QUEENSTOWN – New Zealand Mountain Running Championships, Queenstown Alpine Grind, Coronet Peak – 17 April 2021. Jono Jackson of Auckland won the senior title raced over three laps of 4.43km, with an elevation of 1122m and a descent of 1089m. Jackson covered the 13.29km in 1:15:46 to head in the defending champion from 2019 Andy Good by nearly two minutes. Sjors Corporaal was third in 1:17:41.
New Zealand Mountain Running Championships 2021
Good, who was second in the New Zealand marathon championship the previous week, led out from the start but once on the uphill Jackson was in a class of his own and took control of the race.
“I had a healthy lead after the first uphill, but then I was a bit worried about the fast descenders and scared they may catch me. But I held the lead and increased it on each of the next uphill runs,” said Jackson.
“I don’t like the downhill, so it was a survival of the legs and relying on my strength on the uphill.
“It was one of the toughest courses I’ve done, but perfect conditions and the views from the top were cool,” he added.
Jackson, who won the mountain title in 2014 on Mt Campbell Motueka and the national cross country title in 2016 on the Auckland Domain, will now recover from pretty sore quadriceps before tackling the cross country season.
National women’s trail running champion Nancy Jiang added the mountain title, winning the senior women’s gold medal over the same distance in 1:28:13. Susannah Lynch was second in 1:31:56 and three times champion and defending title holder Sabrina Grogan was third in 1:32:04.
New Zealand Mountain Running Championships 2021 Results:
Senior men 13.29km; Jono Jackson (Akld) 1:15:46, Andy Good (Blenheim) 1:17:29, Sjors Corporaal (Galatea) 1:17:41.
Senior women 13.29km; Nancy Jiang (Queenstown) 1:28:13, Susannah Lynch (Wgtn) 1:31:56, Sabrina Grogan (Timaru) 1:32:04.
Junior men 8.86km U/20; Liam Dooley (Whakatane) 56:00, Jack Ryan (Akld) 58:51, Dean Stewart (Wyndham) 1:04:36. U/18; Charlie Hazlett (Chch) 1:02:15, Ben Scott (Invercargill) 1:05:48.
Junior women 4.43km U/20; Peyton Leigh (Akld) 34:30, Sadie Wech (Otautau) 34:37, Emily Hay (Invercargill) 37:07. U/18; Kiera Dooley (Whakatane) 38:51.
Master men 35-49 13.29km; Dwight Grieve (Te Anau) 1:26:30, Lewis Latham (Queenstown) 1:29:50, Jeremy Marks (Chch) 1:51:47.
Master men 50+ 8.86km; David Clark (Akld) 1:06:24, Todd Krieble (Wgtn) 1:08:35, Brett Laurent (Akld) 1:11:45.
Master women 8.86km 35-39; Jennifer Walker (Dunedin) 1:09:58. 50+ Loretta Desourdy (Wgtn) 1:53:35.
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