Champions taste more purple success at Tarawera 2025

Tarawera Ultra-Marathon by UTMB proved a tour de force for CurraNZ-powered athletes in February, with a handful of purple-powered pros filling top podium spots.

Ambassadors Hayden Hawks (50km) and Sam Harvey (Miler, pictured above) won their races in domineering fashion, Hayden breking the record and Sam becoming the first New Zealander to win the 100-mile race since its inception in 2018.

Notably, it was an ambassador one-two for CurraNZ in the Miler, with runner-up Simon Cochrane finishing 15 minutes behind Sam, who hit the tape in a time of 15:16:54.

It was Sam’s second UTMB World Series event on the bounce, after winning Ultra-Trail Kosciuszko in December.

Hayden (right) raced the 50km event for his season opener, treating it as a building run towards Western States, and knowing he had some speed in his legs at this stage of his preparation.

He didn’t disappoint and won despite losing his electrolytes and gels in the race, moving from fifth to first to finish in a time of 3:18:46. 

Other notable performances from the CurraNZ Purple Army included Nancy Jiang (5th female, T102 and recipient of Western States ticket), Anna O'Byrne (7th female, Miler), Sam Rout (8th, T50), Harry Wager, 12th T50), James Bland (22nd, T100), Mauricio Torres (27th, T21), Sarah Coxon (28th female, Miler), Sean Pannifer (39th, Miler), Chrissi Faber (28th female, T50).

Congratulations to everyone who participated in what was, another top-class renewal of New Zealand's premier ultra-marathon.