2008 Results

2008 CapeBrett Results.pdf

2008 Gear Locker.pdf

2008 Race Report

Adventure Runs – Bay of Islands
Helly Hansen Cape Brett Challenge
Gearlocker Whangamumu Classic
Saturday 26 April 2008

“Wet, wet, wet - but great running conditions” was the reaction of overall winner James Kuegler of Auckland in the 37km Helly Hansen Cape Brett Challenge in the Bay of Islands on Saturday. Kuegler carried on from impressive performances earlier in the year in adventure runs around New Zealand to power away from the field from the start on this highly regarded but very tough event, never to be headed. He won by over 17 minutes from Peter Blair of Auckland and by a further 3 minutes from Simon Walters of Puhoi for a comprehensive win.

First woman home was Jaclyn Schaffer (something of a dark horse), followed 8 mins later by Kristina Crane of Auckland with Leigh Ruddock a further 35 minutes back. Crane, with a string of recent strong performances was the pre-race women's favourite and reached the turnaround point first, but was overtaken on the return journey by Schaffer.

The weather conditions were certainly challenging. A deep tropical depression with torrential rain and north easterlies gusting over 35 knots at Cape Brett left the organisers little choice but to shorten the course for safety reasons to avoid the notorious “razorback” track leading to the lighthouse. Competitors instead were turned around at Ohututea Bay just short of the final climb to the lighthouse.

This was the 4 th year for the Helly Hansen Cape Brett Challenge, the previous 3 in glorious sunny weather! Numbers have grown from 90 entries in the inaugural 2005 event to close to 300 this year ( 250 turned up in spite of the challenging conditions). It would rate in the top 5 adventure runs in New Zealand and is rapidly becoming an iconic Northland event.

NZ has a proud history in the adventure/mountain running arena with a string of both men and women world champions in recent years – Jonathan Wyatt, Melissa Moon and Kate McIlroy. The excellence of our off road runners was recognised by the world body, with New Zealand being awarded the World Mountain Running Championships in 2005. The best known NZ adventure run is probably the 60km Kepler Challenge held in Te Anau in spring each year. A number of the competitors who have raced both, actually rate the Cape Brett Challenge as a tougher run, in spite of the considerably shorter distance, because of the greater amount of climbing (+2500 metres) and the steepness of the climbs – particularly out near the Cape .

The Cape Brett Challenge event is actually composed of two runs - the headline 37km run being supported by the 17 km Gearlocker Whangamumu Classic. True to the character of the main event the 17km run is also full of glorious coastal views but is a tough test. The climbs keep coming and the descents – especially in slippery conditions like Saturdays – need real care.

Over 200 people (runners and walkers) braved the elements and completed the 17km run – the youngest 8 and the oldest 68! Times were generally slower than last year because of the conditions, but overall winner, veteran man Graham Watts (2 nd in 2007) of Red Beach improved his time by 7 minutes to come home 4 minutes ahead of German cycling tourist Stefan Wagner in 2nd (later relegated to 7 th because of a technical infringement) and junior man Jourdan Harvey of Auckland by 5 minutes in third (who pipped Simon Cochrane of Auckland by 2 seconds!)

Open Woman Aimee Finlay of Auckland ran a stupendous race and came home 4 th overall to beat Amy Burke by 12 minutes and veteran Tracey Johnstone of Waiheke. Entries were received from UK , Canada , and in New Zealand from as far afield as Queenstown, Cromwell and Gore.

Overall Results were as follows:

Helly Hansen Cape Brett Challenge 37km

Gearlocker Whangamumu Challenge 17km