Close Battle for Top Titles in Routeburn Classic Adventure Run

News Release / 27.04.2015

Challenging race conditions – wet, windy and foggy – did not deter runners in the 12th annual Routeburn Classic adventure run.

The exclusive adventure run is staged on New Zealand’s world famous Routeburn Track, and never fails to deliver tight tussles and stiff competition among some of the country’s top male and female endurance racers.

With last year’s winners unable to make the start line this year, the race was wide open, especially in the womens’ event.

The men’s was also anyone’s game, with a number of names being bandied around, but it was Welshman Hywel Dinnick who ultimately took top honours.

Twenty-five year-old Dinnick, an ultra-marathon runner who has also competed locally in a number of triathlons during his 18-month stay in Queenstown, was always in contention in the leading pack of four runners.

A first-time competitor whose only experience of the track was when he and friend ran in both ways in one day over the Christmas break, he said he felt “pretty confident” early on.

“It was tough though; the weather was atrocious and there was a very strong headwind between McKenzie Hut and the Harris Saddle.

“I didn’t think I would do as well as I did -- I put my foot down between the Harris Saddle and the Falls Hut then pulled back a bit between the Falls and the finish line to have something in reserve if someone came at me.”

That someone following in his footsteps turned out to be Wanaka’s Grant Guise, who for the second year in a row picked up second place, with Dunedin’s Stafford Thompson finishing third.

Despite the conditions, Dinnick, who leaves New Zealand to go back to his home country in a fortnight, said the event was “absolutely fantastic” and he hoped to return to defend his title.

In the womens division there were three new names on the podium compared to last year, with Kat Reynolds of Waimauku in the North Island coming first.

Twenty-four-year-old Reynolds, who only took up trail running as a weight loss tool two years ago, has been on a roll in 2015, having recently won the Coast to Coast Mountain Run and come second in the Hillary 34k trail run a month ago.

“I’ve done pretty well with three podiums in three events so far this year,” said Reynolds.

“I tramped the Routeburn over summer with my family but I’ve never run it, and even in that terrible weather I still loved every second of it,” she said.

“I was surprised by how comfortable the climbs were, even though it’s tough going running uphill for 20k, but coming towards the saddle the winds were so bad I don’t know how I didn’t get blown off!”

Race organiser Evan McWhirter said that after a number of benign years with good weather, it was possibly time for a more challenging event.

“Although having said that, if we had been planning to run on Sunday it simply wouldn’t have happened because of the sheer volume of water that’s fallen over the past 24 hours,” he said.

“It was pretty wet, windy and foggy, a cold chill-factor coming into play up the top and a little bit of tussock-groping going on, but for all that we only had one person roll an ankle and couple of others who pulled out or weren’t going to make the cut-off time,” he said.

Renowned for his fun approach to the event, McWhirter and team did not fail -- this year’s theme was ‘The Hero’s Journey’, with all runners issued with face masks and a Routeburn Classic cape so they could transition into a superhero en route.

There was even a crash mat installed at the finish line so runners could do their best ‘superhero’ leap after 33km of running. To make sure the athletes knew what was expected of them, Austin Powers, Elvis and the Wolverine all demonstrated suitable ‘leaps’ at the safety briefing held in Te Anau.

“Given how wet it was, even I was surprised how many actually did run in their cape. Someone caught their cape on a treefall and got pulled backwards, and another lovely lady in the Elton John ‘Seven Hours and I’m Still Standing’ category jumped onto the mat with such gusto she knocked the wind out of herself and gave herself a bloody nose. That was amazing engagement after 33k’s in the mountain. I was impressed,” said McWhirter.

“People just love this event and the chance to run in such a special and amazing alpine environment.”

At the event prizegiving held at Skyline last night (Saturday), Queenstown resident and grapegrower James Harcombe joined the ‘Decade Club’ as a 10-year-veteran of the event, receiving the Mark Douglas Perseverance Trophy as he joined this elite and prestigious club.

He was also presented with a special platinum cape embossed with the words ‘Decade Club’ and reserved a special ‘thanks’ for Dinnick and others who had loaded his race pack with rocks pre-event.

Meanwhile the event’s youngest-ever competitor, Josh Platt from Wellington was back for more as a 12-year-old, running with his family and bettering his time in more trying conditions.

Main results were:

Mens: 1st Hywel Dinnick    2:45:27   (Queenstown); 2nd Grant Guise  2:49:32        (Wanaka); 3rd Stafford Thompson    2:52:10 (Dunedin)          

Womens: 1st Kat Reynolds    3:45:59  (Waimauku); 2nd Imogene Scott    3:47:49 (Nelson); 3rd Anj de Beer    3:55:49  (Fairlie)

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