Another double for Wanaka athletes

WANAKA athletes appear to like winning the Coast to Coast together.

In 2014 and again in 2015, Braden Currie and Jess Simson, both from Wanaka, won the event.

On Saturday, Wanaka was to the fore again as Dougal Allan and Simone Maier won the male and female sections of the race.

The two athletes from the Queenstown Lakes town pulled out topoftheline performances to win.

But it had been a long wait for the glory on Saturday.

Allan (33) had previously finished second three times and third once.

He won by more than 15 minutes on Saturday, gaining the advantage on the kayak leg and extending it on the final cycling leg into Christchurch. Allan first competed in 2010. He paid tribute to his family and children for the win and having a ‘‘giving it a shot’’ attitude.

Maier (38) had finished second and third in the event previously but could not be stopped on Saturday, overcoming a twominute time penalty and also a crash with a camper van while on the bike.

She pulled away in the second half of the race in the kayak and cycle legs to win by almost nine minutes.

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES Happy chappy . . . Wanaka athlete Dougal Allan celebrates with his children Flynn (4) and Matilda (2) and wife Amy after winning the men’s section of the Coast to Coast in Christchurch on Saturday.

Atlast... Wanaka athlete Simone Maier is ecstatic after winning the women’s section of the Coast to Coast.