Adventure Racing
New Zealand’s Coast to Coast is an adventure race for the books. Reckon you’re up to the challenge?
New Zealand’s Kathmandu Coast to Coast is the adventure race that all adventure races have since modelled themselves on, and after all these years, it’s the race that's remained truest to its roots.
“The Coast to Coast is an old school adventure race,” Courtney Atkinson says. “They don’t make anything comfortable. These days the big races are all made accessible for the everyday people. Coast to Coast is basic, it’s raw.”
And it’s this rawness that keeps athletes both humbled and coming back for more.
It was in the race’s ‘Longest Day’ event where we saw Atkinson and Braden Currie go head-to-head sprinting 3km, biking 55km, running 33km over a mountain pass, jumping back on the bike for 15km, throwing down a 67km kayak and rounding it all off with a 70km bike – into a stiff headwind to the finish.
And then, just when the finish line is in sight, you have to run a few hundred metres in the sand up a small hill.
Seriously, it’s the race that just keeps giving.
“Coast to Coast is such an iconic event for New Zealand,” Currie explained. “What started out as a bunch of guys getting together and seeing if they could possibly make it, has evolved today to be one of the world's leading multi-sport adventure races.”
Currie is no stranger to the Coast to Coast, having won the event in 2014 and 2015, but this year he faced his hardest race yet.
Currie led for majority of the race, but he was passed during the final leg of the bike, resulting in a second place finish – only eight minutes behind the leader. And in an 11-hour race, eight minutes is pretty much like eight seconds.
Baptism of fire
"This race was on my ‘bucket list’ for a long time, but until you actually race it, you still don’t know what you’re going to encounter,” first time Coast to Coast-er Atkinson said.
Atkinson explained that in his native Australia he didn’t have proper rushing water rivers to train in, which resulted in a seriously challenging time in the water.
“I had never paddled for more than 70 minutes and in the race you’re in the boat for 4-5 hours,” he said. “I wasn’t prepared for my butt to start getting sore one hour in. Plus, reading the river was something completely new for me. Then I had to get on the bike and ride 70km – upwind.”
Hungry for more
However, despite taking part in what a couch potato might determine as ‘a living hell,’ Atkinson has already starting plotting and planning for next year.
“As an athlete and racer, I never make irrational decisions; I never sign up for a race without considerable thought. However, after a week of resting my heart, I’m already reading my splits and thinking on how I can improve for next year.”
This will require a lot more training, however Atkinson seemed optimistic, focused, and more importantly, determined.
Currie too is determined for 2018’s race. "This loss is nothing but bittersweet and will make me want to hurt more next time," Currie said after finishing.
So with determination fueling the guys, 2018 could possibly be a showdown for the ages. And, if you're looking for an unreal challenge, there are 353 days to get your act together – or at least book your flights to watch said showdown!
