Blood, sweat and fears in Coast race
Four stages, 243km and no doubt plenty of blood, sweat and tears.
The annual Kathmandu Coast to Coast – held each February from Kumara on the West Coast to New Brighton beach in Christchurch – started this morning with the two-day event.
More than 700 competitors are entered in the event, which was first held in 1983 as a twoday event, before the one-day race was introduced in 1987.
The one-day race starts tomorrow morning, while the event also includes a two-day tandem category and a 30.5km mountain race.
Black Stick Gemma McCaw (nee Flynn), who married former All Black captain Richie McCaw last month, was to feature in the mountain race today.
While the one-day guns have another day to prepare for ‘‘the longest day’’, the two-day competitors set from from Kumara, south of Greymouth, at 7am today.
The list of more than 300 twoday competitors includes Brando ‘Wildboy’ Yelavich, the first person to circumnavigate the coastline of New Zealand’s North and South Islands by foot.
He suffers from ADHD and dyslexia and sets himself physical challenges to deal with his difficulties in conventional learning.
‘‘I’ve always set myself physical challenges that have tested my endurance; body and mind, but competing in the Coast to Coast will be unlike anything I’ve done before,’’ he said.
‘‘I’m so used to exploring our beautiful country on my own and in my own time, so this race makes for a bit of a change. I’m looking forward to the race, but I’m also a little intimated by it.’’
Across four stages, he will cycle 140km, kayak 67km and run 36km.
He and the rest of the field will spend tonight at Klondyke Corner, near Arthur’s Pass, after clambering over Goat Pass on foot.
They will then continue the arduous journey to New Brighton with a 15km cycle, 67km kayak on the Waimakariri River, and a 70km cycle across the Canterbury Plains tomorrow.
Coast to Coast race director Richard Ussher said he was ‘‘very excited’’ about this year’s event.
‘‘There is going to be some fantastic racing this year,’’ he said. ‘‘We have over 700 entries, the most for a number of years, and there is real depth across all the events.
‘‘The elite field is looking really strong, while there are some amazing stories behind some of the entries in the two day event.’’
Whakatane’s Sam Clark is back to defend his men’s one-day title, but will have to fend off Wanaka’s Braden Currie.
Currie missed last year’s event while he concentrated on attempting to qualify for the Rio Olympics triathlon, but won the event the previous three years.
Australians Courtney Atkinson and Alex Hunt are also expected to challenge for the men’s title.
Clark, Currie and Atkinson, and women’s defending champion Elina Ussher, who is chasing her fourth title, and South African debutant Robyn Owen were in Kumara yesterday.
The group spent half an hour on a panel answering questions about this year’s race, which organisers are labelling as the most competitive in years.
‘‘I’m here to win . . . see you in New Brighton,’’ Clark said when asked about the men’s field.
Currie said he planned to spend today relaxing and drinking coffee, although he would probably also squeeze in a light-jog.
More than 18,000 athletes have completed the Coast to Coast course since former race guru Robin Judkins introduced the event in 1983.
The race was backed by a brewery for its first 32 years, but the 2016 edition went ahead without a naming rights sponsor.
Like the past 33 years, the race director will greet finishers over the age of 18 with a cold can of beer.