New editor at Trail Run Mag

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Amanda running the Luxmore Grunt. IMAGE: Kepler Challenge.

Let’s face it (says the Aussie), New Zealand may just be the best place on Earth to run trails. So when we kicked off Trail Run Mag in Australia fifteen editions and nearly four years ago, we always wanted to, without stepping on parochial toes, celebrate the trail running culture and community that exists there.

To that end, we initially were supremely lucky to have Malcolm Law on board as our New Zealand editor, charged with curating all that was dirty and good about his beloved homeland. Now, Mal is like Mr. Trail Run in New Zealand and with all his awesome work in raising funds and awareness for mental health, it was inevitable that he’d get too busy and move on to concentrate on more important goals than nutting out another editorial and ferreting out the next local trail guide. But while we had him, damn we were grateful, and we continue to regard him as a founding father of Trail Run Mag (as always listed in the credits!) and support his charity work where we can.

Filling Mal’s big singletrack boots was Vickie Woolley, another notable on the Kiwi trail running scene, she injected her own passion and energy into our pages, and again we are so thankful that she spent a fair number of editions helping curate and write the New Zealand content. Alas, Vickie’s talents have been spotted by greater than us, and she has decided to move on to other projects, including working for trail event crew Total Sport and, we hear, a few other trail running/media related projects – stay tuned for Vickie’s news. We wish her all the best and know that her passion will shine wherever she decides to direct her considerable energies. An inspirational woman who has made her mark on the NZ trail running scene for sure and will continue to do so. Thanks Vickie.

So, we were left with a huge void, and fretted over who could jump on board the good ship Trail Run Mag and continue our collective passion for all things trail running New Zealand. As it happens, via a sliding doors moment, we can now say we have a new New Zealand Trail editor who we think you’ll enjoy reading and who brings as much passion and personality as ever.

While running trails in Victoria, Australia, Wellington-based Kiwi Alan Crowe mentioned to us a trail running writer that he held in high regard, and specifically a blog about runner’s toenails. Well, we read that blog, and straight away knew, she was our kind of trail journo. Thankfully, she obviously felt that Trail Run Mag could be her kind of fun writing outlet, because she signed on to the role of New Zealand Editor.

"The most insincere thumbs up I have ever given" - Tarawera 2014. IMAGE: marceauphotography.com

“The most insincere thumbs up I have ever given” – Tarawera 2014. IMAGE: marceauphotography.com

Wellington-based author of the blog My Romance With Running (myromancewithrunning.com/), Amanda Broughton is from Fiordland in the South Island of New Zealand. She got in to trail running a couple of years ago when she wanted an excuse to go home to see the family without seeming to be visiting them on purpose, so entered the Luxmore Grunt (part of the Kepler Challenge) and became obsessed.

Having views over ocean and mountains, lungs full of sea air, racing rocks and scree down hillsides with blind surgical precision, elbows flapping, and teeth catching sandflies is, Amanda says, when she is in her element.

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Tarawera 2014. IMAGE: marceauphotography.com

“I’m currently recovering from a little stress fracture, so I’m technically a trail walker but the team at TRM has made an allowance in this case if I keep up a steady supply of Trail Porn. I think their addiction is healthy though, so I’ll do what I can to sate it.”

TRM’s Australian editor, Chris Ord, looks forward to working with Amanda to further uncover the trail glories of New Zealand.

“I still laugh when I think about the effort she went to with her toenail blog – you have to see it as much as read it,” says Chris. “Her humour – and the sheer effort she went to – instantly made me want Amanda on the team. As many readers will know, Trail Run Mag isn’t really like any other running magazine out there. There is no set formula, we just publish whatever intrigues us, and be damned. And to be honest we prefer the abstract, the weird, the off-kilter, the unexpected. Not saying that Amanda herself is any of that…but we’ll be encouraging it wholeheartedly in what she puts into our pages!”

Her sign off on her blog gives insight into her approach to life and trails:

My big hairy audacious goal is to run a 100km Ultra, and win it. Shoot for the moon, even if you miss you’ll have as much renal failure, blistering, chaffing, and muscle necrosis as the person who came first.”

Love it.

Amanda’s job is enviable: cover all the goings on in the NZ trail running community, run trails, review trail gear and seek out those quirky stories to be found out there on the singletrack.

“The NZ content will be Amanda’s baby – she’ll bring fresh approaches and ideas and will, we think, be an awesome curator of everything New Zealand.”

If any readers have any ideas for articles or content feel free to get in touch with Amanda – she especially loves invites to cool trail runs! Amanda’s first edition will be in March (Edition 16), as always available at www.trailrunmag.com/magazines and you will see her occasionally comment on NZ trail topics on our social media feeds.

its.amandabroughton (at) gmail.com