Ocean Grove distance runner Nick Wightman finished fourth at the Mountain to Surf run at Lorne on Friday, January 10.
He finished in a time of 24:18 in the 8km event as more than 2200 competitors took part in the popular annual Lorne based fun run now in its 36th year.
Edward Marks, a Monash University student from Elwood, stormed home and won his first Mountain to Surf 8km title in a blistering time of 23:40, while Ben Kelly came second in 23:57 and Alexander Ritchie finished third in 24:01.
Wightman was the first runner across the finish line in the senior category.
“Look, it was a pretty tough run with the humidity,” Wightman told the Voice, who turns 35 this month.
“It certainly helps knowing the course.”
Wightman, a two-time winner of the 8km Mountain to Surf, won last year’s 8km event in 24:08.
It caps off a big couple weeks for Wightman, who won his record seventh Rip to River Classic 10km crown at Ocean Grove Surf Life Saving Club on Saturday, December 28.
Wightman won this summer’s Rip to River Classic 10km event in 33:00.
In the women’s Mountain to Surf 8km event, back-to-back champion Ellie Pashley, who broke the female race record at last year’s event in 26:00, won her third title in a row in 26:27.
