Matt Bailey and Elly Arnst after a record-breaking traverse of the Ruahine Range. Photo / Supplied
Matt Bailey and Elly Arnst after a record-breaking traverse of the Ruahine Range. Photo / Supplied
Whanganui's Elly Arnst and her partner Matt Bailey have been undertaking gruelling feats in the Ruahine Range in preparation for the Revenant Ultra Adventure Run.
It starts on January 13 at Welcome Rock, Southland.
Arnst is a Whanganui ultra marathon runner. In December 2020 she and friend Katie Wright finisheda 92km north to south traverse of the Ruahine Forest Park in a record 39 hours.
Arnst and Wright, and Arnst's Cambridge-based partner Matt Bailey, are all competing in the Southland ultra adventure run. It must be done in four circuits and within 60 hours, using map and compass only.
It will cover 190km and 1600m of climbing, which must be done in the right sequence. It takes in tussock tops and beech forest. Only four people - all male - have ever finished it.
Finishing it was winning, Arnst said, and she could be the first woman to do so.
She and Bailey have just spent six days in the northern Ruahine Range, based around Parks Peak Hut.
They've been trying tracks marked on old maps, climbing steep ridges, arriving scratched at the top and then plunging down the other side for a dip in a river and then a climb to the next high point.
Elly Arnst descends the Mangatera River, in the Ruahine Range. Photo / Supplied
It had been harder than the Revenant and over a bigger area, Arnst said. They only saw one other person during their "tramping holiday".
"It's magic," Arnst said.
She met Bailey through ultra marathon running, and said it was a small and super-friendly group that took part in it in New Zealand. The two completed a 58km east to west run across the Ruahine Range in November.
During the run, they climbed 21 peaks over 1600m high - a total of 5700m of climbing.
They finished it in 20 hours and 34 minutes and broke a record. They were the first to achieve a time under 24 hours.
Now they're in a "taper week", tapering off their training before the Revenant. They'll only do short, easy runs or walks, get lots of sleep and drink plenty of water to stay hydrated.
They want to go into the event in really good shape.
"We've been focusing on a lot of 'off the beaten track' tramping and navigation. Plus a lot of mindset training – thinking how to work through difficult situations," Arnst said.
