2023 was a fun race. The mountain circuit runners took off and 3 minutes later the Prince and Princess runners charged after them. At the base checkpoint, Jorge Hernaez Navarro and Liam Pratt narrowly led Daniel Kerekes. The top 3 females at the base were Katy Booth, Ange Harries and defending Queen Lee Cleary. In the Prince and Princess circuit super speedsters Lachie Hudson and Charlotte Reed were in fine form with noticeable leads. By checkpoint A Jorge had extended his lead while Daniel moved from 3rd into second place. The race amongst the top 3 ladies remained unchanged with Katy extended her lead over Ange and Ange extended her position of Lee. Biggest movers from the base to checkpoint A were the 2 junior runners, Jonathon Wilcox and Elan Cleary who gained 20 and 14 places respectively. The Prince and Princess circuit runners meanwhile were on the charge. Lachie Hudson continued his blistering pace and crossed the finish line in a time of 11:47 with Lachlan Heeks behind him with a time of 12:15. Third outright and Princess was Charlotte Reed in a time of 12:20 (1:09 quicker than she ran in 2022). Third male was Preston Pocock in 12:40. Second and third females were 11yo Lilly Best in 13:07 and Isabella Wilcox in 13:40. Congratulations to all Prince and Princess runners.

Back in the mountain circuit race, the charge to the summit was underway. Unlike the section from the base to Checkpoint A which saw the biggest movers from the youngsters, the biggest movers on the way to the summit were the, how shall I say this, mature, wise, hardened, oldies. Lew Cleary, Coe Vines and Wendy Flanagan all made double digit gains to their race positions. Jorge put his stamp on the race with Checkpoint A to summit time of 7:50, only 22 seconds slower than last years winner and stair climbing powerhouse Mark Bourne. The next fastest climber during the race was Junior Kaya Cleary who took 9:27. Katy Booth was the fastest female on the climb in a time of 10:31.

On the descent from the top to checkpoint A there was a lot of action. Jorge descended under 4 minutes, as did Kaya who had now moved into second place. Veteran Romney Rayner threw the hammer down picking up a place and making the descent in the fastest time of the day in 3:40. Last year, NZ runner Glen Stricot-Tarboton covered this section of the course in 3:25. In 2009, Neil Labinsky made the descent from the summit all the way to the base of the mountain in 3:41 (Wow). In the race for the title of Queen, it would end up being the descent from Ange Harries that would ultimately give her the crown as she blasted past Katy Booth closely followed by a surging Lee Cleary. Ange descended in 4:09, Katy in a cautious 6:55, and Lee in 4:02 (the 4th fastest of the day).

On the subjectively blissful run back to the finish line Jorge maintained his form and as he hit the final stretch with finish line in sight the race record was within reach and he was cheered along by the crowd crossing in a record time of 31:15, topping Mark Bourne's record of 31:24 from the previous year. In second place was Junior Kaya Cleary and not far behind was Daniel Kerekes. Ange Harries dug deep and also took out the race record in a time of 40:22, 17 seconds quicker than Lee Cleary last year. In a surging run, Katy Booth managed to catch up to Lee Cleary and within the last 50m of the race ran past Lee to take out second place with the defending Queen settling for third. What an amazing finish in the back and forth race for the Queen title.

All category winners can be seen below.

Congratulations to ALL runners. Regardless of your race time, your position or your category position, everyone who shows up on the day and takes part in the race can hold their head high.

Sub 40 runners for 2023 are Jorge Hernaez Navarro, Kaya Cleary, Daniel Kerekes, Rory Finlay, Liam Pratt, Romney Rayner, James Maxwell, Trevor Allen, Amos Saraber, Jonathon Wilcox, Simon Wilson, Luke Davis, Stuart Lockhart

2022 saw the Prince and Princess runners take off 30 seconds after the runners in the King of the mountain race. It was a frantic start from the new start/finish line location on Hospital Street as runners jockeyed for good position leading down the dirt trail into the forest. Two time winner mark Bourne, Mark Bourne, took the lead early and held it throughout the entire race. Last years King, Jorge, gave his all to stay on Marks tail. During the steep climbing section from Checkpoint A to the summit Mark made the most of his climbing strength covering that section of the course 1 minute and 19 seconds faster than Jorge. Jorge managed to make up some of that time on the descent of the steep section, however he could only manage 2nd place. Mark finished in a time of 31:24 to set the baseline record for the new course, while Jorge finished in 33:09 and Kiwi runner Glen Stricot-Tarboton finished third in 34:06.

In the race for the Queen title, there was plenty of movement during the race with veteran female Sarah Mycroft reaching the base of the mountain just ahead of Ange Harries. By Checkpoint A, Rebecca Gibbs had moved into an almost 30 second lead over Arlene Brownlow. By the top, however, Arlene had put over 30 seconds on Rebecca. The biggest move was still to come. Reaching the top 50 seconds behind leading lady Arlene, Lee Cleary turned the tables with a fearless descent reaching the base of the mountain with a 1 minute and 25 second lead over Arlene. From there Lee turned up the pace to take the Queen title in a time of 40:39, with Arlene holding onto second place in a time of 42:22, 23 seconds over a fast closing Rebecca Gibbs who finished 3rd in a time of 42:45.  In 2016, Lee took out the Princess title. This transition to Queen was a wonderful story, a story that 3 time Queen, Leslie Saunders, had dreamed of when she introduced and the Prince and Prince race.

Biggest movers on the base to the stairs (Checkpoint A) were Lee Cleary, Ashley Denniss and Arlene Brownlow who all gained 10 or more places. From the stairs to the summit, biggest movers were Arlene Brownlow and Lewin Cleary who both gained 10 or more places. On the descent from the summit to the stairs, Ann Cleary, Mathew Kerr and Lee Cleary all gained 5 or more places. Not much positional changes took place after the stairs as most runners had pretty much found their groove by then.

There was a nice sprint finish between 2019 King Boaz Clark and first place junior Kaya Clearly with both runners pushing hard along hospital street to cheers from the crowd. With only a hair between them as the crossed the timing mat, both runners clocked a time of 37:21. Kaya held out fellow junior runner Max Plowman during the race with only 16 seconds separating at the summit. On the descent Kaya put just enough space between himself and Max to ensure he reached the finish line 38 seconds ahead of Max who finished in 37:59.

In the female junior category there were 3 runners. Lee Cleary not only took out the category win but also the outright female win in a time of 40:39. Second and third place female junior was Bonnie Mycroft in a time of 56:29, and Sophie Backhouse in 57:18.

The male open division reflected the first three outright places of Mark, Jorge and Glen.

In the female open category, Arlene Brownlow finished in 42:22, leading Ange Harries who finished in 44:19 and then Ann Cleary who finished in a time of 49:03

The male veterans race was largely fought out between Rory Finlay, Trevor Allen and Andrew Fellows. Trevor reached the summit about 1 minute in the lead however he was unable to hold onto that during the descent. Rory took the lead and win in that division with a time of 38:08, Trevor finished as second male veteran with 39:04 and Andrew 3rd in 40:52.

The female veterans race remained reasonably consistent throughout. Winner of that category was Rebecca Gibbs in 42:45, with second going to Sarah Mycroft in 45:43 and third going to Kristy Humphrey in 47:36.

In the male masters division Amos Saraber lead through each checkpoint and over the finish line in a time of 40:26. The race for second and third in this division was close for most of the race, particularly in the second half, with Andy Town outlasting father of the Queen, Lewin Cleary, to finish in 41:27, 2 seconds ahead of Lewin who finished in 41:29.

In the female masters this year we had 3 runners competing. Rachel Wotton had taken the lead early however she was passed by Wendy Flanagan by the summit. On the descent, Wendy had put enough space between her and Wendy to cross the finish line to a fast closing Rachel and take the win as the fastest female master in a time of 56:32 with Rachel close behind in a time of 56:56. Running as Lyn Gordon in the early 90's and taking out the title of Queen 3 times in a row, Lyn Lewis returned to the mountain and crossed the finish line in 63:14. Well done.

This year, Coe Vines took over the record of most consecutive King of the Mountain races. It had been held at 25 by Norm Haywood. Coe has now done 26 consecutive King of the Mountain races. He even wen up in 2020 when the event was cancelled. Super impressive effort Coe, congratulations.

Congratulations to ALL runners. Regardless of your race time, your position or your category position, everyone who shows up on the day and takes part in the race can hold their head high.

Sub 40 runners for 2022 are Mark Bourne, Jorge Hernaez Navarro, Glen Stricot-Tarboton, Sam Davison-Wall, Josh McRae, Boaz Clark, Kaya Cleary, Jarrod Teds, Max Plowman, Rory Finlay and Trevor Allen.

Wow, what a day. This year at 1:00pm we saw the Prince and Princess runners take off on their run up the first section of Mt Cooroora on the same day as the main race. Typically the Prince and Princess race has been run on the day prior. It was wonderful to have runners from the main race see the younger runners giving it their all.  At 2:00pm, 91 runners had made it to the start line for this years runner introductions to a happy and appreciative crowd that lined the streets.

A familiar face, in Ben Duffus, was taking the start line this year, but having already run and won a half marathon earlier in the morning he elected to run the first km of the race with a gimbal stabilised GoPro to capture footage of other competitors for the race documentary. So in the battle for the King title the cards were set. Ben was not going for the win, 2 time King, Mark Bourne, was unable to compete due to uncertainty surrounding travel from NSW, and reigning champ Boaz Clark was out of the race due to injury. This meant that a first time King was going to be crowned. With reigning Queen, Reesha Lewis, also not running it meant the Queen title was going to change hands as well.

Accompanied by a countdown from the crowd, the sound of the gun saw the start of the 2021 Bendigo Bank International Mountain Challenge get underway. Leading runners up the hill and into the forest was Tom Devlin-Mahoney. First to the base was Callan Blanchknox with Jorge Hernaez Navarro and Tom Devlin-Mahoney close on his tail. First female to the base was Cristy Levenson, one second ahead of Leslie Saunders.

The climb to the top of the mountain saw all runners pushed to their limits. Jorge Hernaez Navarro made his move into 1st place arriving at the top in a total elapsed time of 16:57, 52 seconds ahead of Daniel Kerekes. Passing 16 runners on the climb, Leslie Saunders was the first female to the top in a total elapsed time of 20:39 giving her a buffer of 41 seconds over Cristy Levenson. The biggest mover on the climb was Struan Lamont who passed 29 runners. So leading each category at the top of the mountain was; Lee Cleary (Junior Female), Jonathan Easton (Junior Male), Ange Harries (Open Female), Jorge Hernaez Navarro (Open Male), Cristy Levenson (Veteran Female), Steve Amor (Veteran Male), Leslie Saunders (Female Master), Ross Phillips (Male Master).

As runners climbed the last few meters to the top we captured some great photos.

On a slippery and dusty surface runners were required to be on their game on the descent. The fastest descents this year were by Jorge Hernaez Navarro in 5:09 and Callan Blanchknox in 5:10. The biggest mover on the descent was Molly Webb, who picked up 14 places on her journey to the base. Rhet Flanagan increased his position by 13 places with the 3rd fastest descent time and in the process leaving his old man, Andrew, to literally eat his dust. In the battle for the Queen title, Leslie Saunders descended quicker than Cristy Levenson to extend her lead at the base.

In the ever humbling journey from the base of the mountain back to the finish line Jorge Hernaez Navarro added to his lead to take out the title of King in a time of 27:11, 2 minutes and 7 seconds ahead of 2nd place Callan Blanchknox who narrowly held out a fast closing Daniel Kerekes. Leslie Saunders ran to the finish line to loud cheers from the crowd to take out her 3rd title as Queen and the first Masters Female to claim the Queen title. Category positions can be seen below.

Congratulations to ALL runners. Regardless of your race time, your position or your category position, everyone who shows up on the day and takes part in the race can hold their head high.

Sub 30 runners for 2021 are Jorge Hernaez Navarro, Callan Blanchknox and Daniel Kerekes.

Another fantastic day saw perfect weather create the perfect backdrop for the 2019 King of the Mountain Festival. With a full field registered, 97 of the 100 runners made it to the start line for the beginning of runner introductions. As chance would have it a helicopter flew by in what was a great way to get the ball rolling. As 2:30pm approached, runners were given last minute instructions as they grouped at the start line eager to start (and finish) the mountain challenge.

With former Kings Ben Duffus and Mark Bourne unable to race at this years event the crown was going to be passed onto a new King and the field was wide open. As the gun fired local speedster Ryan Crawford spearheaded the charge up the main street with Sam Baker  and Nick Scott right by his side. Ryan was able to reach the base of the mountain in first place with Jared Hauschildt and Jeremy Hunt in hot pursuit. The female divisions were in fine form with only 6 seconds separating the lead 3 positions.

At the base of the stairs Ryan Crawford led with Jared Hauschildt and Boaz Clark close behind.  Ashild Krige, Meg Reeves and Reesha Lewis led the female field with Leslie Saunders charging strong in 4th. 50 seconds behind the lead saw the first of the NZ team, Glen Stricot-Tarboton leading the charge ahead of fellow Kiwis Luke Seufert and Teunis Schoneveld. Veteran Brian Wilder found himself in 6th place and leading the charge in that race category.

The top of the mountain saw some interesting race positions and set the stage for an interesting race back to the finish line. First to the top in a time of 16:17 was Boaz Clark, a full 50 seconds ahead of second to the top, Luke Gollshewski, with leading male veteran Brian Wilder hot on his tail. The battle for Queen of the Mountain was well in play with Ashild Krige and reigning Queen Meg Reeves separated by only 5 seconds and downhill speedster Ressha Lewis more than 30 seconds further back. Biggest mover on the ascent was Jesse Vines who passed 29 runners on the way up. So leading each category at the top of the mountain was; Jana Longney (Junior Female), Luke Seufert (Junior Male), Ashild Krige (Open Female), Boaz Clark (Open Male), Leslie Saunders (Veteran Female), Brian Wilder (Veteran Male), Rachael Wotton (Female Master), Andy Town (Male Master).

It was an all out assault on descent times from team Kiwi in the male race with the top 3 fastest descents being owned by the Kiwis with the fastest going to Glen Stricot-Tarboton who descended in only 4:11! Glen not only made up the 1:11 difference between him and race leader Boaz Clark, he actually passed Boaz on the descent and hit the base of the mountain 8 seconds in front of Boaz. Fastest female descender was Reesha Lewis who closed the gap for the lead down to 2 seconds at the base of the mountain. Biggest movers in the descent were Sam Baker who passed 18 runners and the pink blur Simone Alizzi who passed 17 runners.

The charge from the base of the mountain back to the finish line is where you experience the battle between a mind that is willing and legs that are ready to to pull over and have a holiday. Yet it is this section of the race that ultimately decides a runners fate. Hitting the base in the lead, Kiwi charge Glen was smoothly passed on the forest track by Boaz Clark who would continue to extend his lead and cross the finish line in 1st place and claim the title of King of the Mountain. In the race for the Queen title, Reesha Lewis also used the forest trail to pass Ashild Krige and extend her lead to the finish line to take out the Queen of the Mountain title and also enter the sub 30 club. In third place overall and with the quickest time from the base to the finish line, veteran male Brian Wilder mowed down 3 runners enroute to the finish line. The first Junior was Kiwi Luke Seufert. Category positions can be seen below.

Congratulations to ALL runners. Regardless of your race time, your position or your category position, everyone who shows up on the day and takes part in the race can hold their head high.

Sub 30 runners for 2019 are Boaz Clark, Glen Stricot-Tarboton, Brian Wilder, Teunis Schoneveld, Ryan Crawford, Luke Seufert, Luke Gollshewski, Nick Scott, Jeremy Hunt, Jared Hauschildt and Reesha Lewis.