Katie Morgan overcame some stumbles and the unknown to bank a third-straight Kepler Challenge title in Te Anau today (Dec 7).

The English-born New Zealand mountain running representative from Wanaka comfortably won the 60km lap around the Kepler Track in 5hr 48min, quarter of an hour ahead of Frances Redmond, and 21 minutes ahead of international trail runner and former long-distance triathlete Beth McKenzie, from Australia.

“It feels amazing, I honestly didn’t expect to win today,” Morgan said.

“When I saw that Beth McKenzie was in, I didn’t think I’d be able to stay ahead of her on the flats, so I’m super chuffed. I knew that there wouldn’t be much in it and so I went out a bit harder than I normally would and I was just waiting for her at any moment to catch me on the flats.”

Morgan, who has also won an ultra event in Canada this year, never felt as comfortable as her winning margin suggested.

“It’s not often you can look behind you and the one time I did, I fell over, so I tried not to do that too much.”

Alexandra’s Daniel Balchin wins the mens Kepler Challenge in 5:3:45. Photo: Supplied

Alexandra’s Daniel Balchin also had to recover from a spill before eventually winning the men’s race in 5hr 3min.

The Alexandra-based project manager, who finished second in the Auckland marathon five weeks ago, fell heavily on the technical descent from Hanging Valley into Iris Burn and saw his lead over Wellington’s Thomas Barnes evaporate.

Balchin set a blistering record in the event’s companion race, the Luxmore Grunt, three years ago before finishing third behind Daniel Jones in the 60km Challenge last year.

Aucklander Jonathan Jackson wins the men's 27km Luxmore Grunt. Photo: Supplied

With Jones opting not to return to Te Anau and try for a seventh consecutive Kepler title, the men’s race had an air of intrigue about it for the first time in a while.

“I’ve done the Luxmore Grunt a couple of times and the Kepler last year. I was stoked to get the win, it means a lot. It’s an awesome one to tick off because it’s a prestigious race on the trail scene,” Balchin said.

“I managed to get a bit of a lead at the start and then tripped and fell on the downhill. I’m more of a road runner and I was a bit clumsy there, but I managed to get a gap on the flat on the way home. My time was a bit slower than last year, but absolutely stoked to get the win.”

Barnes finished 12min down on the winner, with Benje Patterson, who won the Luxmore Grunt as a teenager 20 years ago, finishing third.

Auckland’s Jonathan Jackson returned to bank his second-straight, and third overall, Luxmore Grunt win, claiming the 27km race to the Luxmore Hut and back in 1hr 55min, just over 2min ahead of Whakatane’s Liam Dooley.

“I always have the same plan, try and get a gap on the climb because there are some absolute demon descenders, like Liam. I think I had almost three minutes at the top and then I just held on.”

Cantabrian Penny Mouat wins the women's 27km Luxmore Grunt. Photo: Supplied

Debutante Penny Mouat, from Christchurch, put her Port Hills training to good use to win the women’s race.

“It was epic, the climb was beautiful and then the downhill was great. I fell down half the track but I bounced back up and then the final 5km was punishing, with a sprint for the last mile.”

The capacity Kepler Challenge field of 450 runners, which sold out in 2min and 8sec when entries opened in July, enjoyed cool morning conditions which gave way to warm and windy weather in the afternoon.

Results

60km Kepler Challenge women:

Katie Morgan 5:48:43, 1; Frances Redmond 6:04:04, 2; Beth McKenzie 6:09:44, 3.

60km Kepler Challenge men:

Daniel Balchin 5:03:45, 1; Thomas Barnes 5:16:13, 2; Benje Patterson 5:23:12, 3.

27km Luxmore Grunt women:

Penny Mouat 2:30:33, 1; Miriam Clark 2:30:44, 2; Stephanie Wilson 2:33:54, 3.

27km Luxmore Grunt men:

Jonathan Jackson 1:55:15, 1; Liam Dooley 1:57:15, 2; Timothy Jorgensen 2:05:09, 3.

Full Results

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