Shotover Moonlight Ultra 2024 - far tougher than expected

I had heard a lot about the Shotover Moonlight run. Everyone said it was beautiful scenery in the stunning Ben Lomond Station past Moke Lake just out of Queenstown. A few had mentioned it was not very 'runnable' and even with the cumulative elevation of 3500m across 56km, I was forewarned of the downhill rather than the up.

The race was held mid-February 2024 so the mornings were getting a bit darker. I noticed there were very few runners at the start which made me slightly nervous about what I was about to do. In no time we were off at 6.30am. Our starting elevation was about 400m.

The first 7km was fairly undulating 4WD track. I tried to enjoy this section as this was a nice start to the day however, I always had in the back of my mind that I needed to meet the cut-offs. There were a few more hills and a steep downhill before the bridge crossing in preparation for the first major climb.

The 4WD road was well and truly gone, and we got right into a steep climb up along the fence line. The first cut-off was at the 19km mark where we had to complete this in 3.5 hours. This would typically be an achievable time however, I really did not know how I would go with all the climbing, so I probably went faster than I needed to. Stoked to make the cut-off with plenty of time to spare, but it was only the beginning! There was still plenty of climbing to go. The next major climb took me to about 1300m max elevation.

The gnarly ridge lines and tussock running were really tough! Definitely not something I would say I am super experienced at. Glad I had taken advice from my coach to get up to the tussocklands in Cobb Valley back in my home near Takaka. The uneven ground and inability to see where you place your feet is challenging. Because the terrain was so technical it took my mind off important things like eating and hydration.

I started to get really fatigued and felt the back of my hammy on my right side do a weird ping. Hadn't felt that before. Realised I also had not eaten for a bit so downed some party mix lollies then continued the traverse. I didn't realise at the time that my poor (lack of) nutrition plan would make me really struggle to finish this thing!

After climbing for a while, all I wanted was some nice rolling down hill to get my legs loosened up. What I got instead was a screamer of a downhill on no track via tussockland. This is where I had virtually no experience running, which was actually pretty neat, although the way I was run/walking down the hills gave me massive blisters on the sides of both my feet.

These blisters made the rest of the race pretty uncomfortable at best, but mostly painful, when I had no energy to try and keep positive. The next section was very rough under foot and although it was probably the flatter part of the run, it still hurt. I foolishly had calculated in my head that 23km was half way and gave myself a pat on the back for doing well, to then realize I must be very fatigued if I think 23+23 = 56km.

I made it to the next aid station which was a cut-off point and they had salted potatoes which was perfect, but I was very much fatigued. Just seeing the aid station folks boosted my morale though but god how I wished I could jump in their Land Cruiser so they could take me off the course. I was in the pain cave and I was sneakily hoping that I would fail to meet the next cut-off time so I wouldn't have to continue on with this beast of a race.

More ridge lines and rugged steep downhill! Eventually made it to the fun part which was flying down the soft scree. That was a first for me too. The picture below does not do the steepness any justice but anyway, once that was done, I then lost my way a little bit.

I made it down to the river and could no longer see any pink ribbons and thought, surely they would not put us through those rapids. I clambered back up the forest to find the bottom of the scree and then managed to get back on the trail. A bit of lost time but thankfully not so fatigued that I did anything stupid. Eventually the trail ended up in the river and a kind marshal who was hanging out in the river flow sent me up a beech forest. This seemed to go on forever, but it was a nice change from the ridge line running and painful downhill. There was a section of gnarly old water race and I can't recall if it was there or much earlier however, I got a snap of the gorgeous waterfall below.

It was a buzz coming up to the last cut-off at the lodge. I still had it in my mind that I may have missed the time and could be getting a ride back to Moke Lake. The friendly and supportive marshal's advised me that, much to my disappointment, I had made the cut-off and there was 15-16 kms to go. In my fatigued and 'no remaining technical capability' brain, this was still a very long time and I looked at my watch for cumulative elevation. It dawned on me there was probably still about 1000m of climbing remaining. I breathed deep, had a quick drink of flat coke and watermelon, caught up with Medic who was super helpful, and she checked out my blisters, then sent me on my way.

The last 15km felt incredibly long. And it still felt like heaps of uphill. I was angry at myself wondering why I signed up for the Ultra and that I should have started with the 42km. After about 7km and another screamer of a downhill, I realised that I was back at the bridge from 7am earlier that morning. Which initially made me feel good, and then I looked at the hill I had to climb to get out of it. Deep breaths and one foot in front of the other, I chipped away at the climb and make it to an aid station where everyone was packing up. Fair enough, I was definitely back of the pack that day.

After another climb and a nice (ish) downhill, I made it to the aid station by the river where the team told me that it was 5km to go. Through river crossing after river crossing, the last 2km was in sight along the 4WD track to the end.

I had never been so ecstatic to see the finish line. The relief (and fatigue) was immense and I was very proud to make the end. Hadn't felt like that before. I jumped in my car and left the race unsure whether I was now ready to tackle Northburn, or if my confidence was shattered and I was far too scared to take on the challenge next month.