Whakatane runner Daniel Jones cruised along the finish line of this year's Vita Sport King of the Mount event, with the 24-year-old narrowly missing the event record by 0.4 seconds.

About 140 runners took part in the main event yesterday, which had men and woman race a 4.5km circuit from Mount Main Beach opposite Mount Drury to the summit of Mauao.

Daniel crossed the finish line first in 18 minutes and 49 seconds, almost breaking the record of 18 minutes and 45 seconds.

'I'm really happy with my time I think it's a lot faster than what I've done in the past,” says Daniel.

'It's always hard to know how you're going to go after Christmas Day.”

All in all, he's happy with how the race went.

'I'm stoked with how it went. I felt quite strong on the first uphill section and tried to really make my gap on the stairs.

'Obviously you feel pretty tired, but I wasn't out of my comfort zone too much until right at the top.

This is about the fifth time Daniel has raced the event, with the runner already taking the title 'once or twice before”.

The women's race hadn't been tallied by the time SunLive left the event.

For race results, click here.