By JOLENE OGLE
MORE than 90 runners pounded the pavement and conquered the mountain in Pomona on Sunday for the 38th annual King of the Mountain race.
This year saw a new King crowned as 32-year-old ACT ecologist Mark Bourne crossed the line in an impressive 23 minutes and 53 seconds, followed very closely by New Zealand runner Shay Williamson with a time of 24:40.
Pomona school teacher Leslie Saunders, 45, ran an impressive time of 31:19 to be the first female to finish the gruelling 4.2km race.
Ms Saunders said it felt fantastic to hold onto her crown for the second year in a row, and said she was inspired by the children who ran in the Prince and Princess of the Mountain race the day before.
Event organisers, the Cooroy Pomona Lions Club, couldn’t have asked for better weather as thousands of locals and visitors laid out picnic rugs and reclined in camping chairs to cheer on the runners.
Kin of the Mountain chairperson Heather Manders said it had been a great turn out for the annual event, and since the running of the race she had received wonderful feedback about this year’s festival.
