Michael Sutton overcame a fast-finishing Liam Dooley to win the Julian’s Berry Farm Toi’s Challenge for the first time on Sunday.

Sutton, from Tauranga, crossed the line in 1 hour 24 minutes and 45 seconds to finish seven seconds clear of Dooley, while Max Green was third, five minutes behind.

Sam Clark came in fourth and Kendan Gibson, fresh off running the Queenstown Marathon, was fifth.

In the women’s section, Jessie Speedy was exactly that, too fast for the other females and recorded a good win by 11 minutes over Kate Moore with Sophie Wilkinson in third place. Fourth went to Brittany Litton and fifth was Ella Julian.

Sutton said he was honoured to pick up the victory.

“The race offered a great mix of terrains and is a fantastic reason to visit Whakatāne. It was fun to race close to home coming off a season racing the Mountain Running World Cup circuit and racing for the Merrell Performance Team.

I found the Toi’s course was a refreshing change where you could push hard and really fly, far more enjoyable than some of the steep technical tracks in Europe.”

He said it was good being pushed when running as it made him dig deeper.

“I had a half decent lead for a long time, and I still felt strong through to the finish. However, I wasn’t expecting Liam to be so close heading under the bridge at the end as it meant he’d knocked over six minutes off his time from last year and a couple off Dan Jones.

“He’s obviously racing great at the moment and has a strong training group with the likes of Max and Kendan.”

Organiser Willie Doney Snr said the event again went off without any hitches.
“It was a fantastic day. It didn’t rain. We had enormous numbers, and everyone enjoyed themselves.”

Doney said it was one of the biggest fields they’d seen for the race in a long time.

“We had 160 sign up on the Saturday before the race and then there was another massive pile of contestants on the morning of the race. So, it was definitely one of our biggest in terms of entries.

“Juilan’s Berry Farm had 800 punnets of strawberries to give out and they had none left at the end of it, so I would suggest at least 700 took part.”

Doney said a large number of the Eastern Bay community took part and it was awesome seeing visitors from different parts of the country come and give the Toi’s Challenge a crack.

They also held a minute silence to remember Kate Lillas, a Whakatāne Harrier and Athletic Club member, who passed earlier this year, with a large number of people running the event in her honour.

“That was special to see for Kate. She was a well-loved and valued member of our club.”

“Overall, we had an exceptional turnout. The committee and volunteers were fantastic, and it couldn’t have gone smoother. LJ [Dobbin MC] was great and it made for a real family atmosphere down at the finish.”

The fastest male team was Pap Hille Posse, second went to Te Puke Harrier Panthers and third was Wait Up.

The women’s team winners were Speedy S’S, We’ve Got the Runs were second, while Sole Sisters came third.

In the mixed relay, Dawson Duo were first, Where’s Aaron came second and third went to Team Whitaker. The Flying Groms were the top-placed school team.

Finn Baker, Quinton Cribb and Corey Amai were the first three males home in the walk, while Holly Rowland won the female equivalent, with Donna Strachan second and Bree Rangitakatu third.

Next year will be the 33rd edition of the race.