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For the third year in a row the weather was fine for the King Country Challenge and the competitors rolled up in record numbers for the 2009 running of this popular event. Race records were bowled like skittles as the conditions and competition encouraged faster times than usual. Record breaking times this year were posted by:
- 50k women's winner Ros Reekie-May who blitzed the course in 3h 1m 6s.
- Rob Hamill, (yes that's the famous deep-sea rower), who broke the men's 37k course record completing it in 1h 54m 56s
- Shiree Flutey 2h 31m broke the women's 37k record
- Sam Gaze broke the 20k record in 1h 9m 44s
Winner of the 50k race was young Hamilton rider Jack Chapman, last year's 37k race winner. In describing his day afterwards he said that he had ridden in a bunch of three early in the race. The other two in the bunch were Chris Gaze, (last year's 50k winner) and Jared Scollay. Jack managed to get in front of them during early climbs and stayed in front on his own for the rest of the race. He had no problems with the course except for finding it a"bit slippery" on some gravel sections. Chris Gaze eventually pulled out with mechanical failure and Jared Scollay came in 2nd. Third man home was Paul Rush.
Winning female, Ros Reekie-May, was also placed 5th overall. She rode most of the course with Hilton Forlong who was the fourth placed male 50k rider. This suited them both well since they are well known to each other from past riding in the Morrinsville and Te Aroha areas. Ros described the course enthusiastically, as being "old school" meaning tough, ungroomed trails which are unpredictable. The unpredictability is the same for all since no-one has any advantage of course familiarity. She compared the course to the infamous Waikato "Black Stump" course in that respect.
The 37k race was won by non other than Rob Hamill of rowing fame. His family were also present; his wife Rachel was out on the 10k course accompanying their young son and carrying their baby on the front of her bike (see pictures below). This arrangement of Hamills is quite a familiar sight to Hamilton MTB club members who have seen it all before at their Pukete races. The Hamills obviously like to introduce their children to adventure sports as young as possible. 2nd 37k rider was the talented youngster, Josh Parkin, riding in the colours of our main sponsor, CycleTime. Graeme Johnston was 3rd.
Winning (and record breaking) 37k female was Shiree Flutey, with Clare MacDermid 2nd and Brenda Smith 3rd.
The 20k race was won by Sam Gaze with Kurt Standen 10 minutes back in 2nd and Peter Taylor-Fullerton 3rd. First female in the 20k was Katya Stobe with Harriet Beex 2nd and Lois McGregor 3rd.
Matthew Cleland was first rider in the 13k with Charlotte Delamore being first female.
In the 10k Troy Miller and Zoe Holyoake were first male and female.
Full results are available here on our Results page.
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