Avalanche Peak: Roberts & Prince Retain Their Peak

Cantabrians Jacob Roberts and Lara Prince used perfect weather and course experience to defend their titles in the prestigious Avalanche Peak Challenge.

Almost 250 runners and trampers lined up in Arthur's Pass for Canterbury's premier mountain race. In a classy men's field Cantabrians Martin Lukes, Jacob Roberts and Aaron Prince were tipped as favourites, but there was much interest as the field went to the line on the late entry of highly ranked Australian John Winsbury.

Winsbury, who recently moved to Dunedin, has represented Australia at the world mountain running championship. But on the steep climbs and razor-backed ridges of Avalanche Peak, he proved no match for the Canterbury's seasoned mountain runners.

During the build up to the 26k run across the northern tip of the Southern Alps interest was on whether defending champion Jacob Roberts could handle the pressure of a much stronger field than last year. But there were questions over his challengers too: would New Zealand ultra-marathon rep Martin Lukes be recovered from winning the Buller Marathon just three weeks prior? And would New Zealand orienteering rep Aaron Prince be recovered from finishing sixth at the Coast to Coast, also three week prior to Avalanche Peak?

It was Martin Lukes who played his hand first, hitting the front as soon as the race headed uphill. Lukes was keen to establish an early lead over Roberts and Prince, both of whom are renowned downhill runners. But Roberts refused to give Lukes an inch, and the two of them cleared the bush line and headed up the Avalanche Peak ridge line together.

With a King of the Mountain cash prize for the first over the top of the 1833m high Avalanche Peak, the intesity went up another notch. Approaching the summit, Lukes sprinted like it was the finish line and took the King of the Mountain prize.

Behind then Aaron Prince had started more conservatively and once past the summit he started reeling the leaders in. After the long downhill dive down scree slopes into the Crow River valley he had joined the leaders with less than 10k to run.

But in the run to the line Jacob Roberts' fresher legs made the difference. He proved too fast on the final flat sections on the riverbed and adjacent tracks. But the urgency of the battle was evident as Roberts collapsed across the line to win by almost two minutes.

Roberts stopped the clock in 2hrs 31min 22secs, the tough competition and perfect weather combining to give him his fastest Avalanche Peak performance. Behind him Lukes managed to hold Prince at bay by just 40secs, with Australian John Winsbury and Christchurch's Heath DeGarnham benefitting from conservative starts to finish fourth and fifth, but more than 10min behind Roberts' impressive win.

While Aaron Prince couldn't quite bring home the bacon, his sister Lara racked up her third Avalanche Peak crown in the women's race. Prince led from start to finish, taking the Queen of the Mountain trophy on the way to her fastest win. She crossed the line 18th overall in 3hrs 39secs to narrowly miss becoming only the second woman to crack three hours on the tough 26k route.

Another popular winner was Kaikoura's Mike Morrissey, who triumphed in the veteran 50+ category by a massive 40min. The Department of Conservation manager is the only person to have completed all 16 Avalanche Peak races. This year the 54 year old clocked in 17th overall in 2hrs 59min 54secs.

ENDS

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