Western Bay athletes performed with distinction at the Coast to Coast endurance event held on the South Island's West Coast last weekend.
Over recent years a growing number of multisporters have chosen the Western Bay as their home with easy access to trails for running, hills for cycling and rivers for kayaking to prepare for events like the world-famous Coast to Coast.
The gruelling South Island event is New Zealand's iconic multisport race. It's a race that's known to challenge, if not break all competitors who come before it. Anyone who crosses the finishing line can consider themselves a true champion no matter how long it takes them.
Starting on the beach near the tiny West Coast settlement of Kumara, the race consists of multiple stages that cross the Southern Alps before finishing 243km later on the beach in New Brighton, Christchurch. Done as either a one or two-day option, the course consists of a 2.2km run, 55km cycle, 30km mountain run, 15km road cycle, 70km whitewater kayak, and finishes with a 70km road cycle.
The best one-day athletes do all this in around 11 hours while many amateurs take around 20 hours spaced out over two days.