August 23, 2010 (Wanaka, NZ) – A dusting of snow and medium winds greeted competitors and spectators of the 15th Merino Muster held this past Saturday at the Snow Farm in Wanaka New Zealand. Participants gathered from all over the world, including Sweden, Russia, Canada, the US, Australia and New Zealand to compete in one of three distances offered at the event. In the 42km Merino Muster, Olympian Ben Koons (NZL) set out to challenge a strong field of international competitors including Canada’s Paralympic gold-medalist guide and 2008 Merino Muster Champion Robin Mckeever.

As with any marathon, pack tactics and pacing helped competitors battle it out on the tough course at the Snow Farm, with Robin Mckeever eventually out-skiing Ben Koons for the win. “The race was quite challenging,” commented Mckeever, “the slow snow and considerable headwind made the going a bit harder this year.” The Canadian brothers have been training at the Snow Farm for two weeks prior to the event during their usual summer training session in New Zealand. According to Robin, “the combination of snow and terrain makes training at the Snow Farm better than anywhere else I’ve ever been. We are mainly focusing on training at this point in the year, but that doesn’t mean that I didn’t race 100 percent.”

On the women’s side, the field stretched out significantly more, so pack skiing was not an option. Hannah Dreissigacker stood atop the podium in the 42km event, defeating last year’s champion Samantha Bondarenko, who settled for the silver medal.

Overall, this year’s event attracted the most diverse group of competitors in recent history. From Olympians to first time skiers, everyone was able to find an event that fit their level of skiing. The festival concluded with a lunch and prize giving ceremony for the winners of the 7, 21, and 42km events, along with door prizes, and a raffle.

For complete results, click here.