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MOUNTAIN RUNNING

Series winners upset in final trail running showdown

Monday 8 December 2008, 2:43PM

By Triple crown Series

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Sjors Corporaal
Sjors Corporaal Credit: Triple Crown series
Annika Smail
Annika Smail Credit: Triple Crown series

CENTRAL PLATEAU

Ben Ruthe and Oksana Isavnina wrapped up the North Island Triple Crown trail running series but both were upset by surprise winners in the final event yesterday.

Murapara dairy farmer and pig-hunting guru Sjors Corporaal became the first man to successfully his title in The Goat 21km Alpine Adventure race around Mt Ruapehu, while Rotorua mountain biker Annika Smail triumphed in the women’s division.

Ruthe was beaten into third by outstanding Whakatane teenager Daniel Jones, who collected a clean-sweep of runner-up finishes after finishing behind Ruthe at the 18km Toi’s Challenge and the 32km Kauri Run.

But both acclaimed runners had to bow to the fearlessness of Corporaal, who was unmatched on the shifting, perilous trails between the Whakapapa and Turoa ski fields.

Corporaal finished just outside the race record in 1hr 58mins 58secs, with Jones clocking 2:00:23 and Ruthe 2:02:36.

“Maybe I’m crazy but I think it’s just the hunting in the bush – it’s really steep where I hunt and if the dogs are on a pig, I just have to go for it and follow them,” 31-year-old Corporaal admitted.

“The field was a lot stronger than when I won last year and I didn’t know how things were going to work out. All kinds of people come out of the woodwork and it’s great to have a race where people like me can have our moment in the sun!”

Smail, also 31, had her moment in the sun as well, thanks to the closest women’s finish in the five-year history of the event.

While Corporaal’s advantage lay in his downhill bravado, Smail’s powerful mountain biking thighs helped her drag in Isavnina on the final uphill slog on Turoa’s Mountain Rd within 1km of the finish.

"There were people who had so much technical skill running down like goats and there was no way I could keep up but I was catching them on the uphill sections again,” Smail, the current national single-speed mountain biking champion, said. “I wasn’t really ever close enough to Oksana until we got on that final piece of road and I didn’t really have much left but I thought I’d better go.”

Smail finished in 2:27:38 while Isavnina was less than a minute adrift, crossing in 2:28:28.
Isavnina’s disappointment was eased with the $1000 she collected for winning the Triple Crown series, while Ruthe had nothing but admiration for his two vanquishers.

“I couldn’t have beaten them on that course, on my best day – I have to take my hat off to them both,” Ruthe said. “It was like bungy jumping – extreme and completely exhilarating and I’m still buzzing!”

Jones, meanwhile, is now setting his sights on the Speights Coast to Coast, pairing with his dad Neil, who won the Longest Day race in 1996. This series was the perfect way to build a base for the Whakatane 18-year-old.

“Three seconds – I definitely would have taken that at the start of the series, knowing I was up against the likes of Ben in all three races,” Jones said. “I’m pretty stoked at how it’s ended up.”

Nearly 500 runners took part in yesterday’s race, a record field.