Whakatāne’s Daniel Jones made history in Te Anau by becoming the most successful competitor in the Fresh Choice Kepler Challenge, winning the iconic 60km mountain race for a record-breaking seventh time. Jones completed the challenging loop of the Kepler Track in 4 hours and 42 minutes, surpassing the six-title benchmark he had previously shared with Ruby Muir and Russell Hurring.
Jones was welcomed at the Lake Te Anau control gate finish line by his partner Michelle and their 11-week-old son Hudson.
“I saw them at Rainbow Reach (10km to go) and I really wanted to give Huddy a hug but I just burned on through. It’s Huddy’s first time to see a race finish and I was really happy to make it a win,” said Jones.
“To get that seventh title means a lot because you come back here year after year and it’s kind of grown into this big family, community thing for me, and now my family and I really hope to continue the tradition.”
Jones faced strong competition in the early stages from French runner Quinton Succo, who is spending a year in New Zealand. The two stayed close through the climb to Luxmore Hut and across the alpine section before Jones pulled away in the second half. Succo finished in second place in 4:58, while defending champion Daniel Balchin placed third in 5:06.
In the women’s race, Auckland’s Frances Redmond improved on last year’s runner-up result by claiming victory in 5:59.
“This is my fourth year, so it’s been a few years coming. It’s a renowned race, the course is beautiful and it’s fantastically run, the volunteers are awesome, so it feels pretty epic,” Redmond said.
Hannah Wall led much of the race and finished just under five minutes behind Redmond in 6:03, with Julia Chamberlain rounding out the podium in 6:17.
Redmond credited the people around her for their support: “I’ve been supported over the past year by my friends and family, particularly my partner Hannah. She cooks me dinner, doesn’t complain when I go out running for eight hours on our day off. That’s what makes it so amazing, having that family and friends support.”
In the shorter 27km Luxmore Grunt, national mountain running representative Penny Mouat successfully defended her title despite recovering from a recent stress fracture.
“I’m so stoked. That was the goal. I got a stress fracture a few months ago, got that cleared and then this was my first race back really,” she said.
On the men’s side, Cameron Swales surprised the field in his trail running debut. Trailing at the halfway point, he overtook multiple-time winner Jonathan Jackson on the descent and held on to win in 1:53.
“I’m coming out of being a road and track running over the past couple of years and I’m excited to give trails a bit of a go,” Swales said.
Both events sold out rapidly, with 450 participants in the Kepler Challenge and 250 in the Luxmore Grunt.