By Margaret Maccoll
A training regime that involved running up and down the Glasshouse Mountains paid off for 25 year-old Mapleton baker Boaz Clark who won this year’s King of the Mountain race in a time of 26 minutes 30 seconds against a field of 100 entrants.
Last year was the first King of the Mountain race for the former elite mountain bike racer and he came in sixth place with a time of 29min30sec.
This year he hoped to make it to the podium but didn’t expect to win. At the half way at the top of the mountain Boaz said he was in second position behind Cooroy fitness instructor Ryan Crawford, 35, who he called “mountain man”. He passed him shortly after and held first spot to the end winning with a comfortable lead although not claiming the record which stands at 22min 43sec.
In second place this year was New Zealand architect Glen Stricot-Tarboton who has run the event’s sister race in NZ, the Kawerau King of the Mountain, 10 times and ran the Pomona race as a junior in 2013 and 2014. Third place went to Peachester chiropractor Brian Wilder, 47.
The first woman over the finish line was 32-year-old Beerwah mum Reesha Lewis who returned for her second go at the event.
In second place was Shorncliffe occupational therapist Ashild Krige, 39, with last year’s winner Meg Reeves, 35-year-old Brisbane medical student coming in third.
Crowds lined the street to watch the race which is the main event to a weekend of activities in the hinterland town and Noosa MP Sandy Bolton took time out from Estimates in Warwick to help MC the event.
