Fast times for Kepler Challenge champions

Defending champion Daniel Jones and New Zealand trail running star Ruth Croft clocked two of the fastest times ever to win the 2021 Kepler Challenge in Te Anau yesterday. It was Jones’ fourth successive win, but his second on the full 60km Kepler Track loop, recording 4hr 37min 38sec. ‘‘I’m unbelievably stoked,’’ said Jones, who was 19min ahead of runnerup David Haunschmidt, with Andy Good third. Croft was home in 5:26:30, 27min ahead of defending champion Nancy Jiang, with Katie Morgan third. ‘‘It was pretty tough. I really struggled the last 15km, but we are so lucky today with the beautiful weather.’’ Croft will now prepare for the Tarawera 50km event.