Katrina Madill has long been known as one of the toughest trainers in surf lifesaving and on Saturday, that grit paid off in spades.

The popular Mount Maunganui lifeguard staked a big claim for the aged brigade, winning her maiden Mount Monster endurance title on her home beach as a 31-year-old, romping home against athletes nearly half her age.

Madill finished the 10th running of the 23km, four-leg Dexion-sponsored race in 2hrs 45mins 1sec, more than a minute clear of 19-year-old clubmate and defending champion Olive Pearce (2:46:08), with 16-year-old Lyall Bay star Kate McHardy third in 2:47:07.

Katrina Madill. Photo: Jamie Troughton/Dscribe Media.

Two-time former champion Rachel Mayhew (32) was sixth, in a further boost to the veterans, in 2:52:08.

After grinding through the opening 12km ski paddle and 5km run, Madill struggled through the 1500m swim before unleashing an astonishing final 6km board paddle. Her 42.51min effort was the eighth-fastest individual, male or female.

"The start of the ski was pretty bad - I was out the back after the run into the water - so I was chasing the whole way," says Madill. "I felt like a drowned rat on the swim but I was just looking forward to the board the whole time."

Katrina Madill. Photo: Jamie Troughton/Dscribe Media.

Madill was an agegroup surf lifesaving star as a teenager and drifted away from the sport after competing in the first couple of Mount Monsters, only to have something of a late-career renaissance.

"It's been a few years since I've raced this and it could've been any one of us girls - Olive and Rachel were right there all the way. The aim was just to have a bit of fun and encourage people to do it and I feel pretty lucky, to be honest."

Competitors leaping from Moturiki into the water during the Mount Monster endurace race. Photo: Jamie Troughton/Dscribe Media.

A year after winning her first title, Pearce was delighted to see her clubmate finally show what she could do.

"Kat is such a cool athlete - she trains so hard and I reckon she's the best trainer in New Zealand. She's just so inspiring and when I saw her fly past on the board, I was so stoked - there was no stopping her. I knew she'd have it from there."

Pearce did well just to make the start line, catching Covid-19 last week and only returning a negative test on Wednesday. But she turned in a strong paddle, keeping pace with ocean-racing specialist Mayhew on the ski leg and staying right in the hunt until the end, finishing more than 2mins faster than her winning time last year. At one stage of the board, Madill, Pearce and McHardy were all within 10m of each other.

Jayden Murphy. Photo: Jamie Troughton/Dscribe Media.

It was a different story in the men's race, however, with another Mount Maunganui club member Jayden Murphy easing home to defend the title he won last year. His 2:23:44 time was 6secs faster than last year but more than 2mins clear of clubmate and two-time champion Hamish Miller, who clocked 2:26:00.

It's been a big year for the 19-year-old Murphy, who won the ski race title at the junior world championships in Italy in September as part of a strong New Zealand team.

Jayden Murphy. Photo: Jamie Troughton/Dscribe Media.

"It was probably a harder race than last year, with a bit more competition, and I knew I'd have to try and go on the ski and get a bit of separation because Hamish can run like a demon and I couldn't stop looking over my shoulder on the board," says Murphy "It was quite scary because I knew he'd be coming hard."

Piha's Oscar Williams was third in 2:28:32, with 16-year-old Taranaki talent Daniel Callebaut (Fitzroy) fourth in 2:29:42.

2022 Mount Monster results:

Women: Katrina Madill 2:45:01 1, Olive Pearce 2:46:08 2, Kate Mchardy 2:47:07 3, Ruby Mcsweeney 2:50:45 4, Bree Mccowatt 2:51:02 5, Rachel Mayhew 2:52:08 6, Bella Bassett-Foss 2:54:58 7, Freya Stolte 2:54:59 8, Sophie Petro 2:56:49 9, Talitha Mcewan 2:57:20 10.

Men: Jayden Murphy 2:23:44 1, Hamish Miller 2:26:00 2, Oscar Williams 2:28:32 3, Daniel Callebaut 2:29:42 4, Nathan Proctor 2:30:37 5, Julen Marticorena 2:31:12 6, Josh Thorburn 2:34:13 7, Braith Swanberg 2:35:03 8, Yahni Brown 2:35:16 9, Cyril Senften 2:35:45 10.

Jamie Troughton/Dscribe Media