New to the area, Thomas Reynolds flew away from his opponents winning the King of the Mountain title in LJ Hooker Athletics Whangarei and Hatea Harriers' combined race from Mair Park up Parihaka.
To minimise congestion on the narrow tracks during Saturday's race, the fastest runners started first, running up the
Drummond Track - 241m ASL - for the titles of king or queen of the mountain before racing down the Dobbie and Hokianga tracks back to Mair Park.
Reynolds, a fifth-year medical student at Whangarei Hospital, is an experienced multi-event athlete, having "done a lot of running" and competed in world mountainbike and world orienting championships.
Reaching the top in 9min 20sec, Reynolds - already well out of the sight - was feeling the strain from a fast start.
"I think I probably hit the bottom slopes of Parihaka a little bit too hard and about two-thirds of the way up I really felt my stride shorten up, and then, when I hit the flat at the top, I just had nothing left in the tank.
"It's definitely deceptively long - you get about three-quarters way up and you think you're nearly there," he said.
Forced to take it easy on the first part of the downhill, Reynolds strode out again towards the finish, easily maintaining his lead.
Over a minute behind Reynolds, Whangarei's Rob Lieffering reached the summit next, with Mick Killeen, Hatea, and James Edwards, Whangarei, following.
The uphill climb had taken its toll on Killeen, allowing Edwards to slip past as the pair began the downhill section.
"It got hard about halfway up the hill," Killeen said. "I thought you'd get all the hardest stuff out of the way at the beginning."
Edwards and Killeen both passed Lieffering, who eased back to nurse an injured knee.
In the women's race, Denise Limby, Whangarei, ran strongly to the top, winning the Queen of the Mountain title, followed by Tina Maher, Whangarei, and Portia Olney-Kemp, Whangarei, who triumphed on the downhill, outrunning her older opponents.
Delwyn Smith, Whangarei, finished second, Limby third, Annette Murray, Hatea, fourth, and Sue Shand, Whangarei, fifth.
