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It's been a weekend of firsts for Omanu's Ben Cochrane after winning his first Mount Monster.

Ben, who lives in the Gold Coast, joined around 300 other surf lifesavers chasing $9000 in prizemoney at the 25km, four-stage endurance race in Mount Maunganui.

Omanu's Ben Cochrane crossing the finish line. Photos: Tracy Hardy.

Kirsty Wannan finished in 2hrs, 33 mins and 20 seconds.

Cochrane crossed the finish line in 2hrs, 20 mins and 14 seconds.

Mason Bryant, from Papamoa, came in second with 2 hrs, 20 mins and 37 seconds, while Piha's Ben Gillies finished in 2hrs, 20 mins and 47 seconds

Speaking to SunLive after the race, Cochrane says the prize money was far from his mind during the race.

'I didn't want to think about the money too much as I didn't want it to get in the way of the race. I was just worrying about the process and not the end result.

'This was my first race. Previous years I have been in Australia training. I'm stoked to be able to get to compete this year.

'I've always wanted to run through the tape and never got to do it, until now.”

Cochrane will be back next month to do the Omanu Classic and the Eastern Region, back to the four and 15 minute races.

'But this was good to see what an ironman is all about, carrying into the peak season.”

When Cochrane isn't busy training, he is working towards a business degree while majoring in accounting.

'I have just put out eight papers this year and got As and Bs, so it's not too bad considering what I've been doing.

'I'm over the moon with the win. It makes all the hard training and the sacrifices all worth it.”

Piha surf lifesaver Kirsty Wannan won the female section of the Mount Monster for the second time in two years.

She crossed the finish line in 2hrs, 33 mins and 20 seconds.

Mount Maunganui's Jessica Miller came in second with a finish time of 2hrs, 36 mins and 46 seconds.

'It went really well. I had a race plan and stuck do it. To start with, I probably didn't go out as hard in the run,” says Kirsty.

'I ended up in a bit of trouble when I took on some water and it didn't sit very well in the belly. So I had a bit of an upset stomach early on.

'I didn't let that phase me and had confidence in myself and the training I had done.

'I won last year, but it wasn't quite as comfortable as this year's win. I think this event is awesome. It's nice to have that longer endurance race in New Zealand.”


Ben Gillies from Piha, third, winner Ben Cochrane from Omanu, and Mason Bryant from Papamoa, second.

Hannah Williams from Piha, second, winner Kirsty Wannan from Piha and Jessica Miller from Mount Maunganui, third.