Hard slog cramps his style

As Auckland's Josh Harrison crossed the finish line at Rawhiti Kaingahoa Marae to win the 37km Helly Hansen Cape Brett Run, his legs buckled, giving in to the cramp he had suffered on the back half of the gruelling off-road race.
It was the 27-year-old firefighter's first time contesting Saturday's event, which has gained the reputation of being the third-most-difficult race in New Zealand, behind the Kepler Challenge, in Te Anau, and Kaweka Challenge, in Hastings.
Not only was it his first time contesting the event, but the furthest distance he had run off-road before the Cape Brett trail - which started and passed through Whangamumu and Te Toroa Bay before joining the Cape Brett track - was 12km at the Rotorua Tough Guy race last month.
"I'm planning on doing the ironman next year and wanted to do a challenging run - and it was bloody hard. I never thought I'd win it," he said while examining his toes, which were bruised and blackened from "caning it" on the steep downhills.
Originally, Harrison had entered to do the two-person relay event (18.5km each), but his teammate had fallen sick at the last minute, so he had asked the organisers if he could do the whole thing.
They had agreed.
While Harrison's respectable time of 5 hours 20 minutes and 31 seconds did not go near the course record of 4.08 set in the challenge's inaugural year, 2004, Whangarei's Amy Burke broke the women's three-year-old record by a few tenths of a second, for the 17km Outdoor Action Whangamumu Classic.
Burke's slight figure zipped around the technical and testing course in 1.49.07, to win not only the open women's division, but the race overall, 44 seconds in front of the first open men's runner home, Auckland's Gavin Lloyd.
It was Burke's second consecutive year of winning the women's title.
"I had been building for this race as I wanted to defend my title. I was hoping to do around 1:45, but that's the way it panned out," she said.
The Whangarei runner said she preferred the off-road discipline and would return to race the event next year because of what it offered. While it was just a "maybe" at this stage, Burke said she might consider the 37km gutbuster in 2011.
"I just love this event - being out there in the bush, getting away from it all. The conditions were fantastic and the course was perfect, and the camaraderie at this event is just phenomenal."
Around 200 runners, ranging in age from 9 to 72 years took part in the 37km, 17km, and the all-new 10km Cape Brett Walkways Kauri Ridge Walk, organised by Sparkle Events on behalf of the Rawhiti community.
While organisers were delighted with numbers, they were hoping to attract a few more 37km competitors in the future to keep the event running strongly.
This year's event was incident free, with search and rescue volunteers having a relaxing day in ideal, dry conditions.