Coast to Coast legend comes out of retirement
Nine-time Coast to Coast winner Steve Gurney is stepping out of retirement to compete in this weekend’s Red Bull Defiance adventure race in Wanaka.
The 55-year-old will lead his own team in the two-day 147km event that takes place on Saturday and Sunday.
‘‘This is going to be one heck of a race and very interesting from my perspective because I don’t expect my team to necessarily be the fastest, and for me it’s about working together, making the most of our strengths that should negate any weaknesses and enjoying the camaraderie,’’ Gurney said.
The weekend of adventure is an ambitious punt for the Gurney team, who only came together after David Gray, Katie Smith and Carl Jones won the opportunity to race alongside the multisport legend.
‘‘I actually don’t know my team from a bar of soap, so it’s going to be lots of fun getting to know each other. They all now know that I have a knee injury and arthritis in the ankles but my strengths certainly are race cunning, excellent communication, plenty of motivation and energy and very high technical skills on the river,’’ Gurney said. ‘‘Plus I have a super-fast double kayak so fellow competitors should beware.’’
Gurney’s team-mates are excited to be racing together. While fairly new to multisport, Katie Smith raced GODZone in 2018 and Coast to Coast in 2017, Carl Jones is an ex-World Cup XC mountain bike racer now racing enduro. Gray said there is no better opportunity to race at Red Bull Defiance alongside Gurney.
With 100 athletes competing in the X4 event there will be plenty of competition for the Gurney team to push against. The field includes the Best Foot Forward team made up of World Adventure Racing Champion Bob McLachlan, two-time Primal Quest winner Sarah Fairmaid, former All Black captain Richie McCaw and NZRPA CEO Rob Nichol.
Team Swordfox led by experienced Nelson adventure racing duo Naomi and Ash Whitehead are expected to feature in the lead pack along with Queenstown’s Altitude Brewing team led by Bruce McLeod.
X4 Race Director Bex Law said a strong contingent of top Australian adventure racing teams will make their debut at the event this weekend.
‘‘The top Australian A1 Series team Thoughtsports.com.au will definitely make an impact on this field and will be racing fast. The Australian A1 Masters team led by Kevin Piercy and two Australian Tiger Teams led by Trevor Mullins and Tim Sikma bring some international racing flair. Tiger Adventure is an adventure racing team collective based in Brisbane,’’ Law said.