Ballantyne was one of a group from Taradale High School, which won schools honours, but a special feature of the night was the talent among the 177 entries across the various courses.
In a unique rugby battle of the sexes Tuis Hawke's Bay women's rugby star Kristen Cottrell ran the 5km in 36min 34sec, heading off Hawke's Bay Magpies player Mark Braidwood, who was possibly unaware of any such challenge and finished in 43min 56sec. Former Magpies rugby captain Michael (M.J.) Johnson, who played 137 games for Hawke's Bay from 1998 to 2010 and now a regular triathlete and runner, also competed.
There were about 30 from Napier Crossfit, which won the club/team title, and which included such people as former Football Ferns player Stephanie Skilton, who afterwards reckoned she "hurting" and it was "tougher" than her previous challenges in the event, and Justin Dawson, a former 5km event winner who ran the 10km in about 70 minutes, reckoning he needed to drop a bit of weight from his 100-plus kg frame.
Many had done the event before, including Rodney Halpin, running about 1hr 2min at his fourth time. Having sprained an ankle recently, he was "quite happy" with the outcome on the night, finishing about 16 hours after he got up for the day to go to work driving a loader in the forestry.
But there wasn't much appetite for the bigger challenges in the steps climbing and running field.
Realising some limitations on numbers, by the nature of the course, organisers anticipated 60-70 starters when it was first held, but got 124, raised about $1200 and MS Hawke's Bay was later awarded the Bupa Community Workers Award for Best Fundraising Activity of the Year. In 2015 there were about 350 entries, and it raised a further $3500.
Jackie Harper, organising the event for the first time but working in conjunction with Les Holland, of Napier Crossfit, was a little disappointed with the numbers, but was looking forward to the next event.
The date to mark on the calendar is October 25, 2023.
