Welcome!
My names Darren Baughan – hopefully my page thus far has inspired you or at least made you curious on what you can achieve!
My journey, like most has taken me across various different training methods, sports, clubs and gyms. I’ve been really consistent and I’ve completely fallen off the wagon. I’m no stranger to all aspects of reality. Recent years my mentality has changed quite considerably generally finding something I enjoy. Being honest that’s the key, finding exercise enjoyable and having consistent challenges you can accomplish. When my youngest daughter was born I pretty much ceased exercise completely, I lost motivation and put on the KGs! It wasn’t until my wife asked me to volunteer at an Ultra Marathon going back a number of years ago, which was a huge tipping point for me. I remember the day clearly, the event was 54km with 2500m of elevation so certainly no walk in the park! It was absolutely pouring down outside and the wind was freezing however these athletes inspired me. Every athlete I saw had the biggest smile on their faces, thanked us for standing in the cold weather and carried on their way. Not to mention the athletes ages ranged from mid twenties through to at least mid 70’s. I was 120kg at the time, wasn’t exercising and decided I was going to get back into it by putting one foot in front of the other. Why am I telling you this? Simply to show you that I’ve not always been super active, I lost my athleticism and practically started at rock bottom. If you resonate with this, don’t count yourself out!
These days as you’ll read further down, I’m now a fully qualified Personal Trainer, I’ve completed many races from smaller distances through to larger ones and I even help as part of the event crew for many events you may be familiar with.
I’m currently training towards the Tarawera 100 mile in 2026 with a few Backyard Ultras and other races in between!
Running and Endurance Running
I’ve run everything from half marathon’s through to ultra marathons with my largest to date being 100km and plenty in between. Naming just a few of my longer races I’ve done the Coast to Coast Mountain run, Aotearoa, Valley Ultra, Skedaddle and the South Island Ultra Marathon.
Event Organising
I know how important these events are to us recreational and elite athletes therefore I started off volunteering at numerous events. These days I’m now apart of the event crew for events you may have heard of. Some of these are, Coast to Coast, Le Race, Skedaddle, Five Passes, Saint Clair Half, Valley Ultra & Forest Fest.
Strength / Gym
Over the years I’ve spent a lot of time in the gym, doing HIIT, CrossFit, Spin class, plus all different training styles in the gym, you name it I’ve probably done it. I thoroughly enjoyed helping people lose weight, move better, get stronger etc. I decided to actually become qualified to help others!
Never under estimate what you can do!
No matter where you are in your training, whether having no idea where to start or perhaps having a few races under your belt. Never put a limit on what you can achieve. This video happened because I put in the work, both in the Gym and out on the track. The first step is backing yourself, if you can do that then I can 100% help you move in the direction of your goals.
