THE power duo were impossible to beat with Harry Jones and Kirsten Molloy claiming royal honours at the 2018 King of the Mountain Fun Run on August 19.
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Triathlete Harry Jones conquered the gruelling five kilometre course up North Brother Mountain in 23:26 minutes making it his fifth victory in the short-course race and improving on last year’s result by one minute.
A champion competitor in swim-bike-run events, Jones said the mountain run course is a bit of fun in between his usual training schedule, but added it doesn’t come without its challenges.
“There’s a little right hand bend towards the end and it would have to be the hardest 150 metres of the course,” Jones said.
He has combined cross training into his fitness plan in preparation for the race. The focus now will be refining his performance for triathlon events in both China and Japan before the end of the year.
Kirsten Molloy crossed the line claiming her fourth Queen of the Mountain crown in the blistering time of 27:34 minutes.
Molloy is preparing for the Berlin marathon in four weeks’ time.
A competitive marathon runner for almost 14 years, Molloy said the short, fast mountain dash was not her usual race style.
“In a marathon you can sit in your comfort zone all day. This one is full pelt,” Molloy said.
She will back up her run in Berlin with a start in the New York marathon. Next year, she hopes to take on the distance in London and Tokyo completing her goal to complete all six marathon majors around the world.
Setting the pace for the juniors was Thomas Merkus of St Josephs Regional High School who took out his second Prince of the Mountain title in 25:15 minutes.
He had a game plan at the start and executed it beautifully over the five kilometre course.
“You’ve got to pace yourself really well. It’s hard on the steep parts but that’s when you’ve got to pick up the pace and catch people,” he said.
A new pair of running shoes will be the reward for this year’s Princess of the Mountain Brooke Hosgood who set a personal best time of 31:19 minutes.
The Cundletown Public School student and Taree Little Athletics champion takes home her third win in the event.
“I only practice on a dirt road, there’s no hills. That was really steep,” she said of the course.
More than 223 competitors tackled this year’s event.
All money raised from the fun run is used to help with training and the purchase of equipment for the Camden Haven Surf Life Saving Club.
For full race results CLICK HERE.