Nelson multisport athlete Elina Ussher won her seventh Motu Challenge title at the weekend, while Sam Clark grabbed his second.

Both athletes dominated their opposition in the 21st edition of one of New Zealand's toughest endurance races.

Elina Ussher won the woman's section of the Motu Challenge, while Sam Clark took out the men's side.

The women's title was taken by Ussher in a time of 8 hours 24 minutes - 53 seconds ahead of Rachel Cashin from Taumaranui.

In the men's event, Clark completed a 65km mountain bike trek, 17km run, 52km road cycle and 27km kayak in 7 hours, 29 minutes and 25 seconds, beating second-placed Stu Lynch by 10 minutes.

The much-anticipated battle for the team's title between Team Subway, featuring multisport legend Richard Ussher, and Team Thermal Chemistry, featuring Olympic kayaker Ben Fouhy, was won by Team Subway.

Subway's time of 6:50:46 was 14 minutes outside the 2001 record.

Race Director Marty Madsen believes the record would have fallen with just a bit more water in the river.

'The river was at 1.5m this year and in 2001 the river was closer to 2 meters, and that makes a huge difference to the kayak split,” she said.

The Motu 160 competitors had a much closer battle with 2013 champion Stephen Sheldrake - first past the post in 4 hours, 45 minutes and 15 seconds and only 42 seconds ahead of Napier athlete Ben Earnshaw.

The women's race was won for the fourth consecutive year by New Zealand Mountain Bike Olympian Karen Hanlen.

The 2014 Motu Challenge marked the 21st anniversary of the event, now heralded as the premier multisport event in the North Island.

Attracting a wide range of participants, from die-hard athletes to weekend warriors to those prepared to ‘give it a go', the Motu Challenge is always popular with visitors and locals alike.

'We had a superb day,” says event manager Mike van der Boom.

'The entrants really seemed to enjoy themselves, and the support crews, volunteers and spectators were there to cheer everyone on.”

Alongside the original Motu Challenge, the Motu 160 cycling event had a big surge in numbers this year.

Competitors in the Motu 160 race the mountain bike stage with Challenge entrants, before transitioning to road bikes and slogging the 90km back to Opotiki.