Wightman wins again

Nick Wightman crosses the line in first place at the Mountain to Mouth. (Mark Dadswell)

Ocean Grove runner Nick Wightman won his second Mountain to Mouth event on Friday 11 January.

Wightman stormed home in 24m08s to claim another summer title.

“It’s a tough race, it was pretty warm in the end,” Wightman said.

“Obviously the hills are always tough – Sean Guiney and Oscar Robinson didn’t make it easy at the start and through the bush but I got away at the end just coming back onto the Great Ocean Road.

“This is the second time I’ve won it. It’s always a great race, always good competition, it sees how I’m going with my training with more important races later in the season. I had a fair bit of a challenge up the first few hills and through the bush – coming out of the bush I got a bit of a lead down with the wind.”

Nearly 2000 runners made their way through the Lorne hinterland and along the Great Ocean Road before finishing in front of the Lorne SLSC clubhouse, enjoying excellent conditions with a light breeze.

Defending champion in the women’s event, Ellie Pashley smashed the race record, covering the 8km track in a staggering 26m00s, taking 47 seconds off the previous best time.

“This one’s pretty special to me this race, I live in Torquay and I work in Lorne at the medical centre here so it’s always nice to come and do a local race, I always feel a little bit of pressure because I know I’ll get back to work and everyone is going to ask me how I went,” she said.