Mount Maunganui's Hamish Miller crosses the line to win the 2020 Dexion Mount Monster. Photo / Alan Gibson/Gibson Images
Mount Maunganui's Hamish Miller crosses the line to win the 2020 Dexion Mount Monster. Photo / Alan Gibson/Gibson Images
History repeated at the Mount Monster on Saturday, with Mount Maunganui's Hamish Miller and Mairangi Bay's Rachel Clarke owning the surf lifesaving endurance showpiece for the second time in four years.
Miller, the 22-year-old phenom back on his home beach, tore apart the competition to win the 24.5km Dexion-sponsored event by nearly four minutes, while Clarke also emulated her 2017 win with a commanding performance of her own, holding off a fast-finishing Rebecca Barron by 38 seconds.
Clarke used her strength on the opening 12km ski leg to pull away, keeping her foot on the gas through the subsequent 5km run, 1.5km swim and 6km board legs.
"I knew that my competition had the motivational advantage of chasing me down so I concentrated on chasing down the guys," she said.
Her 2h 50m 21s was nearly six minutes slower than last year's winning female time and nearly nine minutes adrift of her 2017 time, although that had much to do with the gusty westerly winds that caused havoc throughout the 300-strong field.
Miller, meanwhile, was a class act crossing in 2h 24m 47s and, after dabbling in triathlons for the past three seasons, regarded this win as just as good as his maiden victory in 2017.
"It's special either way," he said. "It's always so humbling and so much fun and being able to do it with my mates makes the experience all the better."
Rachel Clarke, of Mairangi Bay, on her way to victory in the women's division of the 2020 Dexion Mount Monster. Photo / Alan Gibson/Gibson Images
One of those mates was 16-year-old clubmate Jayden Murphy, who improved on his fifth-place finish last year with second this time around.
Murphy showed racing smarts beyond his years as he finished in 2h 28m 35s, just 38 seconds ahead of another teenager, Omanu's Tanner Baxter.
"I knew the swimming leg wasn't my strongest so if I could put in that extra effort to hold off Tanner, I could take advantage of the surf break on the swim to shore and then make a hard push on the board," Murphy said.
After a year filled with uncertainty, organisers were delighted with the turnout in the eighth edition of the race, with the testing conditions making the day particularly memorable.
With wind gusts reaching 50km/h at times, racing smart was the key, with local knowledge proving invaluable for Mount Maunganui's Barron, who entered the final board leg in sixth but stormed home.
Red Beach's Kate Rodgers completed the women's podium with a hard-fought third place. Other results from the day saw East End take out the men's and women's team event, while Mount Maunganui took home gold in the mixed team event.
Athletes look to catch a wave during the Mount Monster. Photo / Alan Gibson/Gibson Images
The under-14 Mini Monster finished with Muriwai's Matthew Mihaljevich and Orewa's Elizabeth Brennan taking home gold medals in the boys' and girls' divisions respectively.
Mount Monster Results
Open men: 1st Hamish Miller (Mt Maunganui) 2:24:47, 2nd Jayden Murphy (Mt Maunganui) 2:28:35, 3rd Tanner Baxter (Omanu) 2:29:13.
