Mountain running: Chris is King of the Mount yet again

Chris Morrissey has racked up his eighth win in the Kawerau King of the Mountain.

The 36-year-old builder overcame strong challenges from another stalwart of the iconic race, Sjors Corporaal, last year's winner Shay Williamson, and Whakatane adventure racer Sam Clark, to claim the title in Kawerau at the weekend.

Competing in sweltering heat, the high-calibre field scorched up Mt Putauaki, which stands 853m above sea level.

Corporaal made the first break, determined to shake off any rivals before the serious climb, with Morrissey close on his heels and last year's champ Williamson tucked nicely in third.

However, Morrissey put on the after-burners and was the first to make the summit.

He made easy work of the descent, finishing the 8km race in a time of 0.51.03, almost 2 minutes ahead of Corporaal, followed by Williamson, Clark and Stefan Wagner.

The women's race was a thriller, with Hamilton Hawks runner Helen Rountree blitzing the field and taking the title of Queen ahead of Kawerau local and Queen of the Mountain legend Megan Edhouse, Kaye Watkins, Demelza Murrihy-Topp and Tori Robinson. Rountree's time of 1.05.50 was almost 5 minutes ahead of her nearest rival.

The races did not disappoint on a sun-soaked day in the heart of the small Eastern Bay town of Kawerau, with Kawerau South School winning the tightly contested school relay which got the event underway.

It was promptly followed by the Prince and Princess of the Mountain race with a field of 200 youngsters vying for the titles.

Kaya Henderson-Corporaal took out the Prince title, followed by Jarod Gebbett and Regan Wilson.

Wellington's Serena Murrihy won the Princess title, ahead of Kawerau local Jayda Stewart and last year's winner, Evelyn Barton.

It was the 57th time the annual event has been held and only seven men made the sub-60 club (finished the run under an hour) on a day which didn't prove to be record-breaking, with the heat of the day taking a brutal toll on any efforts to make it a speedy race, despite what was widely seen as a fast course.