Rural Games confirmed an annual event

 An estimated crowd of 5000 people lined the downtown streets on Waitangi Day to watch around 400 locally bred merino sheep pass by in the Running of the Wools. The free event proved the perfect curtain raiser for the next two days of traditional sports and live entertainment staged on Queenstown Recreation Ground.

Billed as a showcase for 'sports that built the nation', nearly 200 competitors took part in 13 national and trans-Tasman championships including sheep dog trials, coal shovelling, wood chopping, speed shearing, speed fencing and gumboot throwing plus the Wild Buck Challenge taking place in the beer tent.

Spectators were entertained on both days by roving MCs, musical comedy duo the Topp Twins, plus three former All Blacks in Jeff Wilson, Justin Marshall, and Marc Ellis who competed with and against each other in several events over the weekend.

Day one highlights included the North Island taking out the NZ Inter-Island Challenge Sheep Dog Trials in association with Ngai Tahu Farming while former NZ strongman champion and national Highland Games number two, Reuben de Jong winning the NZ Rural Highland Games 'Heavies' trophy. The overall title of this new addition to the NZ Highland Games calendar was decided over the four traditional events of caber toss, stones lift, farmer's walk, and heavy stone toss.

The ANZAXE Trans Tasman Wood Chopping Championship pitched the four top-ranked Aussies – Jamie Head, Laurence O'Toole, Brent Rees and Brayden Myer – against New Zealand's reigning world champion team of Shane Jordan, Jason Wynyard, Adam Lowe and Kyle Lemon.

Queenslander, Jamie Head took the overall trophy from Kiwis Shane Jordan (second) and Jason Wynyard (third), while the home team won the team event.

Australia also had success in the New Zealand championships for coal shovelling on Saturday, and cherry stone spitting on Sunday. The reigning Australian champions in each sport, Stuart Turner from New South Wales and Clint Thompson from WA respectively, will take the titles back across the Ditch with them.

Elsewhere on Sunday, the NZ Wine Barrel Racing Championship attracted a global field including entrants from North America, Europe and Asia as well as home-grown talent. Eventual men's winner, Csaba Szondi was visiting from Hungary.

In the throwing events, 10-year-old Adam Stevens from Invercargill won the Bill Tapley Trophy for cow pat tossing held as part of Jetstar Kids 'n Country, a series of fun events for the under-12s.

"I chose a nice tight turd and threw it as far as I could," he says of the secret to his success.

After speed competitions for hand milking (featuring a pair of specially adapted fibreglass cows), tree climbing, fencing and gold panning there was victory for five-time world shearing champion, David Fagan in the NZ Speed Shear Championship. The veteran from Te Kuiti will retire from competition in April at the end of the current New Zealand season.

In the Games' penultimate event, an excited crowd witnessed a new national record for egg throwing and catching of 61.7m recorded by Justin Marshall (throwing) and Jeff Wilson (catching). Then the first NZ Gumboot Throwing Championship saw both men and women's North Island teams win against South Island teams that qualified through Saturday's regional champs.

Rural Games founder and trustee, Steve Hollander was delighted with how the event turned out.

"What a weekend! We're all taken aback by the New Zealand public's enthusiasm for rural sports some of which have all but died out as spectator events. That's our vision – to preserve the legacy of traditional sports for future generations, bringing them to the attention of the wider population and ensuring this country's rural spirit is celebrated for many years to come," he says.

"Huge thanks for everyone who competed and came along to make the event such a success, as well as our amazing volunteers and event crew. We're already planning for next year so see you in Queenstown on Waitangi weekend 2016."

For more information on the Hilux New Zealand Rural Games visit the event website at www.ruralgames.co.nz.