Early start for runners

Brad Spiers, of Christchurch, leads a trail of headlamps over the Flagstaff track at sunrise yesterday during the Three Peaks Plus One Mountain Race. Left: Competitors take off from the start line at 6am.

The Three Peaks Mountain Race attracted about 380 competitors and is in its 38th year.

The traditional race is held across a 26km course in which competitors climb Flagstaff, Swampy Summit and Mt Cargill.

This year was the second running of the ‘‘plus one’’ event, in which an additional loop is added to create a 55km race.

Chris Bisley defended his plus one title, while Rose Pearson won the women’s title.