Climb every mountain ...

Locals top mountain challenge

By Sonia Clark

There must be something special about training on the Glass House Mountains as the top local placegetters in this year’s Pomona King of the Mountain challenge all used the local peaks as part of their intensive training regimens.

Held on Sunday, July 28, the 2019 Bendigo Bank International Mountain Challenge saw a mix of both local and international athletes battle it out for the coveted title of King and Queen of the Mountain.

The event, now in its 41st year, attracts international interest with its blend of elite athletes and everyday heroes willing to take on the Mount Cooroora challenge.

2019 King and Queen of the Mountain Boaz Clark and Reesha Lewis

Beerwah mum, Reesha Lewis, 32, nailed her Queen of the Mountain win coming in with an impressive additional achievement of a sub-30 time of 29.49 minutes - gaining her an additional medal as she smashed her personal goal of completing the gruelling race in under 30 minutes. Reesha said she was gobsmacked to have won this year's title.

“This was my second year competing and I knew I would be up against some serious trail runners so I had a strategy to hold back and just keep the lead ladies in my sights heading up as I knew I could be pretty fast coming back down,” Reesha said.

It seems Reesha’s hard work and strategy paid off. In preparation for the event Reesha made sure she climbed at least one local mountain a day in addition to her daily boxing regimen of up to six hours of training a day. On the morning of the event Reesha said she needed a proper warm up so before heading up to Pomona for the afternoon race, she made sure she had time to run up and down Mt. Beerwah!

As part of winning Queen of the Mountain, Reesha gets a fully paid trip to New Zealand to compete in the Trans-Tasman rival event, Kawerau King of the Mountain in early November.

“My boxing training has really increased my fitness levels over the last year and although I said I won’t race again, I’m already considering competing again in next year’s competition,” Reesha said.

Mapleton man Boaz Clark, 25, took out the 2019 King of the Mountain. The former elite mountain bike racer was like a lean and mean mountain climbing machine as he aced the competition with an easy win of 26.30 minutes. This was his second challenge and he beat his previous race record by just over three minutes.

Veteran winner Brian Wilder

Proving that older guys have still got it, Peachester man Brian Wilder, 47, came third in the overall field of nearly 100 challengers, with another impressive sub-30 race time of 27.37 minutes. The former marathon runner hasn't run competitively since 2014 but since moving back to Australia last year and relocating to the Sunshine Coast hinterland the call of the Glass House Mountains lured him back into tackling personal fitness challenges. Last year he climbed 12 of the Glass House Mountains in one day. A few months ago when he heard about the King of the Mountain race it was a logical next challenge.

Brian also received a first medal in his veteran class.