Lord, Greer unable to be separated
MULTISPORT
A MEASURED ride by a leading bunch of 16 played into the hands of Rob Lord (Christchurch) and Richard Greer (Kirwee) as they deadheated for firstday honours in the twoday individual race at the Coast to Coast yesterday.
With both working in tandem within a leading group of riders on the 55km cycle from Kumara to Aikens, it was Lord who blinked first and set off at a rate of knots to put time and distance on the field for the gruelling run up Deception Valley to Goats Pass.
Although holding a handy 5min lead on Goats Pass, Lord was becoming a hunted man as Greer, Dean Stewart (Wyndham) and Taranaki Terror Calum Sutherland (New Plymouth) were all making plans to make the most of a more forgiving terrain on the run down into Klondyke.
But it was Greer who used the undulation, downhill and long flat riverbed footing the best as he chased Lord down, getting up on his shoulder in the chute for an energysapping sprint to the line.
The two crossed side by side and were credited with a time for the 3km run, 55km bike, 33km alpine run of 5hr 25min 42sec.
“The run off the beach was pretty smooth and we very quickly formed a bunch,” Lord said of being part of a breakaway group that had opened up over 5min on the chasing group
“Everyone rode really, really well. We had really good coms [communication] and it was like mint. Credit to everyone in that bunch,” he said.
“It was smooth. It was effortless. It wasn't recordbreaking time, but we all worked together.”
As for his kayaking, Lord said he would let his talking be done on the river when racing resumes this morning for the final three stages involving a 15km bike from Klondyke to My White Bridge, the 67km Waimakariri river stage and 70km bike to the finish
“It's a game of two halves and the first half is over. So we'll regroup, recover and bring it on.”
For multisport coach Greer, his approach to the second day of competition is he said “to practise what I preach and to bring it home.”
Third across the line was Sutherland in 5hr 38min 26sec, while Stewart's gutsy performance netted him fourth in 5hr 41min 41sec.
First to complete the first day of the women's section of the twoday individual race was Greymouth local Emma Wilson (17) in 6hr 11min 24sec.
Wilson, a firstyear electrical engineering apprentice, was third off the bike and into the alpine stage, making steady measured progress over the stage to take a 30min 13sec advantage into the second day of competition.
Adele McGregor was second in 6hr 41min 37sec and Jackie Eden third 6hr 42min 52sec.
The three person team section proved a talking point when the starstudded combination of twotime Longest Day champion Sam Clark caned the 55km bike stage to Aiken and Daniel Jones blitzed the mountain run to take an impressive time of 4hr 27min 20sec into the second day.
Although the team section started 15min behind the twoday individual race, Clark and Jones competed as if they had an early bus to catch.
Reining in the individual field in the early stages of the run, they completed business 57min 22sec clear of the individual field.
But the day belonged to Greymouth High School pupil Callum Brown, at 14 the youngest competitor in the event.
He took on the 33km mountain run and finished the course in an impressive 4hr 9min 39sec to finish sixth overall.
Before Christmas Brown finished second in the Hanmer Springs Half Marathon in 1hr 24min and, in the recent Valley Ultra event at Castle Hill, he clocked an smart 2hr 24min in the 24km race.
St Andrew's College year 13 pupil Molly Spark is another athlete to watch in the near future.
She cleaned up the open women's field in the 33km alpine run in an impressive 4hr 18min 49sec.