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As befits a woman who says her athletics strengths are “running uphill and grinding it out” Sarah Douglas is without question one of New Zealand’s most accomplished mountain runners of her generation.

The 38-year-old Queenstown-based athlete added the most recent of her three national mountain running titles on home ground in August while later this week in Chiang Mai, Thailand (Nov 3-6) she is all set to make her fourth appearance at a World Mountain Running Championships (which for the first time will also feature the World Trail Running Championships).

A genuine “mountain goat” Sarah says: “I do prefer running uphill it suits my strengths better. I really enjoy those uphill races where I can get into a really good rhythm at a constant gradient.

“I can’t wait for Thailand. It is going to be played out in an incredible atmosphere and to have the trail running and mountain running champs at the same time will allow me to watch the other events too. It is going to be awesome.”

Raised in Christchurch her passion for running began competing in primary school cross country races and was later hardened during her time at Burnside High School when a teacher introduced her to Christchurch Avon AC.

Running and training more seriously from the age of 15, she went on to win two senior girls’ bronze medals at the New Zealand Secondary Schools Cross Country Championships and she reflects with fondness on the formative years of her running education.

“I would credit the guys at Christchurch Avon who we used to train with for instilling in me the importance of the long run on a Sunday,” she explains. “I used to run with them for two hours and they showed me the discipline required to succeed and how to structure a programme. I used to love the Sunday long runs and hearing all their stories.”

The South Islander took on a US scholarship attending Western Colorado University before later graduating with a fine arts degree from the University of North Florida. Sarah admits she developed as a cross country and track running during her time in the US but after returning to New Zealand and relocating in Queenstown in 2010 her athletics career took a different direction.

Working as a graphic designer for a company which had a free entry to the Kepler Challenge, she opted to compete in the 60km event. While Sarah has mixed memories of the experience, it did prompt a change in emphasis for future running ambitions.

“I lacked real experience of race nutrition,” she recalls. “I carried a humungous pack full of water and finished with the same amount because I drunk from the aid stations. I didn’t eat properly, hit the wall at four-and-a-half hours and sobbed my way to the finish.”

Yet finishing third gave Sarah encouragement that there was a racing life for her beyond the track and cross country and over time she developed a passion for mountain running.

In 2014 she showed her ability by winning her first New Zealand Mountain Running title in Motueka – although Sarah did not immediately kick-on to more success as her career development was stunted for a year after being diagnosed with Morton’s neuroma, a condition in which the tissue around the nerves leading into the toes thickens.

Taking almost a year off because of the condition a solution was only found when she underwent a non-invasive procedure which killed the nerves through burning and allowed Sarah to run pain-free once again.

In 2016 she regained her national mountain running crown in Queenstown and later that year competed at her first World Mountain Running Championships, placing a respectable 37^th in the senior women’s uphill only race in Bulgaria. Despite struggling with an untimely bout of food poisoning she has many happy memories of the experience.

“It was really great,” she recalls. “I loved being with the team and being around other incredible athletes from the mountain running world.”

In 2018 she placed 35^th in the uphill only World Mountain Running Championships in Andorra and the next year crossed the line in 40^th spot finish at the uphill-downhill edition in Argentina.

In more recent years, Sarah has also been coached by the six-time world mountain running champion from New Zealand Jonathan Wyatt – and the graphic designer insists the move has been hugely positive for her career.

“I had been coaching myself, but I missed specific direction for particular workouts,” she explains. “I’d heard Jono was coaching Ruth Croft (the 2019 world trail running silver medallist), so I thought it would be awesome to get Jono’s advice. I reached out to him four years ago and it has been a great decision.

“He’s so generous with his advice but doesn’t put any pressure on you.”

Training between 80-90km a week, Sarah has the pick of some stunning training locations in and around Queenstown and identifies the Ben Lomond Track, Bob’s Cove Track and Arrowtown as three of her favourites.

And the recipe appears to be working better than ever as Sarah regained her New Zealand Mountain Running title in August – doing so by a near three-minute victory margin – while earlier this month she grabbed a bronze medal at the New Zealand Half Marathon in Cambridge in a time of a 1:23:40.

“The biggest thing Jono and I have been working on is for me to remain injury and niggle-free and I have done that,” she says. “I’ve put in some consecutive weeks of consistent training and by preparing for the half marathon champs alongside the mountain running champs has given me some good variety.”

Planning to compete in the uphill only race on Friday (Nov 4) and the uphill/downhill mountain race on Sunday (Nov 6) in Thailand, Sarah has set herself a gruelling schedule. However, given the fact she believes the former race will be kinder on the body than the latter she believes it is a challenge she can fulfil.

Carrying out specific workouts in her preparation by running in a seam sealed tracksuit to help her become more accustomed to the intense heat and humidity she is likely to experience in Thailand, Sarah has prepared for every eventuality. So what would the Kiwi ‘mountain goat’ like to achieve in Chiang Mai?

“If I could crack the top 30 in the uphill event I’d be really stoked,” she explains. “It is something I haven’t done yet and would love to do so.”

In the future she is already eyeing up a potential crack at the 2023 World Mountain Running and Trail Championships in Austria and would like to test herself more over the half-marathon distance on the roads.

However, whatever will happen in the future she is convinced running up mountains will continue to play a central role in her life.

“I enjoy the hurt and trying to better my time running up a specific hill,” she adds. “It may sound a little cheesy, but it is always worth it when you get to the top.”

For more information on the 2022 World Mountain and Trail Running Championships go here

By Steve Landells