Meet the Wild Things
Our members come from all walks of life and represent a wide range of trail running skills and experience. But one thing they all share is a passion for our sport and the ability to inspire others. This is your chance to get to know them a little better.
Who inspires you? If you'd like to nominate someone to be profiled in this section please get in touch.
Katie Smith
Meet inspirational Platinum Explorer Badge-holder Katie Smith, the author of no less than 38 Wild Things trail guides, mostly for her home area of the West Coast.
Jo Wilson
Auckland-based Wild Thing Jo Wilson says she is motivated by the realisation that 'life is very fragile' - something she has learnt on a professional as well as deeply personal level.
Ronald Chen
Wild Thing Ronald Chen started running in his 60s and has an incredibly impressive running CV for a man who found the love for the trails later in life: 60 ultramarathons and counting.
Cate Shave
Wellington-based Wild Thing Cate Shave started running for her mental health — and has many reasons for not stopping now.
James Goodwill
James Goodwill grew up running but it wasn't until a major event turned his life upside down that he saw how important running was to him.
Rachel Bridgewater
About to embark on her longest run to date, Wild Things Rachel Bridgewater talks proudly about her biggest source of motivation.
Corey Woodward
Corey Woodward's trail exploits are the perfect antidote for the hours he spends looking at screens and dealing with technology. He told Wild Things where his love for the outdoors comes from.
Sam Mowat
Christchurch-based Sam Mowat’s recent “runcation” saw him climb the Wild Things Leaderboard and get a rare Platinum Goat Badge. We decided to find out more about what powers this “goat” up the hills.
Sarah Biss
41 year old Sarah Biss from Nelson has been running trails of one kind or another since 1989 (do the maths - that's a big chunk of her life!)
She has represented New Zealand in both Cross Country & Mountain Running, trained with the Kenyans and now coaches others for a living.
Find out more about this unassuming but inspirational runner...
Eugene Bingham
Eugene is 44 year-old Born Again trail runner currently residing in West Auckland.
He grew up running on bush trails in the Hunua Ranges, south-east of Auckland, but then defected to the dark side and bitumen for many years.
But in the last 5 years he has rediscovered his love for the trails...
Andrew Eadon-Jones
50 year old Andrew, originally from the UK but now settled in Auckland, has been running trails for some 10 years.
He is the visionary behind the Cape Reinga to Bluff Relay'ish - a huge undertaking that aims to raise $200,000 for the children's charity Variety.
What makes this man tick?
Rob Hammington
72 year-old Rob Hammington from Tamahere, Hamilton has been running trails for almost 4 years.
He is one of the organisers of the Kirikiriroa Marathon.
He gets more joy from persuading and motivating others to enter and succeed in events than he does from his own, not insignificant, achievements.
