Australian on the hunt for longest day title
Tasmanian Alex Hunt was two the last time an Australian gatecrashed the Coast to Coast and captured the men’s longest day title.
After placing second in last year’s 243km multisport event, which traverses the width of the South Island, the 27-year-old, who sports a distinct mullet hairstyle, is back for a fourth straight year.
With three-time reigning champion Sam Clark not returning to defend his title, Hunt looms as a frontrunner in a men’s field where there is no clear favourite. Wanaka’s Dougal Allan, Christchurch’s Sam Manson and Australian James Pretto are among the contenders tipped to arrive at New Brighton Beach first this afternoon.
It’s been 26 years since an Australian last etched their name on the longest day trophy when Melburnian John Jacoby won in 1993.
Hunt finished 29 minutes behind Clark last year in a time of 11hr 43min 57sec. He placed sixth in 2017 and in his debut showing, in 2016, came third.
If top seed Hunt could go one better than last year and take the title, it would be the biggest accomplishment of his 10-year racing career.
‘‘I think it would be a life highlight. You sort of dream about it. I don’t want to think about it too much at the moment. I’ve still got a job to do, but that’s why I’ve come over. ’’
Clark pulled away from the pack on the 70km kayak on the Waimakariri River last year and never looked back. Competing in three previous longest days gave Hunt plenty of valuable intel and he knew where he’d fallen away.
He battled on the downhill section of the mountain run last year and had worked hard with his paddling to cut down his kayak time.
‘‘I learned from the second year, I went in with high expectations and not racing as well as I wanted to.
‘‘You’ve just got to relax a little bit I guess and let yourself kind of ease into the day. It’s a really long day and there’s no point getting uptight the night before the race or during the early stages of the race.’’
Hunt, who works at an engineering consulting firm in Hobart, flew into Christchurch on Wednesday and drove to Greymouth on Thursday. He hadn’t been over to the West Coast for a reconnaissance runthrough of the course, like many other competitors, but said Hobart’s geography closely replicated the Coast to Coast terrain.
The number of Australians competing had risen over the past few years. Hunt said naming rights sponsor Kathmandu had been integral at promoting the event across the ditch and making it more accessible for Australian athletes.
Nothing in Australia quite matched it and it had become a bucket list item for multisport diehards there.
‘‘I really like the concept, racing from one side of the country to the other. I think that’s the biggest thing. It’s a course defined by its name in a way and you can’t shorten or change it in any way.
‘‘The course is stunning. The run and the paddle is just amazing and the whole atmosphere around the event.’’
Hunt arrives in confident form after winning three of four races in a four-person team at the China Mountain Outdoor Sports Series late last year. That included victory at the prestigious four-day Wulong Challenge adventure race in September, which he’d been desperate to win after ‘‘a few near misses’’.
In the elite women’s race, Elina Ussher is targeting a fifth longest day title, which would equal Kathy Lynch’s record. Ussher is expected to tussle it out with German-born Christchurch athlete Simone Maier, Corrine O’Donnell, Claire Bell and Swede Marika Wagner for the title.
Cantabrians Sam Bell (5hr 26min 5sec) and Selena Metherell (6hr 20min 32sec) lead the respective men’s and women’s two-day individual races after day one yesterday. They’ll resume with a 15.5km cycle this morning, before the 70km kayak then cycling 69.5km to Christchurch.