He was tired, muddy and sore but Tauranga runner Russell Lake still had a smile on his face as he became the inaugural Tauranga Trail Run champion over 28km on Sunday.
The Smiths Sports Shoes-sponsored event took in the tracks of the newly-created TECT Park between Tauranga and Rotorua,
drawing nearly 500 entries.
It is New Zealand's first carboNZero-certified running race, with terrain ranging from pine forest, native forest, sub-alpine tussock and stunning stream crossings.
Not that Lake had much time to appreciate things - the 41-year-old eased his way around two loops of the 14km course in 2hrs 16mins and 18secs, finishing ahead of Tauranga veteran Gavin Smith and seasoned multisporter Casey Marshment.
"It's the first time I've run up on the TECT trails and it was a bit of a surprise how much there is to offer up there," Lake said. "I haven't done a lot of long runs lately so I was also pleasantly surprised how I was able to go but it's a great event and I really enjoyed it."
Lake is building up for next month's ITU triathlon championships in Auckland, hoping to qualify for the world championships on the same course next year.
Hamilton's Dot Larsen was too strong in the women's 28km race, finishing in 2:54:12, ahead of Tauranga's Lindy Wickham.
Former Commonwealth Games marathoner Paul Herlihy took out the 14km run in 1:02:32, ahead of Rodger Creighton and Te Awamutu's Glenn Sexton. Tauranga Boys' College running star Michael Sutton was fourth in 1:09:39, though many of his schoolmates helped marshal for the races.
The event helped raise money for the Tauranga Boys' College cross country team, with a portion of the entry fees funding tree-planting at the TECT Park.
Event organiser Scott Furness was delighted with the number of entries.
"We had 150 late entries on the day, which we were extremely surprised with," Furness said. "To get 500 people turn up to a first-year event was amazing and obviously shows the potential of it. We'll be announcing the date for the next event as soon as possible and it should get bigger and better from here."
Results:
14km: Men: Paul Herlihy 1:02:32 1, Rodger Creighton 1:04:01 2, Glenn Sexton 1:06:49 3, Michael Sutton 1:09:39 4, Mike Scott 1:09:42 5. Women: Pamela Ens 1:14:53 1, Mary Sharpe 1:16:23 2, Laurie Pugh 1:17:07 3, Jackie Offner 1:17:39 4, Petra Creighton 1:19:59 5.
28km: Men: Russell Lake 2.16.18 1, Gavin Smith 2.22.09 2, Casey Marshment 2.23.36 3, Graham Webb 2.36.31 4, Darren Blackwell 2.36.50 5. Women: Dot Larsen 2.54.12 1, Lindy Wickham 2.57.32 2, Sharon Hilton 3.04.49 3, Diane Gillard 3.17.08 4, Anna Barrett 3.17.25 5.