It’s hard to exaggerate how uniquely New Zealand the Coast to Coast is. First there is the concept, 243km from Greymouth on the west coast of the South Island to Christchurch on the east coast by running, cycling and kayaking. Then there is the spectacular scenery, as the race crosses the spine of the Southern Alps and follows the winding course of the mighty Waimakariri River. And finally there is the Kiwi attitude that people should take responsibility for their own safety; I can’t imagine a mass participation event like this taking place in the UK. That’s not to say that it is dangerous or that the organisers are not looking after you. However it is unforgiving terrain and once you start the run or the 40km gorge section of the kayak, the only way out is onwards or by helicopter or jetboat.
However, whilst it’s a challenge, anyone who puts in the training, in particular with the kayaking (see Diary of a Multisport Newbie), can complete the Two Day Coast to Coast. In fact, one of the nice things about being in a group supported by Team CP was meeting all the other participants and hearing their stories and motivations for the race. One of the things that linked us all was the desire for an adventure and an unforgettable experience.
For me, the race become real as I left Hamilton a week before the start on the long journey south. Luckily my Wellington to Picton ferry was running – one of the Interislander boats had broken down causing a lot of stress to many Coast to Coasters – and I enjoyed stunning views on the approach to Picton through the Marlborough Sounds. The next morning was so beautiful that I went for an impromptu kayak around Picton Harbour before reaching Christchurch after 950km of driving (State Highway 1 the whole way!).
I’d arrived in Christchurch on Saturday, several days before the race, as I had a recce down the Waimak booked with Topsport Kayaking. However, rain in the mountains meant the river was too full on Sunday, at around 200 cumecs (m3 per second). Then it was too windy for the rescheduled trip on Tuesday. So that meant I was going into the Coast to Coast without ever having paddled the Waimak or a braided river. Not ideal! As an aside, I was taking to someone a few days after the event who said in the late 1990s he’d competed in a Coast to Coast when the flow was at 400 cumecs and the kayak still went ahead. The jet boat safety teams were busy that day!
My four days in Christchurch were nevertheless very enjoyable. I was staying with my cousin and I found that Christchurch was a good city to live in if you like the outdoors. I went on a couple of bike rides and a trail run on the Port Hills and a kayak on the River Avon, the river that flows sedately through the city. This relaxing interlude ended at 7am on Thursday morning when we made our rendezvous with Team CP for the journey to Greymouth. (We had met the team and dropped off and checked gear the previous day.)
Map showing Coast to Coast route and my cycle rides, run and kayak in Christchurch.
Day 0 (Christchurch to Greymouth)
I was in a car with Leighton (brother of Richard Greer, the boss of Team CP), David (a Kiwi living in London) and Hannu (a Finn). Leighton provided us with a lots of advice and also told the story of how Richard lost first place in the Two Day Individual event by slipping in the sand a few metres before the finish line!
After a stop in the excellent Darfield Bakery we were shown the transition at Gorge Bridge, where the kayak would finish. I was surprised at how steep the path was from the river bank to the transition area, as well as the section where we would have to run with our bikes up to the road. We then drove to Klondyke Corner where we would be spending Friday night, put up tents (supplied by Team CP) and looked up the flat river bed that would be the final section of the mountain run.
A drive over Arthurs Pass took us to the bike to run transition at Aickens Corner and then to Greymouth. Registration, gear checks, packing transition bags, the race briefing and steak and chips in the Speights Ale House followed, and soon it was time for bed. I was in a Top 10 campsite chalet with four other guys and didn’t expect to get much sleep, not least because we had to wake up at 4.30am. I was looking forward to the mountain run and feeling distinctly nervous about the kayak, but one of the advantages with being with a lot of other first timers was that it was some comfort that we were all feeling apprehensive. Surprisingly I slept well.
David was not so lucky as when his rented kayak was delivered at around 9pm it transpired that when the kayak guy said he was providing “all the kayak gear” this did not in fact include the compulsory dry bag and paddle jacket even though David had specified those in his booking form. Luckily the support crew managed to scramble and find some spares to lend him.
Gorge Bridge, where the kayak would finish.
Looking up the Mingha River, which we would run down at the end of the mountain run.
At the race briefing. It wasn’t that boring!
Day 1 (Kumara Beach to Klondyke Corner)
At 6am we back in Leighton’s car approaching the bike to run transition in a light drizzle. That was a change from the blue skies of the previous day and not what was forecast. However the rain stopped and whilst it stayed cloudy for most of the day that was probably a good thing as it stopped us overheating on the run. Bike racked and with bike helmets on, we walked the 2.2km from the transition to the beach and the start.
At 7am all of us Two Day Individual athletes were off. I was already behind the leaders crossing the start line and I let the pack pull away. I knew I would be relatively slow though transition – putting on S-Works road shoes is hard to do quickly – and would lose them there anyway.
By the time I was on my bike there was just a long line of solo riders stretching up the road. Myself and another rider started to catch them up one by one and before long we were a decent sized group. However we never worked well together. Myself and a lady, I think it was Michelle (see below), made futile efforts to get everyone to ride through and off, but after a bit someone would not pull over or would surge off the front. On the other hand I was happy to spend the extra watts to stay near the front and to keep safe, especially as there were a couple of single lane bridges and some railway tracks to cross.
We can’t have been riding too badly though, as two thirds of the way through we came within catching distance of the group in front. A couple of us tired to bridge across but I was the only person to make it. I entered ‘bike race’ rather than ‘conserve strength for the mountain run’ mode. It was was fun even though a few kilometres later my original group caught us and we become a bunch of 50-60 riders. The only crash I saw was just behind me as we were dismounting on the gravel path into transition so I think we were lucky all round.
In the last 10km of the bike I could feel cramps flickering up my legs so I made sure to drink all the rest of my bidons. As I jogged out of the transition I also decided to try a few squirts of Cramp Stop under my tongue. I’d heard from some of Team CP about its miraculous powers and as cramp has dashed my hopes in many a bike race, I made sure to buy some in Christchurch. Unfortunately I then read the label and saw it was a homeopathic remedy which for me, as I don’t believe in homeopathy, removed any hope of getting a placebo effect. That said, my cramp never became that bad and disappeared after the first few kilometres of the run. Was it the spray or the water mixed with rehydration tabs I’d drunk?
After 3km of 4×4 track to the start of Deception Valley – which we would follow almost until its head – we came to our first river crossing. People had said that the rivers were not high but nevertheless the water was thigh deep and as the flow was strong you had to place your feet with care. Everyone I was running with was through it more quickly and I was out of the back of the group.
I soon became more practiced as we crossed the Deception River at least 10 times on the way up the valley following the best line. There were enough people in front that there was always someone to follow. Sometimes there was a path, but for a lot of the time we were running on the river bed. Gravel, boulders, fallen trees, wading and in a couple of places swimming. It would have been a fantastic river walk but wasn’t ideal terrain for moving quickly. A lot of the time I was walking fast rather than running.
At Doreen Creek, almost 2 hours in, there was a sign saying “now the boulders start”. As the terrain became steeper and more mountainous there was more rock and scree. I love being in the mountains so it was cool climbing up out of the forest into the high country. A stream bed and a final steep path led to Goat Pass. A helicopter had been ferrying people up and I was happy to be giving a cheer by Angus from Team CP. Equally cheering were a series of boardwalks through the boggy terrain that made for the first easy terrain of the ‘run’ so far.
Several of the people I had been climbing with were afflicted with cramps although the trail was much more runnable than it had been on the ascent. I ended up with two other runners, Michelle (#560) and Hamish (#428). I’d actually been following Michelle all the way up the valley and though we never spoke I felt like we were all part of a team. The final small uphill, Dudley Knob, was 10km from the finish and although it was all downhill from there the kilometres were ticking by very slowly. The last 5km dragged, and the last 2km was particularly sadistic as we were diverted off a nice gravel track onto the river bed. Still I finished the run feeling okay and second in my age group in the race by only one minute!
The weather was perfect for relaxing at Klondyke Corner – sunny, breezy and with no sand flies – and with crowds of competitors and support crew there was a cool atmosphere. Being able to enjoy it was one of the benefits of the Two Day Event. We had a tent each, dinner was provided by one of the local schools and the river provided a convenient location for an ice bath.
Ollie taking a picture on me on Kumara Beach. (Marathon-photos.com)
Competitors starting to gather on the beach.
The start line was where the three green flags were. (Marathon-photos.com)
I recognised Dave by the road so made sure I was on the front for the photo. (Dave@qualityantics)
In contrast to my sit down approach I saw a video showing Richard being thrown his running pack as he ran through transition without breaking stride. (Dave@qualityantics)
Leaving transition (in the background) at the start of the mountain run.
One of the first river crossings. (Marathon-photos.com)
Almost at Goat Pass.
At the pass. The pass is at 1071m, about 800m above Aickens Corner. (Marathon-photos.com)
Goat Pass Hut in the background.
This was just after I had tripped up on the boardwalk trying to take a selfie whilst running!
On the boardwalks looking down the Mingha Valley.
Towards the bottom of the descent… I think. (Marathon-photos.com)
About to climb up on the nice gravel road before the final river section. (Marathon-photos.com)
The final river section. Not nice at all. (Dave@qualityantics)
Saying goodbye to the river for a short run to the finish. (Marathon-photos.com)
My tent at Klondyke Corner.
Day 2 (Klondyke Corner to Christchurch)
I had a 7.08am start which meant that I had to be ready to mobilise with my bike at 6.50. I woke up at 5.40am and only just had enough time to eat breakfast and get ready. I’d noticed the night before that considering the hundreds of people camping there didn’t seem to be enough portaloos. Thankfully my early wake up meant I made it through that particular challenge without having to queue or deal with a disgusting toilet.
Both Hamish and Michelle as well as a few other familiar faces from Day 1 were in my start group of around a dozen (Wave 5). It was cold on the hands on the 15km ride to the Mt White Road turnoff. I had opted to take my running shoes in a rucksack and sat down to swap over my road shoes for the 1.1km run with our bikes down the gravel road to the river.
The kayak transition was a bit confusing. Rack bike but keep helmet on, find Eddie from Team CP, follow him to my kayak. I’d decided to wear a short sleeved thick thermal over my bike kit and he helped me get into that as well as my spray skirt and PFD. As I was about to pick up my kayak I noticed that the rear compartment was not fully closed after scrutineering, and the bag containing my paddle jacket was stuffed behind my seat but not attached to anything. No criticism of Team CP as they were preparing over 30 kayaks, but it shows you need to pay attention to the details and look after yourself.
As I floated away down the one of the braids of the Waimakariri river, I was with Hamish and just behind Michelle. Oh that I could have stayed with Michelle, as she eventually finished 29th overall, but she proved to be too quick. However, Hamish was moving at the same relaxed pace as me so we paddled together.
There was an optional portage 9km in at Rock Garden 2 which Hamish and I both opted for. The portage took 6 minutes and it would have been quicker to have floated down that section, even if that was beside one’s kayak, but I wanted to stay dry and not dent my confidence. All was going well until 18km down the river when Hamish and I both were grounded – my mistake – after taking a poor line through a braid. I could feel my boat starting to drift backwards over the rocks and concerned that I would snap off my rudder I decided to climb out. Hamish, who was in slightly shallower water, had already done this. However once I had stepped one foot out, my unweighted kayak, side on to the current, started to drift away. A few seconds later I was in a rapid in the main flow of the braid, but with my right leg hanging out of my kayak. I almost made it down before capsizing!
I sorted myself out quickly as my Star Multisport kayak is really easy to empty, but about 5 minutes later I lost balance in a relatively innocuous place and went over again. I figured the cold must be affecting me and decided to put on my paddle jacket. This was not easy as it required me taking off my race bib, which had been stretched tight over my PFD and camelback. It was even more difficult to pull the race bib back down over them again. It took me about 8 minutes to get changed and with hindsight I should have put on my paddle jacket at the start of the kayak. I should also have bought a second, larger sized race bib for the kayak leg.
Now warming up I pushed on but 25 minutes later I capsized again in a small wave train. I don’t know what was happening to my balance, but as we hadn’t yet entered the gorge, which contained many of more technical sections of the river, I had the bad feeling that it was going to be a long day in the kayak!
Luckily though the gorge seemed easier to me in spite of lots of bluff turns and a few more wave trains. I stayed upright in Salmon Run, probably the biggest of the wave trains, but screwed up Hamilton Rapids. The middle of the wave train was like an undulating white river serpent and the best line was to stay left of the bigger waves. I followed a women who had shouted “we love a bit of Hamilton”, whooped and charged down it. She got through cleanly but I got pushed right by the river and capsized. The waves weren’t that big however; it’s clear that I need to work on my boat balance in wave trains.
Unlike with my other swims, there were safety crew on this rapid and I was thrown a line and pulled into the side very quickly. I think I only lost a minute or two with the added advantage of reaching Halfway Hut, where they was a mandatory portage, at the same time as another Team CP participant, Vanessa. We helped carry each other’s kayaks for which I was grateful as my one is heavy even when it does not have 10 litres of water sloshing around in it. The stones that we had to walk over were rough and loose and I later heard that one of the competitors had fallen and broken a collar bone there! That portage plus eating an cereal bar took 9 minutes.
From Halfway Hut, which is indeed almost exactly halfway down the river, things went well. The gorge was truly spectacular. I ended up following a paddler called Savannah for most of it. She was very good at spotting the chicken lines which suited me just fine. The final tricky rapid at Horseshoe Bend, was out of bounds for the race requiring a longer paddle around the full horseshoe. This meant our final kayak distance was 72km, a couple of kilometres longer than normal.
I didn’t take any photos but there is a good video by Canterbury Kayaking here, showing the river a week before the race. On race day the flow was 54 cumecs compared to 72 in the video.
My elbows started to hurt in the last couple of hours which always seems to happen with long kayaks. I also hadn’t needed to pee so I used a cup I had tied to my spray skirt to gulp down some river water. In addition to that I also drank all of my 2 litre camelback.
We exited the gorge at Woodstock and were back in the braids again for the final 15km section. It was occasionally windy, but could have been much worse, and with the low river level it was easy to follow the main braid. Also the first of the tandem kayaks overtook me but the guy on the back must have been cramping as they didn’t pull ahead so I followed them to the finish at Gorge Bridge.
No one from Team CP was there to run with me up the hill – a fellow Team CPer, Wes, had come in just before me – which at least allowed me to have pee by the side of the path up to transition. I hadn’t been quite desperate enough to pee in my kayak but when I started running realised I fully hydrated! I was helped in transition by a patient lady, Bridget, who sorted out my kit. For future reference don’t try and take off one’s paddle jacket without undoing the Velcro wrist seals!
I heard Richie McCaw and Nathan Cohen, competing as a pair, being announced as exiting the river and hoped that they would catch me on the bike and drag me to the finish. As it was, they were quicker than me through transition and I never saw them, though Wes was lucky enough to ride with them as a three all the way to Christchurch.
My ride started with a group of four, Danny, Kym, Tara and I. We were working well together and as we hit the long headwind push down South Eyre Road, which at 29km without even a kink is NZ’s longest straight road, we were caught by more riders being bossed about by Hayden and Tony, a pairs team. One of them did an amazing job cajoling everyone into a reasonably efficient group… something that is really hard to do.
We caught and passed more people and groups and broke off the front with about 10-12 of us riding into the finish including Savannah, who seemed as bossy as Hayden/Tony (that’s a compliment!). Before long we were handing off our bikes and running the final 50 or so metres through the sand and up the final slope to the finish.
What a race! I have definitely felt more drained at the end of races but the feeling of satisfaction and relief that it all went well was hard to beat. At the finish we were given a half litre bottle of 7.5% beer and a burger… very welcome recovery fuel.
In my wave waiting for the start of Day 2. (Dave@qualityantics)
Mt White Bridge transition. (Dave@qualityantics)
Trying to keep up with Eddie on the way to my kayak. (Dave@qualityantics)
First paddle strokes in the Waimak. (Dave@qualityantics)
I’m not sure where this picture was taken but I don’t look very happy. (Marathon-photos.com)
I think this one was taken in Salmon Run. (Marathon-photos.com)
Hamilton Rapids! (Marathon-photos.com)
Being lifted out of my boat at Gorge Bridge. Thanks guys. (Marathon-photos.com)
Jogging into the kayak to bike transition. (Dave@qualityantics)
About to forget to undo my wrist cuffs. (Dave@qualityantics)
At the finish getting a handshake from Coast to Coast legend, Steve Gurney. (Marathon-photos.com)
Wes and I at the finish. (Dave@qualityantics)
Wes was very chuffed that following their ride together, the names Andrew Wesley, Nathan Cohen and Richie McCaw could appear in the same sentence. (Wes’s selfie at the prize giving.)
Race Analysis
I finished the race in 15 hours and 11 minutes, 5th out of 53 in my age group and 85th of 324 Two Day Individual race finishers. For comparison, the winner of the Longest Day, Sam Manson, took 11 hours 40 minutes, and as a benchmark for how fast the top athletes can do the individual sections, the winner of the race just over the mountain run took 2 hours 58 minutes (compared to my 4 hours 37 minutes) and Ben Fouhy, competing in a relay team, took 4 hours 3 minutes for the kayak (compared to my 5 hours 55!).
As for Jonathan and Georgie (see Diary of a Multisport Newbie), Jonathan smashed the Longest Day in 13 hours 21 minutes, coming 19th overall, and Georgie had a fantastic kayak besting me by 16 minutes.
My key lessons from the race are:
- Getting in the front group on the first bike leg would have made a big difference to my time without spending much more energy. Perhaps it’s worth wearing the trail shoes and riding with toe clips.
- I spent too long eating and drinking after the kayak transition. There was time to eat on the bike and I finished the race with one full water bottle.
- Finally, I need to get better at kayaking. Although my 4 spills only cost me about 8 minutes in total I lost time taking chicken lines. Had I stayed with Hamish on the kayak I probably would have won my age category. In the second half of the kayak where I didn’t fall in, Hamish took 7 minutes out of me and Georgie and I took the same time even though I am a stronger paddler. It says on the website for the Waimak Classic River Race that there are 28+ bluff turns and 30+ rapids on the river. If I could make up 10 seconds by taking the faster and more burly line on each of those, that’s 10 minutes over the course of the kayak leg.
As a final point I was glad to have the support, encouragement and advice of Team CP. The whole crew were great but in particular I’d like to thank Sandra (for being the chief organiser), Eddie (responsible for the Two Day competitors), Leighton (for the driving and pertinent advice) and Richard for leading the whole show and finishing an inspirational third in the Two Day Individual competition.
The times and breakdowns for each of the sections are below. I spent around 20 minutes in transitions, with over half of that in the final kayak to bike one.
- Run 1 (Kumara Beach to Transition): 2.2km, 9 minutes.
- Bike 1 (to Aickens Corner): 55km, 1 hour 37 minutes.
- Transitions (Run to Bike and Bike to Run): 4 minutes.
- Run 2 (Goat Pass to Klondyke Corner): 31km, 4 hours 37 minutes.
- Bike 2 (to Mt White Road): 16km, 27 minutes.
- Run 3 (to Transition): 1.1km, 6 minutes.
- Transition (Run to Kayak): 5 minutes.
- Kayak (to Gorge Bridge): 72km, 5 hours 50 minutes.
- Transition (Kayak to Bike): 11 minutes.
- Bike 3 (to New Brighton, Christchurch): 70km, 2 hours 4 minutes.
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