Corporaal Completes Trail Running Sweep

Bloodied and sore, Galatea farmer Sjors Corporaal wrapped up the North Island Triple Crown trail running series in style yesterday, but not without a few nervous moments.

The 32-year-old took out the 21km The Goat run around the flanks of Mt Ruapehu, with the perilous surface made all the more treacherous by heavy overnight rain.

"You couldn't tell a slippery rock to land on from a good rock - it was unreal and a bit of a minefield out there and I fell over heaps," Corporaal said.

Pushed all the way by Wellington's Rees Buck, the former New Zealand 3000m champion and cross country star, Corporaal eventually came through for his third consecutive win in the event.

His time of 1hr 57min was just 53secs outside Englishman Thomas Owens' 2005 course record.

"If the conditions were as dry as the year he set it, we should have gone under pretty comfortably. We had to take it pretty easy out there but Rees was really good on his feet and he led for a long time. I could tell he was starting to slow down going uphill so I thought I'd stick with him to see what would happen and I eventually made my move in the last quarter."

Buck finished 2mins 40sec back with Papamoa's Chris Morrissey third in 2:03:10.

Rotorua's Annika Smail couldn't complete the women's Triple Crown sweep after wins in the 18km Toi's Challenge in Whakatane and the 32km Kauri Run in Coromandel, having to settle for third.

Unheralded Whitianga runner Ruby Muir broke through for her first win, clocking a sharp 2:25:46, with Palmerston North's Piret Klade second in 2:32:51 and Smail a further 3mins back.

The Goat Moutain Run Results

Men

Women