2600 Participants Conquer Wānaka And Arrowtown Trails In NZ’s Largest Off-Road Event, Motatapu 2025

Queenstown, New Zealand (1 March 2025) – 2600 people took to the hills in Wānaka and Arrowtown today for NZ’s biggest off-road sporting event, the Motatapu. With five events on offer including a 52km ultra run, a 42km trail marathon, 47km mountain bike, 15km trail run and 4km kids’ trail run, this event provides a unique opportunity for first-time competitors and hardened weekend warriors to mix it up alongside elite athletes.

Started in 2005, Motatapu has become a bucket list event for New Zealanders and also attracts competitors from as far away as the USA, Canada, the UK and Singapore. The chance to see some of New Zealand’s stunning high country is a major drawcard with the marathon and mountain bike courses passing through the breathtaking Motatapu, Soho, and Glencoe high-country stations which are opened to the public exclusively for this event each year.

“I’ve always want to go through the valley, now’s the time,” said Mary Gardener, a Wānaka local for 35 years who had signed up to walk the Motatapu Marathon course today. Apart from getting to the finish, Mary said she was “looking forward to seeing the beautiful scenery on the course.”

The ultra runners were the first on course this morning, starting their day in the darkness at 6am at Wānaka’s Glendhu Bay before traversing the long and steep saddles, river crossings and 3000m of cumulative climbing across the Harris Mountain Range to finish in Arrowtown. 21-year-old Dean Stewart had a strategy to “cover as much ground as possible before the sun came up”, managing to do that and claim the win in a time of 06:30:06. “I was running pretty scared the last couple of hours, I didn’t know if there was anyone right behind me,” said Stewart.

As it happened, 2017 Motatapu Ultra winner Majell Backhausen wasn’t too far back, finishing in second place on 06:34:08 and confirming that “the course hasn’t got any easier” in the past eight years. Douglas Golding was third in 06:40:54.

It was all about redemption for Hannah Wall who was able to step up from a second-place finish in 2024 and take the win in the women’s Ultra field in a time of 06:57:52, well over an hour ahead of second place finisher Ashley Hawks.

“It feels fantastic, just a dream come true,” said Wall. “I was a bit disappointed with my time last year so I have been working really hard over the past eight or nine months and came in strong with a goal in mind and smashed that, so I am feeling pretty proud of myself right now.”

Lisa Macfarlane rounded out the women’s Ultra podium.

While the ultra-runners tested their stamina, it was all about the speed in the elite mountain biking field. Cameron Jones made short work of the 47km course through the Motatapu Valley, finishing in a time of 01:49:23, a couple of minutes shy of the course record of 1:47:53 set by Dirk Peters in 2013.

“It’s always nice to get on the top of the podium and it’s nice to check out a part of the country I have never ridden before,” said Jones. “We had a good group of boys there at the start who were ticking along at a nice pace and I had the record time in mind, but having never ridden it before it was hard to know if I was on pace or not but made sure to keep on the gas the whole time. I had Sam and Eddie on my wheel for a while but I knew if I was hurting, they’d be hurting as well. I got rid of them one by one and just ripped it back down into town.”

Sam Fox was a close second in 01:50:36 with 2024 U19 XCO National Champ Eddie Adams in third on 01:54:43.

2024 U23 Cross Country National Champion Maria Laurie blitzed the women’s mountain bike field, winning in a time of 02:19:54 ahead of local mountain bike legend Kim Hurst on 02:34:47 and Danielle Donaldson in third place on 02:35:20.

“It felt pretty good to get through all the river crossing and finally finish, but it was really cool,” said Laurie. “I know Kim Hurst has been doing these kind of races for years so it was really cool to race big legends like her.”

A competitive ebike category was added to the roster for the 2025 Motatapu with Layton Craig winning the inaugural title in the men’s field with a time of 01:52:03, followed by Lloyd Ferguson in second and Andrew Westray third. Karlene Atlee took the honours in the women’s competitive ebike field with a time of 02:36:02, Diane Craig in second and Madonna Harris third.

The Miner’s Trail Run took runners on a 15km walk or run through the Arrowtown hills but if anyone had signed up thinking this might be an easy option, they would have been in for a surprise. With over 800m of climbing to be done, the Motatapu Miner’s Trail Run could certainly be described as a challenge. This event also doubles as an official UTMB (Ultra Trail du Mont-Blanc) Index Race used to assess the performance level of trail runners wanting to enter the world’s toughest mountain ultramarathon.

Luke Wilson, who placed second in the Motatapu Ultra last year, took the 2025 Miner’s Trail win in a time of 01:13:46.

“The idea was to go out hard and try to put the hammer down and try lose as many people on the first climb as possible” explained Wilson.

Jack McKay finished second in 01:17:30 with Lee Cook third on 01:18:35.

Queenstown local Hayley Holmes topped the podium in the women’s Miner’s Trail, posting a winning time of 01:39:04 with Dympna Boland second and Jess Hardwood third.

“It’s been awesome, I loved it out there, it’s a great course and it was nice to out in the back of Arrowtown,” said Holmes. “Being able to get out and train on the course [as a Queenstown resident] running up the mountains here and in Queenstown, it’s been in the backyard.”

Arrowtown local Benje Paterson had a “quiet goal” to win today’s Motatapu Marathon. “I wasn’t telling people that, but I always want to podium and I thought if I had a good day I could win.” It did turn out to be a good day and he claimed victory in a time of 03:04:11.

“I’m from Arrowtown and my house is about a kilometre from the start line so it was pretty cool to take the win in my own backyard. This is my first Motatapu marathon but I’ve done everything else in between. I was third in the Miner’s Trail last year and I’ve been on the podium in the Ultra so this was the last one and it’s probably the most satisfying result to be honest.”

Edward Eaton finished second in the Motatapu Marathon with Ben Hennessy third.

Lining up for her very first marathon today, Marina Ferguson was surprised and delighted to find herself the winner in the women’s marathon field in a time of 03:28:20.

“I came down from Christchurch, I got in last night and this is my first marathon so it was a big goal,” said Ferguson. “I always wanted to do a marathon so I am pretty pleased it was this one, it was a really tough trail, people were so supportive along the way, it was inspiring.”

Ella Scott finished in second place in a time of 03:34:31 with Emma Gutheinz third in 03:39:59.

200 competitors aged from 7 to 15 years old took on the 4km Junior Trail Run, with Niko Gardiner and Libby Fleck zooming around the course in impressive times of 00:16:13 and 00:18:09 to win their respective male and female categories. 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.

© Scoop Media