Olympic champ to race The Goat

Olympic rowing champion Caroline Evers-Swindell is one of nearly 450 runners taking part in The Goat Alpine Adventure run on Saturday.

The recently-retired double sculls champion lined up in last week's Great Lake Taupo bike race, but this weekend's event will be a vastly different proposition.

The Goat is a 21km odyssey venturing through sub-alpine tussock, snow-fed streams and over spectacular waterfalls in the world-renowned Tongariro National Park, from the Whakapapa to Turoa ski-fields.

Evers-Swindell will join a strong field in the final event of the North Island Triple Crown series, including men's series leader Ben Ruthe, teenage star Daniel Jones and defending champion Sjors Corporaal. Former women's champion Oksana Isavnina leads the women's series after strong performances in the 18km Toi's Challenge in Whakatane and Coromandel's epic 32km Kauri Run.

The top five open men and women in each Triple Crown event will qualify for points, with bonus points for breaking race records, and the runners with the most points at the end collect a $1000 bonus at the end of the series.

Current Triple Crown standings:
Men: Ben Ruthe (Tauranga) 22, Daniel Jones (Whakatane) 14, Kerry Suter (Hamilton) 8, Mark McKeown (Tauranga) 8, Colin Earwaker (Rotorua) 1, Stephen Granger-Bevan (UK) 1.

Women: Oksana Isavnina (Rotorua) 17, Hanny Allston (Australia) 12, Tracey Greenwood (Hamilton) 8, Marina Fowell (Whakatane) 7, Jill Fuller (Tauranga) 5, Anna Heap (Rotorua) 3, Michelle Rall (Tauranga) 1, Dawn Tuffery (Te Awamutu) 1.

For more information about the Triple Crown series, contact:



www.whakatane.com
www.arcevents.co.nz/kaurirun/
www.thegoat.co.nz