Tauranga runner Chris Morrissey nearly added another King of the Mountain title to his impressive resume over the weekend but had to settle for second in one of the fastest finished race organisers can remember.
Defending King Morrissey, previous holder Sjors Corporaal and the Pomona holder Ben Duffus from Australia looked like the three musketeers most likely to podium. Ultra athlete Ruby Muir made a surprise appearance, which teed up a monster race for the Queen title, with the defending champ Helen Rountree looking substantially stronger than her first outing last year.
The usual suspects went for the hole shot off the starting blocks with the smartly attired Hayden Wilde leading Leornado, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael.
Once the sprint blow outs had taking their toll, Morrissey went about his business and took the lead into the foothills. He looked strong, fast and gradually stretched out his lead over Corporaal, but Duffus was still well in the hunt with juniors Stricot-Tarbotton and Wilde also demonstrating some class.
After the gruelling climb to the peak Morrissey hit the summit in 33.39 with Corporaal soon to realise he had to put a big downhill in, having reached the summit in 34.15. Duffus had dropped off the pace into fourth with surprise package Lance Downie edging into third. Super vet Colin Earwaker (37.33) was just behind Duffus (36.16) to the summit.