"Saturday was a cracker of a day" - Phil Lemon, Event Director. The conditions were spot on for a fast race and as they say what a difference a day makes.
Friday dawned wet and muggy, not an ideal start to the weekend, but what it did provide was a much needed top up for the mighty Grey River. The Grey has been running low for weeks, with very little rain making some of the upper braided sections very tricky.
That all changed overnight and Saturday was a cracker of a day, the skies cleared and the race started at a fast and furious pace up front for the Mountain Man event. Starting at 6:30am the first run off the Cobden tip head, where the Mighty Grey River and Tasman Sea collide, saw the 29 individual competitors and 10 teams spread out over the short 1.25km run section to the bike stands. Jerry McKenzie and Seamus Meikle were on the bikes first and out on to the Great Coast Road. This was to be the start of a hard fight for the top spot. Behind them a good portion of the field formed up the peloton and kept the race close. The majority of athletes completed the run and first 30km road cycle section through to Barrytown in under an hour.
 Jeremy McKenzie and Seamus Meikle with race director Phil Lemon(Photo: Mountain Man & Goat Race; click to enlarge) |
The start of the 19km mountain run section, at Barrytown, is a tough slog up the Croesus Track until hitting the summit of Mt Ryall, 916m above sea level. McKenzie lead Meikle by just 5 minutes at the summit. Only 10 minutes separated the top 6 as the pace picked up across the tops. By the end of the Croesus Track Dan Busch had gained 3 places and sat in 3rd as the runners transitioned to mountain bikes at Smoke-Ho car park.
 1st Vet Paulette Birchfield with support crew(Photo: Mountain Man & Goat Race; click to enlarge) |
 1st Vet Nathan Peterson(Photo: Mountain Man & Goat Race; click to enlarge) |
In the Women's event 2 locals, Amy Devlin and Charlotte Breeze, used their home turf advantage to keep Elsie Cassidy from Culverdon at a distance. Devlin was through to the MTB transition, leading Breeze by 21 minutes and a further 24 minutes back to Cassidy in 3rd. The short 9km, mostly fast down hill section, does throw up a couple of nasty climbs to test tired legs as the bikers descend into Blackball and on to the 25km Grey River kayak transition. McKenzie had increased his lead over Meikle to 9 minutes and the top 10 now stretching back over a further 50 minutes behind.
With the rain over the previous 24 hours the Grey River had been re-energised, giving the athletes more options in the braided top section. However with the increased flow the unique features of the Grey also come into play, with large boils and eddies slowing the uninitiated paddler. Kiwi Point is a notorious section throwing up a whirl pool, a massive inside boil and strong eddies. Pick the wrong line and progress is slowed dramatically, many opting for the slow inside run, rather than the scarier fast outside line. Meikle, with his home town advantage, took 4 minutes out of McKenzie, but it wasn't enough to stop Jeremy McKenzie from posting a new Mountain Man record winning time of 5:10:15. Seamus Meikle 2nd, 5:15:36 and Dan Busch 3rd, 5:25:50. The top 2 going under last years winning time of 5:23:53 set by Sweden-based American athlete Scott Cole in 2014. For the ladies it was a different story, Devlin couldn't hold off a very fast-finishing Breeze. Charlotte Breeze finished for the win in 6:56:25, 2nd Amy Devlin 6:57:49, with Elsie Cassidy 3rd place 7:32:52.
The Goat Race
Described by athletes as "brutal but beautiful" this is one of the best runs in the country. Starting in Barrytown, traversing the legendary Croesus Track and finishing up in Blackball.
The Goat Race lived up to its billing with an outstanding international field assembled for this years event. 28 athletes representing France, Denmark, Holland, England, USA and a kiwi stacked contingent lined up to take on the mountain. The men's event had 4 very credible contenders for the title. Perth-based kiwi runner Scott Hawker, local mountain goats Sarwan Chand and last years winner Ben Ansley, along with Christchurch man Vajin Armstrong. In the women's event it was the veteran section that offered up a couple of very strong runners, Claire Sykes and Kay Goodall from Motueka.
Race briefing 10:15am, race start 10:30am. The first initial climb out of Barrytown soon steepens to a zig zag hand on knees grunt out of the tree line and on to the summit of Mt Ryall. Chand, Hawker and Ansley all appeared over the top together. For the ladies Sykes was keeping good pace with the boys and soon put a good lead on the other women in the field. Chand was based at Mt Ryall as a marshal for the 2014 event and this year decided to take up the challenge and run it himself. His local knowledge allowed him to pull away and lead the event across the tops right through to the final closing stages. Hawker was hot on his heels and put in a blistering final couple of kilometres to overtake Chand and claim the win by just 45 seconds and post a winning time of 2:42:04, 2nd place Chand 2:45:19 and 3rd place Armstrong 2:46:51. Last years event winner Ben Ansley just trailing the top 3 finishing in 2:47:21.
In the women's section the more experienced and stronger veteran runner Sykes recorded first female home in a very fast time of 3:29:05, followed by fellow veteran Kay Goodall 3:53:17, both beating the top 3 open section women Erin Gray, Queenstown, 4:21:56, 2nd Annie English, Lumsden, 4:38:48 and 3rd place Greta Washington, Christchurch, 4:39:51.
From the event management I wish to extend my thanks and gratitude to all the athletes, support crews, your families and friends for making the 2015 event an amazing experience. To the behind the scenes team, West Coast LandSAR, river safety jetboat drivers and kayakers, marshals, sponsors, local communities, my family and friends that helped with the countless hours of preparation. Thank you all for your time, energy, expertise and patience. Thank you for helping me put on such a successful 2015 event.
Race results available on the website: www.mountainmanevents.co.nz/results
I look forward to seeing you all in 2016.
Phil Lemon - Event Director
Mountain Man & Goat Race
