Damian Watson

Long days on trail, bakery mornings, and a habit of taking the long way round.

New Zealander, ultrarunner, and tour director based in Muriwai. Usually somewhere between Europe, the deli, and a climb that looked manageable on paper.

Damian Watson standing in front of mountain peaks

About

BETWEEN CROISSANTS AND CLIMBS

Based in Muriwai, New Zealand, Damian Watson splits life between the bakery, the trail, and long stretches of European road. If he is not at the Muriwai Deli shaping dough, he is usually somewhere uphill telling himself the climb will be worth it later.

He is not much for polished athlete speeches. Better with dirt underfoot, something hard on the calendar, and a decent feed waiting at the end.

Damian Watson working mornings at the Muriwai Deli
Muriwai mornings
Damian Watson finishing the Wild Horse 200 in 2025
Flag up, legs cooked
Damian Watson working on tour in Europe
In Europe somewhere

Featured

Top of the One Hundred® rankings.

Stoked to finish 2025 top of the One Hundred® Endurance Trail World Championship standings after a big year. More to come. Good motivation to be even better.

Check out the official One Hundred rankings
One Hundred 2025 #1 Damian Watson 362 AGR pts
Listen

Dirt Church Radio.

Good yarn with Dirt Church Radio if you want a better feel for Damo beyond the results sheet.

Listen to the full conversation
Episode 355 · Layer upon layer upon layer Open the Dirt Church episode Dirt Church Radio on Instagram @dirtchurchradio

Right now

Rebuilding, not forcing it.

Damo is injured at the moment, so this stretch is more about getting right than pretending there is a start line to announce. Still moving, still working, still ticking over, and letting the next big effort arrive when it actually makes sense.

Current focus Rebuild, then go again.

Tour work, steady training where possible, and no rushed comeback story. When there is something worth following, it will show up here.

Follow along on Instagram

Race log

Long days out.

A few of the ones that mattered.

Damian Watson racing the Mons Ultra Trail 200 miler in Nova Trento, Brazil
2025 · Brazil

Mons Ultra Trail · 200 mi (Grand Final)

See the effort on Strava
Damian Watson racing Trail to Heaven in Ladakh at high altitude
2025 · India

Trail to Heaven · 100 mi (Ladakh)

See the effort on Strava
Damian Watson finishing the South Wales 200 with the New Zealand flag
2025 · Wales

South Wales 200 · 200 mi

See the effort on Strava

On paper.

Why run this far?

Because moving fixes things.

Moving fixes most things. Clears the head, keeps the body honest, burns off the noise. Doesn’t need to be complicated — just lace up and go.

Best medicine going. Plus, it earns the pud.

Follow

Where the miles end up.

Muriwai

When he’s not on trail.

Contact

Get in touch.

For events, partnerships, coaching chats, tours, or anything involving long days on trail and a decent feed afterwards.