The 2026 edition of The Goat is shaping up to be an exciting one, with athletes flying through the Tongariro tussocks on the way to completing the 20km run. Amongst the over 400 athletes slated to take part, two athletes are likely to lead the herd. They are Goat stalwart Maia Flint and experienced mountain man Jackson Cole, who will be taking on the Tongariro event for the first time. However, the cool, rainy conditions forecast could throw up a few surprises making the footing tricky and bogging the athletes down. While the addition of the new Kea Series adds an additional twist to the tale with athletes not only fighting it out for Goat line honours, but also a place on the overall series leaderboard, points in the chase for the series prize pool, opportunities for international racing support, and the title of 2026 Kea Series Champion.
It’s incredible to think what Women’s event favourite Maia Flint has accomplished in trail running at just 22. This has included standout GOAT performances, with 1st place in 2022, 2nd in 2024, and 1st in 2025 alongside a 4th-place overall finish. She has now represented New Zealand twice in Mountain Running and is rapidly adding international placings to her CV with a win at the Skyrunner U23 World Series event in Saint Jeoire, France last year and following that she placed 38th in the Mountain Classic at the World Championships.
While, in the Men’s field Jackson Cole stands out as a clear favourite. Despite representing New Zealand and spending a decent chunk of his childhood in Wellington, Cole has a limited local profile in New Zealand. Since signing for La Sportiva and becoming a full-time professional athlete Cole has gone from strength to strength. He is based in Montana, USA, but like many athletes, has lived a fairly nomadic life over the last few years chasing races across the US in The Cirque Series where he podiumed 3 times last year, and Skyrunning events across the Alps and Pyrenees of Europe. The pinnacle result though for him was probably his 27th place in the recent Short Trail World Championships, during some of his stronger segments he even broke into the top 10 places. This was the best senior result by a Kiwi in the event since Ruth Croft’s outstanding Silver in 2019.
Other names to look out for include Ryan Carr aka ‘The Ferret’ who won The Goat in 2019 and again 2022, who has honed his mountain running and hiking skills on the rugged back country sheep stations of the deep south. Road runner turned trail athlete Cameron Swales is running fresh off a win at the Luxmore Grunt, although he could find the footing on a scoria packed Goat course a little different to what he’s used to.
In the women’s race 2021 New Zealand Cross Country Champion Kerry White will take to the Whakapapa start line, alongside Imogene Scott a highly established orienteer and short trail athlete with a 2nd at the Nesters Market Squamish 50 miler in 2023 in Canada to her name. Both are new mums and will be using the event to test out their form and see where they’re at in their return to competitive racing.
Conor O’Toole, Richard Jabu Wood, and Alex Gilbert are back after placing 4th, 5th and 7th respectively in 2025, you can expect them to put in strong showings up the pointy end of the field. Penny Brown 6th and Sophie Rutherford 9th last year also return in the Women’s field, while Jennifer Tregurtha could also surprise from the second wave.
With another year of The Goat set to begin, a new generation of talent will once again have their chance to show the training efforts they’ve put in over the summer across the country’s rugged mountains and winding trails.
Leave a comment