Catch me if you can: Maia Flint distances herself from the competition, while also putting paid to most of the men’s field yet again. (Credit Marathon Photos all rights reserved)
Records were falling like dominos during the final weekend of the 2026 Kea Series at the Skedaddle in Culverden on Saturday (ANZAC Day) and Faultline in Wellington on Sunday. Maia Flint and Eric Speakman set new course records in the Skedaddle ‘Leki Dozer Line’ and Faultline ‘Tremor’ events respectively on their way to overall series crowns. Tim Jorgensen scorched the North Canterbury trails with an outstanding performance to take the men’s record at Skedaddle, on his way to the top of the Kea Series leaderboard, only to be eclipsed by Speakman on the final day.
Maia Flint again proved her class in the 15km Dozer Line with another strong performance, setting a new course record of 1:18:55 bettering the old record of 1:27:24 by over 9 minutes set by Anna May last year. Behind Flint were Katie Wright following up from a solid 6th placed performance at 3 Peaks, and Claudia Sole, backing up from 9th at national mountains last weekend placed 3rd securing her 3rd overall position in the 2026 Kea Series. Flint said, “It was really cool, I’ve never been out this way before, having not lived in Christchurch that long. That big climb in the middle was really, really tough, I knew it was going to be long but, I didn’t realise it was going to be that steep.” On winning the overall Kea Series Flint said, “That’s mean as, hopefully it keeps going for many years to come.” Now that the series is established there is the strong hope that we can begin to attract the quality domestic and international athletes for next season that can help Maia and athletes like her to reach their full potential.
In the men’s race Tim Jorgensen and Cameron Swales, worked together up the tough ascent to the Island Hills saddle, before Jorgensen broke away on the steep descents down from the top. Jorgensen said of the battle with Swales, “Me and Cam went out pretty hard, we ended up calling a bit of a truce on the climb and walking most of it, and then at the top it was just about sending it, I almost blew up on the last little climb, but just managed to hold on.” On taking the course record, he said, “I was pretty confident I’d go under the course record with Cam there to push me.” 2023 Goat winner Matt Ogden was 3rd in a solid 1:13:43, followed by Cameron Livingstone in 4th who placed 5th in the overall standings.
This Is Your Captain Speaking: Air Speakman comes in to land during the finish of the Faultline ‘Tremor’. (Credit Marathon Photos all rights reserved)
On Sunday the series traded in the rolling natural landscapes of Island Hills station at the Skedaddle for the urban surrounds of inner Wellington including the Botanic Gardens, Parliament and Te Papa. Eric Speakman was dominant and never challenged on the 12km Faultline Tremor course, with his closest competition Max Doherty and Daniel Palfreyman over 3 and 5 minutes away respectively. After winning Speakman said, “Hard work, that climb up Te Ahumairangi is like one solid one, so a bit different from last week with the up-down-up-down taking shorter turns, a bit of a grind, I definitely enjoyed the longer downhill and some nice flat road to finish as well.” Speakman’s win took him the overall series win of the Kea Series by one place with his 1st at Peak Trail Blazer, 2nd at Kaukau Traverse and 1st at Faultline enough, to push him ahead of Tim Jorgensen’s two 1sts and a 3rd.
In the Women’s race rising young Olympic Harrier Isobel Thurston won, backing up her win at Kaukau Skyline Traverse in the New Zealand Junior Women’s Mountain Running Champs. The latest in a string of strong wins for Thurston which included winning the New Zealand Secondary Schools’ Cross Country Champs last year in the Year 9 Girls race in Whangarei. While in a distant 2nd place was Isobel’s mum Catriona a New Zealand champion in Masters Women’s Mountain Running in her own right, and third was Naomi Richardson.
Final Kea Series Points Leaderboard
With Season 1 of the Kea Series now in the books athletes will turn their attentions to winter trail events and cross country. The next season of the Kea Series will look to begin in summer 26/27, so look out for those announcements. As the Kea Series looks to the future, we are excited by the participation and community around New Zealand trail, and want to not only uplift the elite athletes but foster the community and social athletes and their love of the sport. Finally, thanks to the ongoing support of Curranz and A’PAIR who have helped make the series possible and giving us the backing to grow the commercial reach and appeal needed to make the series sustainable for the long term.
15km +/-718m Skedaddle Leki Dozer Line – Island Hills Station, Culverden – Saturday 25th April
Men: Timothy Jorgensen 1:07:14, Cameron Swales 1:07:32, Matt Ogden 1:13:43.
Women: Maia Flint 1:18:55, Katie Wright 1:24:04, Claudia Sole 1:33:43.
12km 330m+/440m- Faultline ‘The Tremor’ – Wellington – Sunday 26th April
Men: Eric Speakman 44:20, Max Doherty 47:47, Daniel Palfreyman 53:04.
Women: Isobel Thurston 56:39, Catriona Thurston 58:21, Naomi Richardson 1:10:26.
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