North Shore multisport competitor Sam Goodall blitzed the Northern Crossing field, proudly defending the men's solo title he claimed last year.
Goodall completed the crossing in an impressive five hours 13 minutes and 19 seconds - nearly half an hour ahead of the second-placed Craig Newton from Auckland (5.42.44).
Goodall started Saturday's
multisport event strongly, leading the 8km initial run from Hokianga South Head. He then stayed up front to finish third in the 18km kayak leg from Opononi to Rawene, despite a head wind up the Hokianga Harbour.
The 26-year-old regained the lead on the 74km cycle from Rawene to Waipapa and stormed home on the final 8km run down the Kerikeri River Track to Kerikeri Basin.
Goodall was chuffed to win following his victory in the inaugural event last year, which featured no kayak leg, after it had been cancelled because of stormy weather.
In third place in the solo men's event was Kaitaia's Eddie Evans, in 6:06.36.
Meanwhile, the first woman home in the multisport event was Orewa's Hayley Gould, who finished in 6:14.36, ahead of Sue Field of Kerikeri, in a time of 6:50.10, and Auckland's Laura Larkin was third fastest in 7:26.43.
The top solo duathlete home was Auckland's Rob Dallimore, who clocked in at 3:44.16 in the men's race, while Whangarei's Chubby Hale won the women's race, finishing the 8km run/82km cycle/8km run in 4:26.09.
After last year's dire weather, organiser Owen Smith, of the Kerikeri Rotary Club, said everyone involved - from the 170 competitors to the 100 volunteers - was pleased with how the event panned out.
"We were really happy we managed to get the kayak leg in this year ... The cycle was pretty tough out there as there was a bit of a head and crosswind. Even though this event is not tough like the Coast to Coast, it is by no means an easy event ... everyone who finished was happy to reach the finish line, they had to work for it," Smith said.
There had been a lot of positive feedback which was encouraging as organisers decide whether to continue the event after the initial three-year trial period.
"People are really supportive of it ... we got a lot of local support from businesses, we had over $13,000 worth of spot prizes. It was well organised from the coast guard, who had nine boats out on the harbour, and St Johns to the traffic management."
