Wahoo x Te Araroa Trail
WAHOO'S FKT
On March 25, 2025, Billy ‘Wahoo’ Meredith set a new self-supported FKT of 52 days, 11 hours, and 58 minutes on the Te Araroa Trail in New Zealand. Read more on his journey below.
What is the Te Araroa Trail?
Spanning the length of Aotearoa New Zealand, the Te Araroa is one of the world’s most diverse long distance trails.
Over 3,000 kilometers / 1,800 miles and 83,000 meters / 273,000 feet of total elevation gain, the route winds over high mountain passes, around volcanoes, across sweeping plains, alongside meandering rivers, and through bustling cities and rural towns.
The current self-support record is 54 days. Billy broke the record at 52 days, 11 hours, and 58 minutes.
The first of its kind
Ceiba
The most comfortable lifejacket we make also happens to be the most environmentally friendly PFD made today. The front is filled with kapok, a naturally buoyant fiber that feels like down, while the back uses recyclable PE foam for protection. The shell is made from bluesign® certified 100% recycled Polyester.
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Inteded use: Whitewater, Tour, Canoeing
WHO IS BILLY "WAHOO"?
Astral Archetype, Billy “Wahoo” Meredith, is a trail runner, thru hiker, and photographer who currently holds the FKT in the Calendar Year Triple Crown (CYTC) and self-support FKT on the Te Araroa Trail.
SCREENING SCHEDULE
WORLD PREMIERE // April 15 at Blackstar Brewpub in Whitefish, MT, USA. Doors at 5:30p, film at 6:30p.
Featuring a pop-up gallery of Billy’s photography, as well as a rooftop DJ set afterparty.
APPALACHIAN TRAIL DAYS // May 16, Damascus, VA at the Rock School Auditorium. Film starts at 12:15 PM.
Featuring prints of Billy’s photography, a Q&A, and a footwear giveaway.
Interview with Wahoo
ASTRAL // Billy, congrats you crushed another epic Fastest Known Time (FKT) record. This time, the Te Araroa spanning the length of New Zealand. Compare the TA FKT to the Calendar Year Triple Crown FKT from a couple years back. What were some of the similarities, and apart from the big difference in length, how were they different?
Billy ‘Wahoo’ Meredith // Thank you!! For one, they were similar in that I completed both in “self supported” fashion, meaning that I carried all of my own supplies and nutrition on my back and was not allowed a support crew.
Both of these efforts involved a whole lot of night hiking and “cowboy camping” (sleeping under the stars without a tent) for speed and efficiency sake. Of course both were filled with loads of natural beauty, though they varied greatly in the landscape and terrain I was hiking through.
Te Araroa was unique in that it includes several long stretches of beaches and water crossings where you must time your hike with that of low tide. There’s also tons of farmland and long road walking portions which were often the most dangerous stretches of the entire trail.
I was doing many more consistent 40+ mile days on the Te Araroa compared to the Calendar Year Triple Crown which took me 234 days to complete as opposed to the 52.5 days of the TA.
Despite the speed component to these records, I was constantly stopping to snap photos and carried a camera setup during both of these experiences.
ASTRAL // You were living down in New Zealand for almost a year before starting the Te Araroa. What were some of the highlights and low points of that time?
Billy ‘Wahoo’ Meredith // The access to pristine nature is really unmatched there. Life in New Zealand truly feels like you’re living inside of a postcard. Even driving around running more mundane errands can feel like a scenic road trip if you let it.
I also really enjoyed the more laid back lifestyle of kiwi living as well. People would just walk into restaurants barefoot and it’s totally normal there. Feels like a lot less keeping up with the Jones’ and more of a focus on community and healthy lifestyles. I think that’s likely a byproduct of living amongst such great natural beauty and speaks to why it’s important to preserve these natural spaces.
It felt like a lot more people opt to walk to/from town and I loved being a walkable distance from the city center and just wandering aimlessly with my camera and a good book. I also really got into tea while I was over there and that’s something that has carried into my daily routine still today.
There was a bit of homesickness at some points being so far away from friends and family in the states…if it wasn’t so dang far I’d probably consider moving there long term!
ASTRAL // Setting out on the Te Araroa, you had a few hard times early. Long days on the beach, some tough ocean / water crossings, and lots of miles on the road. In the short film, you describe how hard it is to overcome those challenges while being alone. Looking back on them now, has your perspective changed v. that description in the moment?
Billy ‘Wahoo’ Meredith // Yeah, I mentioned that because I don’t think a lot of people understand just how challenging a self-supported effort in particular can be. Not only is it a massive physical undertaking to complete ultramarathons day in and day out with all that weight on your back, but there’s a huge mental component I feel often gets overlooked.
You’re relying purely on self motivation to get you up and out of bed before sunrise, to keep pushing into the darkness of the night when you just want to sleep, or in the case of the film, to weather a rainstorm by your lonesome.
There’s no one there to cheer you on, to motivate you, to remind you why you’re out there. That all has to come from within and that can be easy to forget when you feel like you’ve hit a brick wall, have sore legs, blisters, trench foot, are wet & miserable, etc. That’s really the point I was trying to make and I feel like that was a pretty accurate description in the moment. Not a ton has changed, besides the fact that I’m probably a bit more resilient now coming out the other side of this one. It’s hard to train for those kinds of moments.
“There’s no one there to cheer you on, to motivate you, to remind you why you’re out there. That all has to come from within and that can be easy to forget when you feel like you’ve hit a brick wall, have sore legs, blisters, trench foot, are wet & miserable…“
ASTRAL // You ran out of food on the last day of one of the toughest sections of trail, the Richmond Range. Was that poor planning or just taking that much energy to get through? How did it feel to keep moving on no calories?
Billy ‘Wahoo’ Meredith // Probably a bit of both. Before starting the trail I had to pre-arrange some food box shipments for remote stretches such as that one. Turns out I overestimated my speed through the Richmond Range and under estimated just how many calories I’d be burning each day. This led to me going about a full day without eating during arguably the toughest section.
Moving with no calories is interesting because your energy is totally zapped so you want to sit down & take breaks yet the only way to replenish that fuel is by pushing onwards. Runners and endurance athletes are familiar with the term “bonking” which is basically running on empty. I was bonking to the extreme.
On the plus side, that meal I finally had in St. Arnaud was for all time
ASTRAL // Trench foot is the worst. A) We’re glad you still have all your toes. B) Looking back on it, is there anything you could’ve done differently to avoid getting trench foot?
Billy ‘Wahoo’ Meredith // Yeah, the simple solution would have been to allow more time off my feet at night to allow them to dry out. But I was 48hrs from reaching the southern terminus and had my eyes set on the finish line. I got trenchfoot while making a big push where I opted to forgo sleep in hopes to finish in under 50 days. Recent rains saturated an already wet & muddy trail and there was really no way to keep my feet dry during the day considering the pathway was completely flooded. Who knows if sleeping and drying out my feet that night would’ve made a difference, it may have been inevitable without taking significant time off trail. I’m certainly not the only thru hiker to get infected feet in that area.
ASTRAL // Can you describe the final 48 hours of the trail?
Billy ‘Wahoo’ Meredith // Sure, at the start of that 48 hrs I had no idea if I was even going to finish. I couldn’t walk on my feet without extreme pain just a day prior. After getting some antibiotics from the doctor, they were at least bearable to walk on. I threw on multiple pairs of socks, several layers of duct tape and some trash bags in an attempt to keep my feet dry for the Longwood Forest, the muddiest stretch of the TA and any trail I’ve been on.
I got back on trail around 5pm and had to once again hike through the night, slogging through thigh high mud pits in the pitch dark for hours on end. I kept the Best of the Beach Boys on blast in attempt to lighten the mood. Even all of the preventative measures I took prior to starting back couldn’t keep my feet dry.
The mud eventually ended and I pushed through a second night as I got rained on the final night/morning of my journey. The final 9ish hours I started to have my first hallucinations of the trail and was falling asleep while hiking, all the way up until the finish.
My parents had flown in from Georgia and were there waiting for me at the finish. We enjoyed a meal together before a 2hr drive up to Queenstown where I got a hotel room, bandaged my feet and immediately knocked out. My feet were throbbing worse than they had the entire prior few days and I ended up walking around in fuzzy socks and slide ons for the next week.
ASTRAL // The challenges ‘make for the best stories’, but what were some of the absolute highlights?
Billy ‘Wahoo’ Meredith // The generosity and hospitality of the kiwi people was certainly a highlight for me. It got to the point where I was getting slowed down on the road walking portions because so many people kept pulling over to ask me if I needed a ride. I also had to eventually start saying no to the cold beers that kept being offered to me or else I’d be feeling it the next morning.
Also paddling the Whanganui River was arguably my favorite stretch of the entire journey. I had never done an overnight paddling trip prior to this and it was so magical floating down the river by myself and witnessing glow worms come out at nightfall along the gorge walls. A moment I’ll never forget.
ASTRAL // Not many people pack a legit / larger camera on an FKT. You not only broke the record, but did so while documenting the journey on social, through still images and filming video. That’s bad ass. As we look through your images, they almost glow and have a dreamlike feel. Is that purposeful? And is that a reflection of your state of mind out on trail?
Billy ‘Wahoo’ Meredith // I’ve never thought of it that way but I think it’s probably fair to say it’s a reflection of my state of mind on trail. There’s a lot of moments on the journeys that feel surreal. In a beautiful way. Those moments where I feel like no one back home would believe what I’m seeing / experiencing right now. I think that’s why it feels important for me to capture the journey as much as I can.
As far as is it purposeful? I’d say yes. It’s taken several years for me to hone in what I consider my style of photography which you described as “dreamlike”. I’m sure we’ve all had those instances where our iPhones just can’t quite capture what the moment looked like or felt like in person. I try to capture that feeling through my photography as much as I can.
ASTRAL // You hiked the whole trail and set the new self-supported FKT on the Te Araroa in Astral TR1 Mesh 2.0 shoes. Why did you pick those shoes, and how did they perform?
Billy ‘Wahoo’ Meredith // Te Araroa is an extremely wet and muddy trail to say the least. A waterproof or gore-tex shoe isn’t going to do you too much good when you’re having to wade through rivers, mud pits, and ocean crossings. I needed a shoe that was light, breathable, and quick drying.. yet still rugged enough to offer stability and tread on slick rocks. The TR1 checked all those boxes for me and at one point I botched a shoe shipment to myself and was able to get over 600 miles of heavy use out of a pair. They’re my new go to’s for trail running & thru hiking.
ASTRAL // Thanks, Billy!
Wahoo's Shoe
Billy’s shoe of choice for this journey of thousands of kilometers was the TR1 Mesh 2.0.
More durable than the OG, and now with a Supercritical TPE midsole that is cleaner, lighter, and more responsive.
