Moore said his renewed love for running grew as he wanted to stay active while recovering from a bad mountainbiking crash that broke his collar bone.
He progressed, racing longer and longer distances, and found a passion for pushing his body to the limit.
After the cancellation of the European event for which he was training, he looked for a local event to make use of the training he had done.
Because it was his first time running such a long distance, and knowing that a significant number of entrants would not finish, Moore paced himself.
“My expectations weren't high, but I knew I had a good chance.
“It was amazing . . . I didn't have the slightest bit of cramp. I thought I could go faster, but I didn't want to push it.
“I'm generally the one testing it before I give it a good nudge. I do believe I can go faster.”
He said he'd be back to see how far out he could push his record time.
Moore finished second, over an hour behind American Matt Urbanski, who was racing in his 15th 100-miler.
Urbanski stayed in New Zealand over the Covid-19 outbreak, after a DNF (did not finish) in the same race last year. Of the 250 entrants this year, 152 completed the race.
The course is picturesque, snaking around eight Rotorua lakes with two boat crossings to take in the scenery. Runners have to navigate natural obstacles and keep their wits about them on the predominantly off-road sections of the course. Over half of the race is on offroad single tracks and only 9 percent is on paved surfaces.
Runners had 36 hours to complete the distance. Moore said it was unbelievable that he finished so quickly.
“We caught up to the back end of the 100km field, and from then on I was passing people all day. The atmosphere was amazing. It was really cool to see everyone.”
Moore was grateful to his “incredible” support crew, who included his best friend and his partner who were there all day, from 4am to midnight.
“I couldn't do this run by myself. You need a good crew . . . it's not a one-person effort.”
