MAINTAINING a steady pace into the Wycheproof head wind late Saturday morning has seen Carly Isaac win her second Queen of the Mountain title.
Isaac, the Boort netballer and marathon runner, stuck to her race plan tackling the 1km race up the world’s smallest mountain.
Bree Garreffa had a four-second edge over the defending champion for the first 250 metres but Isaac’s sure style carrying the 20kg bag of wheat and wool took over soon after.
Isaac would stay in the lead and finish the course in 5:24, 26 seconds ahead of her challenger. The $5000 Queen of the Mountain victory came less than an hour after Isaac broke clear of Sarah Botheras going up Mount Street to win the dash in 3:55 by a margin of 36 seconds. It was also  back-to-back success for Isaac in that event.
Back at the base of Mount Wycheproof after the top title race, Isaac said: “I was trying to tuck in out of the wind on the first stretch and didn’t change pace.
“When I hit the bottom of the hill there was momentum, the cheer squad ... there was not going to be any walking to the top of the hill.”
The cheer squad included fellow Boort netballers who had earlier competed in the wheelbarrow dash.
The Pies were forced to make late changes to their barrow relay quartet trying to defend the 2023 title.
Isabel Hosking and Colbinabbin netballer Olivia McEvoy joined Isaac and Georgia Haw.
But this year, the Pies were beaten on the final gruelling leg of the race.
Teams with runners from Bridgewater and Inglewood also tried their luck in the wheelbarrow races for men and women.
The King of the Mountain was won by Tom Rodgers in 5:56. The men carried a 60kg bag.
Organised by Wycheproof Narraport Football Netball Club, King of the Mountain was revived last year after a break of 35 years.
Hundreds lined the 1km route again on Saturday before a community picnic in Centenary Park and the formal coronation of this year’s King and Queen of the Mountain.