:51, just ahead of Sutton in 1:14:14. Jorgensen completed the podium in 1:14:26.

“That was tough, that was a hard race, a really good battle,” Swales said after catching his breath at the finish line.

“I got Michael at the top and then we just yo-yo’d our way down. It was quite good fun but really hard work, I had to dig really deep. It came down to the last 250 metres where we were neck and neck.

“We both walked up the last pinch. I saw Michael with his hands on his knees, and I thought thank you because I wanted to do exactly the same thing.”

The women’s Miners Trail field was equally stacked with talent. Maia Flint arrived hunting a Kea Series hat-trick after victories at both The Goat and the Shotover Moonlight Half earlier this year, while three-time Kepler Challenge winner Katie Morgan was also among the favourites.

Flint ultimately delivered on her goal, stopping the clock in 1:23:45, just ahead of Morgan in 1:25:47.

“It was a really hard race, but I love a challenge,” Flint said. “I could see Katie behind me on the switchbacks and she looked really strong. Then I managed to go over the crest still in the lead and went full-send on the descent. It was tough out there, but it was fun.

“I’ve been ticking off the races in the Kea Series, so this was the third one for me, and I wanted to get my third win for the series in a row. That was the goal, so I’m happy.”

Alex West rounded out the women’s podium in third place in 1:33:16.

 The 47km mountain bike race saw a strong international performance, with French rider Pierrick Burnet taking the men’s title. Burnet joked that he may have had a little inside knowledge of the course after chatting with 2025 winner Cameron Jones ahead of the event.

“He told me to bring back a medal, so I’ve done that,” Burnet said.

Describing the race as “pretty brutal”, Burnet said some pre-race preparation paid off — particularly practising the river crossings near the end of the course.

“It helped me gain some seconds at the end of the race,” he explained. “I’m really happy to win. It was my first time participating in this race.”

Burnet crossed the line in 2:00:07, with Jono Miller close behind in 2:01:04 and Joshua Haggerty completing the podium in 2:05:52.

The women’s mountain bike race also produced a tight contest. Priscilla Thompson took the win in 2:18:48, narrowly ahead of Kate Boe in 2:19:42.

Thompson said she was happy to tick off her goal of a top-three finish, despite having a less-than-ideal start to her day.

“The morning started a bit frantic when I locked my keys and my race bag in my car half an hour before the start,” explained Thompson. “I thought I wouldn’t be able to start, but the Motatapu crew helped me out. It was pretty stressful and I felt pretty adrenalised at the start but I think that made me want to give it a good go.

“I’m stoked to take the win. I knew Ruby would be really fast, she’s a really good rider, and Kate’s super quick, so I didn’t know how I was going to go but I gave it my best.

“Ruby and Kate took off at the start, they were really quick and I wanted to stay at my own pace. Unfortunately, Ruby had a flat about halfway through, Kate passed her and I was about thirty seconds behind. I went for it and caught Kate just before the big downhill. Descending is my strong point, so I could get a bit of a gap.”  

Ruby Ryan secured third place in 2:22:26, an impressive result after losing time on course while stopping to repair a flat tyre.

Boe (nee Fluker) still holds the course record of 2:08:31 which she set in 2014.

Layton Craig backed up his 2025 win in the men’s competitive ebike category, timing it perfectly as his battery charge dropped to zero just as he crossed the line. He finished in 01:38:53, smashing his 2025 time of 01:52:03 and finishing well clear of second-place getter Antony Sproull on 01:48:20. Lloyd Ferguson finished third in 01:53:01.

Charlotte Clark, the only woman racing in the competitive ebike class, clocked a time of 02:10:11.

In the Trail Marathon, Jack Oates took first place in 02:58:09, a great result on his 30^th birthday. Looking fresh at the finish line, Oates said he’d enjoyed the view through the Motatapu Valley but not so much the deeper river crossings on the approach to Arrowtown. “The rivers are nice to look at, they’re not so fun to run through,” he said.

Hamish Elliott was on impressive form after his recent win at the Coast to Coast, finishing second in the Motatapu Trail Marathon in a time of 03:10:28. Jono Pinckney was third in 03:17:14.

In the women’s Marathon field, Mel Aitken claimed a solid win on 03:31:53 ahead of Talia Flannery on 03:49:04 and Kirsten Hall on 03:51:56.

Aitken said her win was “a little bit unexpected. I was just running my own race, just enjoying it. We had perfect conditions, it was magic. It was amazing, I loved it.”

 The Ultra Run competitors faced the longest day on course, starting in darkness at 6am in Wānaka before tackling 52km and more than 3,000 metres of cumulative climbing across the Harris Mountains, eventually descending into Arrowtown to reach the finish line.

After finishing second in the Ultra in 2024, Wānaka-based athlete Luke Wilson went one better this year, claiming the title in 6:14:59. Wilson was delighted to have improved his previous time by almost an hour and credited his success to the support of his training partners from the Kinesi running team. Being locally based also proved an advantage, he said, giving him the opportunity to regularly train on the surrounding hills.

Close behind Wilson was Delbi Gongora, who had travelled from Tahiti to compete, finishing in 6:19:31.

Majell Backhausen, runner-up in 2025, once again secured a place on the podium, finishing third in 6:23:02.

In the women’s race, Hannah Wall successfully defended her title, delivering another commanding performance to finish in 6:54:04 — more than an hour ahead of her nearest rival. Katherine Wright claimed second place in 7:56:29, with Marie Dethoor, also from Tahiti, rounding out the podium in 8:29:13.

Despite the dominant result, Wall said the day didn’t begin as smoothly as she had hoped.

“To be honest, I felt pretty flat right from the start. The first climb was a bit of a struggle, and I thought, right, this is going to be a bit harder than last year.”

Wall said she received a major boost when she reached the Roses Hut aid station, where a surprise group of supporters — including her coach Chris Dagg — were waiting to cheer her on. Dagg is also part of Motatapu history, having won the 49km two-person team adventure run included in the 2010 edition of the event.

“That was pretty unreal, I shed a tear at that point,” Wall said. “I was trying not to look at them or lose focus because I still had the big climb at that point, but it was pretty special.”

Asked whether she would return to Motatapu, Wall said she still has her eye on the course record.

“I’m still looking at that record, I can’t stop thinking about it. Maybe Ruth Croft is just too damn fast. But yeah, I will come back.”

The Motatapu women’s Ultra Run course record of 6:38:04 was set by Ruth Croft in 2018.

 250 competitors aged from 7 to 15 years old took on the 4km Junior Trail Run. The pace on course and the enthusiasm at the finish suggests that many of these young athletes will be back on the Motatapu start line in years to come.