I ran this track on 22/01/2020. Roy's Peak is 16K with approx 1,300m of vertical gain.
The family were staying at Wanaka on holiday after running the 'Saint James Stampede 50K' in the James High Country, Hanmer Springs, a few days earlier. I saw this peak and trail on the map and wanted to run it. So I set out from the car park at just after 0715hrs on 22nd January. It was steep all the way up with many switchbacks which did allow for some flat occasional running. The views over Wanaka Lake were breathtaking and the mountain ranges on the horizons even more so. The parent peak of Roy's is Mt Aspiring (maybe next time)!. The weather was cool and overcast and given the time of morning made running a whole lot easier. Upon reaching Roy's Peak there is some telecoms infrastructure, I took a quick look around the peak and then descended quickly, getting back to the car park some 2.25 hours later. The car park was full by this time and some hikers were ascending. With regards to kit, you can do this with or without poles, just depends how you roll, but I didn't feel that I would have needed them, the track is 16K in length, up and down, so my legs weren't too tired. The track was dry, slightly muddy but not at all slippy. I took a soft flask to quench my thirst once I got to the top, there were a couple of springs that made their way down from the higher peak areas. As always I wore a cap, beware the sun, even in NZ and overcast. Start early and there's time for a good breakfast in one of the many hipster cafe's on Wanaka's waterfront.
Highly recommended to run this track, even hike with family which is what I did later that day.