Getting Some Air at Mt Doug GutBuster!

Race #4 in the Frontrunners GutBuster Trail Running Series took to the trails of Mt Doug Park over the weekend. The racers were greeted by a calm and sunny morning which made for a great backdrop for photographer, Tony Austin, as he snapped pictures of the participants coming down from the top of Mt Doug. Just under 200 participants took part in either the 6km short course event or 11km long course event.

In the 6km short course event GutBuster race director, Mark Nelson, showed good form winning the race with a time of 25:11. The 2min 30 second lead he'd built up gave him just enough time to catch his breath and grab the mic to start announcing all of the runners finishing behind him. Chris Callendar of the PIH running club finished 2nd overall with a time of 27:44, and Dean Allen rounded out the top 3 with his time of 30:12. On the womens side, Melanie Schultz took top honours with her time of 32:37 good enough to hold off youngster, Chloe Hegland, who finished 2nd overall in a time of 33:44. Amy Mills-Guest was 3rd across the line in a time of 35:57. The short course event had 68 finishers this year which is the exact same number as last year.

In the 11km long course event the competitive field was very strong with 7 guys all capable of winning. A lead pack of 3 broke away early into the first climb with Adam Campbell leading, followed by James Richardson and Kelly Guest. Kelly had just finished a hard 1hr30min mountain bike workout minutes before the race and then used the GutBuster as the second part of his workout! On the descent of the first climb Adam Campbell started to get some quad cramping which eventually ended his race. James and Kelly put a good distance between themselves and the chase group with James eventually taking his second win in a row beating out Kelly Guest by 18 seconds. Scott Simpson ran strong to finish 3rd overall just 33 seconds back from 2nd. In the womens race, Cara Obee from Cook St Village Health Center ran a strong second half of the race to overtake early leader Jennie Sprigings. Emily Solsberg who is currently the overall leader in the GutBuster standings ran a strong race to hold on to her position by finishing 3rd overall today. The long course event had 97 finishers which was down 17 from the year before.

Top 3 Results

Overall Series Standings (after 4 races)

Top 3 Results

Overall Series Standings (after 4 races)

Long Course Results

Short Course Results

Photos by Tony Austin

Photos by Frontrunners