I believe the 2015 event will be remembered as the year we opened a new chapter with what will be a great co-authoring of the Triple Peaks Challenge's future story.
It is also fair to say that the day will be remembered as the year the world discovered the Triple Peaks Challenge, with a huge increase in international competitors.
The most noticeable international entry was that of Yun Yanqiao from China, who turned up as the registration team were packing up on Friday night and asked about the event.
He just appeared and said: "How big is the cup?"
I told him the cup was not that big, but it was an amazing race unlike anything else, with two river crossings and three large mountains to conquer.
I also told Yanqiao that the cup is called the possum cup because it has a possum in it, which is a fluffy round creature when in trees and a flat hard object when on roads.
He decided to enter and consequently smashed all previous records, finishing the event in 3:49:29, with Graham Butcher (Masterton) in second finishing in a time that in previous years would have won the race with a time of 04:35:03.
Mr Yun said the race was beautiful and well-marked and marshalled.
He took it easy for the first hill because he did not want to get lost, but then decided to push it a bit harder because he felt he wasn't going to lose his way.
He, like most of the athletes, enjoyed the river crossing and he had a little swim in the deep water.
The weather forecasts of this year's event were very different to those of 2014.
The previous year's event was threatened by a cyclone and in the interests of competitor safety the race was modified to allow for a race to still be held without compromising competitor wellbeing.
This year's event was very hot and many competitors found the conditions challenging. One competitor was winched off the Te Mata Peak Section by the Lowe Corporation Rescue Helicopter.
Apart from the competitor needing evacuating because of a heat-related condition there were very few other injuries or issues.
I was very impressed at the way competitors and supporters helped each other, with many stories of camaraderie and I have thanked a couple of people for their acts of kindness.
At the end of the day an event is made or broken by those involved in it and we have some great people out there.
-For more information about the race and full race results go to triplepeakschallenge.co.nz
- David Tait is Triple Peaks Challenge race director
-Business and civic leaders, organisers, experts in their field and interest groups can contribute opinions. The views expressed here are the writer's personal opinion, and not the newspaper's. Email: editor@hbtoday.co.nz
