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Shaun and Madeleine Collins

Profiled May 2020

Madeleine and Shaun Collins are widely known through their company Lactic Turkey Events, which has long created and hosted outdoor adventure events. Some of you will have followed Shaun’s crazy endeavours in the ultra-distance Revenant Race.  My memories of them go back to when they were orienteering as teenagers and I think Shaun was once even treasurer of NWOC.

Q. Number of years orienteering?
A. Started in 1990, so 30 years but with a big gap of about 10 years after our third child was born.

Q. How were you introduced to orienteering?
A. Our Dads used to work in the same building as each other but on different floors with different companies. They were both lunchtime runners so got to know each other in the changing room in the basement of the building. Another great guy, Roel Michels (past NWOC member), also used to run with them. One day Roel encouraged our Dads to come to a summer evening orienteering event and drag their families along. So they did. Shaun and I were both in our early teens then.

Q. Key orienteering achievements to date?
A. Shaun- Winning at the Labour Weekend event last year, including beating Carsten, after not having orienteered for more than 10 years.
A. Madeleine - Making the A final at JWOC in 1997 in Belgium. I also did the best comeback ever – after not orienteering for years I entered the Nationals in one of my first years as a W35 and won! Then I didn’t orienteer again for about another 5 years!

Q. Current orienteering project or goal?
A. Shaun - No specific orienteering goals, but I have a few ultra-running adventures planned that need careful navigation for me to succeed at them.
A. Madeleine - (Was) working hard on Auckland Secondary Schools Sprint Events. Also planning up a storm of further schools events we could do and increasing the number of kids that give forest and club orienteering a go.

Q. Favourite map and why?
A. Shaun- The Revenant map
A. Madeleine - Although I’ve orienteered in several countries around the world and have loved the challenges of those different maps, especially the delightful maps in the Bordeaux region of France, I have to say a good sand dune Woodhill map tops them all. I love being in that terrain.

Q. Map you have yet to experience but aspire to orienteer on?
A. Shaun - Barkley Marathons map, Frozen Head State, Tennessee.
A. Madeleine - I’d like to orienteer in a country that is really different – like China. I kind of had World Masters in Japan on the wishlist too. And I’d love to try one of those crazy multi-level mall maps.

Q. Orienteering hero?
A. Madeleine - The first kiwi orienteers that got placings at World events back in the nineties. They are also good friends of mine. Until then NZ orienteers were perceived as somewhat second-rate. These runners showed us we could be world class and I think that changed the attitude and expectations of all NZ orienteers. They were Alistair Landels and Tania Robinson (now Larsen of CMOC).
A. Shaun - None. I don’t really have heros. My wife is my hero.

Q. Day job?
A. Madeleine – Event director
A. Shaun - Husband and Dad extraordinaire / Sponsored ultra-runner / Commercial manager / Event director

Q. Other interests?
A. Madeleine - Trail running, MTB-ing, playing piano, reading and I’m learning Te Reo Maori.
A. Shaun - Ultra-running, trail-running, running, reading, photography

Madeleine and Shaun share many of their adventures with their three daughters – Zara, Meg and Annie-Rose

In the News - 2020
International travel is off the agenda for now and Kiwis are being encouraged to explore New Zealand instead. When his plans to compete in a high-altitude Ultra race in India were thwarted, Shaun “Running Beast” Collins decided to go for a local run instead. But not just any run…he devised his own crazy challenge of running around the entire urban perimeter of Auckland non-stop.  Starting from the summit of Mt Eden the route took him to downtown and via a ferry to Devonport, up the coast to Long Bay, through Albany and West Harbour, Titirangi, Mangere, Drury, to the Eastern Beaches, Mt Wellington, Tamaki Drive and back to Mt Eden – an epic 305 kms in 51 hours!  Fantastic support from the family crew of Madeleine, Meg, Zara and Annie Rose and some excellent coverage on TVNZ.
For anyone who missed it and is keen to see the TV coverage about this adventure, there are a couple of cool TVNZ Seven Sharp videos: from the start and afterwards. 

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