My Inaugural "Coast to Coast" Experience

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My Inaugural "Coast to Coast" Experience Angela Hawes n13J January 1996 at a civilised up of 143km of cycling, 67km of Being "mouse pushers ", Jon and were dinner party with friends, this white-water kayaking and 29km of in the two-day team event. Jon did the question was popped: "Hey running. (See map below.) kayaking whilel ldid the mountain run- Ange, Andy's had to pull out of the ning. We shared the cycling sections. Coast to Coast. How'dy you like to take This may sound a long way, but one The weather was very kind, and the his place?" don't think l'd had much of the great things about the Coast to event ran surprisingly smoothly for us: wine at that stage, buti it was obviously Coast, is that there is a race category no horribly swollen rivers (although I enough to encourage me to respond to fit almost any ability level. For the did manage to submerge myself in a affirmatively! hard core athletes there's "The Long- hole up to my shoulders at one stage est Day", where you grunt from one I thought it was a short cut!); no cap- There were only three weeks left be- coast to the other in one stint. (This is sizes by Jon in the kayaking section fore the infamous event. Iwas advised "no problema" for the Kathy Lynch/ (it's evidently all a matter of how you that there was no point training in the Steve Gurney types of this world to poke your tongue and grit your teeth); last week before the Coast to Coast, knock off in around 12 hours.) Then no punctures in the cycling sections so effectively that left two weeks for there's the two-day individual event, (but I must mention how Jon set his me to get up to speed. No chance of where you do half the race each day, speedo wrong and did his finishing me over-training! camping overnight at Klondyke Cor- sprint 10km too early! Doof!); and finer. nally, no support crew to meet me at Beforel Iknewit, Jon's Fiat was loaded the finish line (BOO HOO!-they got up to the max with two kayaks, two The easiest level event is the two-day stuck in the traffic, and I arrived bebikes and all our camping gear. We team event, where a team of two com- fore them.) were offt to the wild West Coast beach petitors does half the event sections of Kumara, for the 14th annual Coast each, over two days. (If you sit on your It was an awesome event, set amongst to Coast event. bum all day in an office, doing noth- some of NZ's most amazing scenery. ing more strenuous than pushing a In fact we thought it was SO awesome Sol howt far is the Coast to Coast moun- mouse around a mouse pad, then this that we have both entered the 1997 tain race? It is 239km in total, made is thè category for you!) individual two-day event! B d 2 58km cycle to 26km mountain run, Deception footbridge finish at Klondyke corner. D 60km cycle to end of day one Deception footbridge 023km mountain run to Bealey River, 3km before yR Klondyke corner # * 2 L 67km of kayaking to START Waimakariri Gorge bridge 07am start, 2.8km run FINISH D 6am start 0.8km run OStart of day two at 7.30am. 15km cycle to Mt White bridge 018km cycle to Mt White bridge D Sumner 70km cycle Beach to Goat Pass Klondyke corner Mt White bridge Deception A footbridge Walmakariri Gorge bridge Kumara Sumner Beach Beach - do & 8 d8 A do do dd 6fo Source: "COAST TO COAST The Great New Zealand Race" by Bob McKerrow & John Woods TRAMPING & MOUNTAINEERING 1996