Bathurst's Kellie Gibson first woman home in 2022 Great Volcanic Mountain Challenge

The Bathurst runner said it was thrilling to see things work out on the challenging course after being forced away from her usual racing tactics.

"It was a nice surprise to hit the lead early on and the goal from there was to just go for it and try to hold on," she said.

"It's always a little nerve wracking hitting the lead so early on, I usually prefer to chase down and make my move a little later on in these kinds of races but getting pushed out of the comfort zone is never a bad thing.

"I do feel like it was a bit of luck as the women's field upfront had less depth than usual, but you can only race who turns up on the day and a win always feels good."

It was a great all-round women's race for Bathurst as Margaret Kenny was the second woman across the line.

"Because I'm not a registered athlete with Athletics NSW the title of NSW Mountain Running Champion to progress onwards is passed down to the next registered athlete. I never considered registering because I honestly didn't rate myself a chance on the podium of this race," Gibson said.

"It was so nice to see the title passed down to fellow Bathurst runner Margaret Kenny who was the first finisher among Athletics NSW registered athletes.

"Margaret is running amazingly for her age. She is an absolute inspiration and so humble. If I'm still out there giving it a crack at her age I'll be very happy."

While Gibson said her time wasn't the best she's achieved on the course it was an effort she was proud of given the conditions on the day.

"It wasn't my best time on course but it was hard to compare due to the wet conditions on the more technical downhill sections of the course and it ran over the distance of the previous course with the course change. Given those things I was pretty happy," she said.

"It was a great day out and it's just nice to be doing events again as a running community. The highlight for me was seeing my two boys out there giving it their best along with other Bathurst runners as I ran back through the field down the Mount Towac and Young Man Canobolas summits.

"I love that it's something that our whole family enjoys doing and it's really nice to see them share the pure joy I get from the sport."

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