Trail LoopHER 2026
Trail LoopHER was “dreamed to life” by my running coach Maree – she’s all about getting women out onto trails and she wanted an event that was truly inclusive (which meant no big hills) – which I love about her.
The premise was that participants could compete individually or form relay teams of 2-6 women, completing as many 4km laps as possible within designated time frames of 3, 6, 9, or 12 hours.
Now – I’m not a fan of this type of event – running around in circles has never appealed to me, but I really wanted to support Maree AND fancy dress was encouraged – so I was among the first to sign up.
My original plan was to do the 6 hour event solo, but remember how I went to that womens mtb ride? .. Well mtb quickly became my preferred sport so I no longer wanted to spend all my time running (which is what I’d need to do in order to run six hours) – so I dropped down to the 3 hour solo and honestly, it was the correct decision for me – long enough to be a challenge, but not so long that it became a chore ..
My friend Lisa (the one who came and did the Routeburn) had signed up to do the 12 hour event (cause she’s epic like that) and as she knew Janine (mother hen extraordinaire) we were able to nab a spot in her gazebo for the duration of the event – which turned out to be where all the other waifs and strays ended up – her one gazebo, quickly turned into three to house all the homeless!
I’d spent probably more time on my costume ideas than I had training (which showed by the end of the third hour) – I had two options, the first was cute and relatively simple which would make it easy to run in. The second took me hours, was much heavier and would only have been suitable in the right temperature. On the day I went with simple (but still uber cute) and I was happy about that as it was actually pretty hot out on course, so wearing less was an advantage. I’ll save the other costume option for a cooler climate.
On the running side of things, I was pretty sure I’d get four laps done in 3 hours (even on the lighter training load I’d undertaken), five laps would be amazing – but it would take everything to fall into place and on the day, it didn’t as I cramped up a third of the way around loop four. For a while I wasn’t sure I’d even get back in time to make lap four count .. but the salt tabs worked their “magic” and I got back with about twenty minutes to spare – which was nowhere near enough time for me to get in another lap so I finished up there.
James and I hung around for a bit and then went home to freshen up and have some food – we went back around dinner time to cheer on the ultra runners and to take down some of the camp. That way the 12 hour people didn’t have to do it all once they’d finished up. It’s pretty humbling to see them all out there for so long .. take a special kind of grit that’s for sure!
Will I do it again next year?
Honestly, I’m not sure, it’s not a no – there were some advantages to running in circles – but it’s not a hell yeah ..
Till next time
