Kepler Challenge Three-Peat for Top Mountain Runner

Katie Morgan overcame some stumbles and the unknown to secure her third straight Kepler Challenge title in Te Anau today (December 7).

The English-born New Zealand mountain running representative from Wanaka comfortably won the 60km lap around the Kepler Track in 5hr 48min, finishing 15 minutes ahead of Frances Redmond and 21 minutes ahead of international trail runner and former long-distance triathlete Beth McKenzie from Australia.

“It feels amazing, I honestly didn’t expect to win today,” Morgan said.

“When I saw that Beth McKenzie was in, I didn’t think I’d be able to stay ahead of her on the flats, so I’m super chuffed. I knew that there wouldn’t be much in it, so I went out a bit harder than I normally would and was just waiting for her at any moment to catch me on the flats.”

Morgan, who also won an ultra event in Canada this year, never felt as comfortable as her winning margin suggested.

“It’s not often you can look behind you, and the one time I did, I fell over, so I tried not to do that too much.”

Men’s Race

Alexandra’s Daniel Balchin also had to recover from a spill before eventually winning the men’s race in 5hr 3min.

The Alexandra-based project manager, who finished second in the Auckland Marathon five weeks ago, fell heavily on the technical descent from Hanging Valley into Iris Burn, seeing his lead over Wellington’s Thomas Barnes evaporate.

Balchin, who set a blistering record in the event’s companion race, the Luxmore Grunt, three years ago, finished third behind Daniel Jones in the 60km Challenge last year.

With Jones opting not to return to Te Anau and try for a seventh consecutive Kepler title, the men’s race carried an air of intrigue for the first time in a while.

“I’ve done the Luxmore Grunt a couple of times and the Kepler last year. I was stoked to get the win; it means a lot. It’s an awesome one to tick off because it’s a prestigious race on the trail scene,” Balchin said.

“I managed to get a bit of a lead at the start and then tripped and fell on the downhill. I’m more of a road runner, and I was a bit clumsy there, but I managed to get a gap on the flat on the way home. My time was a bit slower than last year, but absolutely stoked to get the win.”

Barnes finished 12 minutes behind the winner, with Benje Patterson—who won the Luxmore Grunt as a teenager 20 years ago—finishing third.

Luxmore Grunt

Auckland’s Jonathan Jackson returned to secure his second-straight and third overall Luxmore Grunt win, claiming the 27km race to the Luxmore Hut and back in 1hr 55min, just over 2 minutes ahead of Whakatane’s Liam Dooley.

“I always have the same plan: try and get a gap on the climb because there are some absolute demon descenders, like Liam. I think I had almost three minutes at the top and then I just held on.”

Debutante Penny Mouat from Christchurch used her Port Hills training to win the women’s race.

“It was epic! The climb was beautiful, and then the downhill was great. I fell down half the track, but I bounced back up, and the final 5km was punishing with a sprint for the last mile.”

Event Overview

The capacity Kepler Challenge field of 450 runners, which sold out in 2 minutes and 8 seconds when entries opened in July, enjoyed cool morning conditions that gave way to warm and windy weather in the afternoon.