Currie, Simson coast home
BRADEN CURRIE delivered a blistering mountain run performance to set him on the way to a second consecutive Coast to Coast men’s Longest Day title.
The 27- year- old Wanaka resident surprised at last year’s event, but was simply in a league of his own yesterday.
Currie finished in a time of 11hr 18min 37sec which was 21 minutes clear of five-time champion Richard Ussher, who had to settle for second place. It was a special day for the Currie family, with Braden’s elder brother Glen finishing in third place in a time of 11:57.29.
There was plenty of pressure on Currie heading into the race about how he would deal with the expectation of defending his crown. But he was ice cool throughout and never got flustered when the tempo was raised.
On a day where Coast to Coast founder Robin Judkins signed off his 32- year involvement as race director, it was the next generation of athletes who began to shine through. Wellington- raised Jess Simson, who lives in Wanaka these days, shone in the women’s oneday individual event, winning the title in her first year doing the Longest Day. She had a winning time of 13hr 12min 24sec which was 14 minutes ahead of second placed Elina Ussher.
Last year, the 29-year-old Simson shattered the women’s record in the two-day women’s race and opted to test herself in the gruelling one-day race this time around.
Currie was outstanding in last year’s mountain run, breaking away from his rivals, and again he used that strategy to help set up his win yesterday. He delivered a phenomenal time of 2hr 49min 56sec over the challenging 33km mountain run over Goat Pass to build a huge 24-minute advantage entering the 67km kayak.
Ussher is a talented paddler but it was always going to be a difficult ask to peg back such a deficit.
Currie was almost lost for words when he crossed the finish line in front of a noisy crowd.
‘‘I don’t really believe it. I just had a really great day and nothing really went too wrong. I just felt good,’’ he said.
Ussher said he was never able to get into his rhythm. He saluted Currie, who refused to provide him with a look-in during the race.
‘‘ Braden, what a phenomenal day he must have had. That run was unbelievable. I kind of had to go with everything I had, but it just wasn’t my day.’’
Simson made a strong start on the 55km cycle and had built up an 11 minute advantage over Ussher after the 33km mountain run. That lead ballooned out to 13 minutes after the 15km bike to the Waimakariri River. Ussher never put up the white flag, clawing 10 minutes back on the kayak, but that drained plenty of her energy. Simson didn’t get rattled, clinching victory with a calm final bike ride.
Last year, Simson resigned from her job as Department of Conservation ranger to train fulltime as a multisport athlete and she said it had made her Longest even more meaningful.
‘‘It was tough because I loved my job . . . [But] if you put your mind to something it will happen.’’
In the two-day individual men’s race, Christchurch’s Brendon Vercoe retained his lead from day one to take the title for the first time. He finished in a winning time of 12: 49.26 from Byron Munro, who was 17 minutes back.
Irish native Fiona Dowling, who is shifting to Alexandra to live, was unsure about her prospects heading into the second day with the
Day
title women’s two- day lead. She shouldn’t have been. Dowling produced a consistent kayak and a steady bike to take first place from Christchurch’s Hilary Totty in a winning time of 13hr 57min 15sec.
Christchurch’s Paul Massie and Robert Loveridge won the two-day two person team’s men’s event in a time of 12:3.37 with Nicola Harris and Sarah August the female victors.
The two-day three person team’s event was taken out by Tania Leslie, Stevo Porter and Scott Ronald with a time of 13:29.38.