Demanding Cape Brett run a winner

Heath de Garnham followed up his recent win at the Kaweka Challenge in Hawkes Bay with a convincing win in the rugged off-road run out to Cape Brett and back on Saturday.
The Bay of Islands event, which was being held for the first time, took competitors through some of the most spectacular but precipitous coastal scenery in New Zealand.
The pre-race favourite, Ross Rotherham set the early pace and led through Whangamumu and Deep Water Cove but was caught by de Garnham on the steep descent from the lighthouse to the Doc hut at the Cape.
Rotherham kept in touch on the way home but de Garnham pulled away in the final stages of the 35km race to win by a margin of seven minutes in a time of 4 hours 13 minutes.
Phil Woods was third, a further 18 minutes back.
In the women's race, Karen Hanlen proved too strong and was the fourth runner home overall in 5h 14m. She was followed home by the Northland pair of Christine Carlton and Jean Beaumont.
The general consensus was that this was a fantastic course but demanded respect.
It attracted some of the country's top off-road runners and lived up to early expectations by proving to be extremely tough.
Feedback from competitors was extremely positive, according to race director Graeme Brown.
"We're now planning to make the event an annual one," he said yesterday.
"We believe this could become one of the classic off-road runs around New Zealand and turn into a major running event."
The event also featured a 15km race from Rawhiti through Whangamumu, Te Toroa Bays and back to Rawhiti.
Designed as a less demanding run, it was no picnic, Brown said, but at least contestants could take in some of Northland's most beautiful scenery on the way around.
Northland junior Andrew Riddell was first male home in the 15km run with veteran Shena McGregor the first woman, and Richard Witihera was the first Rawhiti local home.
The run proved very popular with Northland runners and looks to be a winner in the future.
The race started in cool overcast conditions, but the sun came out during the day, proving very tough for the runners, in spite of the late season scheduling of the event.
Water had been carried in along the Cape Brett route but dehydration became a serious problem for some of runners.
The organisers had restricted entry for the 35km event to runners with proven credentials in endurance events or off-road runs and installed a time cutoff at 2pm on the return run through Deep Water Cove in the interests of safety.
The majority of the field achieved the cutoff but some runners were returned by boat from Deep Water Cove.
The event was hosted by the Rawhiti community at the Rawhiti camping ground and a carnival atmosphere was enjoyed by the crowd attending the prizegiving.
Results:
* Cape Brett Challenge 35km
Open men: Heath de Garnham 4:13:36, 1; Ross Rotherham 4:20: 44, 2; Phil Wood 4:38:51, 3.
Open Women: Karen Hanlen 5:14:12, 1.
Veteran men: Graeme Lear 5:31:56, 1; Scuff Asby 5:52:47, 2; Severn Smith 5:55:06, 3.
Veteran women: Christine Carlton 5:31:47, 1; Jean Beaumont 6:19:40, 2; Margie Peat 7:24:41, 3.
* Whangamumu Wonder 15km
Men: Andrew Riddell 1:48:58, 1; Tony Emanuel 1:52:11, 1; Keith McLeod 1:55:42, 3.
Women: 1 Shena McGregor 2:09:53; 2 Jane Sweeney 2:12:51; 3 Julie Egan 2:15:59