Ruakituri farmer Karl Macpherson on the Waimakariri River during the Coast to Coast.
Hardly a day goes by without Karl Macpherson thinking of his brother Damien.
And on one day of the year he picks up a rock from Kumara Beach on the West Coast, carries it across the South Island and throws it into the sea at New Brighton Beach, Christchurch.
It’s a tribute, and a symbol for Karl that for him the challenge and exhilaration of the Coast to Coast race are in memory of Damien, who died at sea with two friends in June 2024.
Karl Macpherson, 33, is a Ruakituri farmer who finished 12th out of 197 finishers in this month’s Coast to Coast Longest Day and third in the open 18-39 male division.
It was only his second attempt at the 243km race and his time of 12h 22m 14s was more than an hour and a half better than last year. Then, he was 49th out of 222 Longest Day finishers, 44th male and 20th in the open 18-39 male division. His 2025 time was 13h 54m.
“The river was lower last year,” Macpherson said.
“Even the elite guys were 20 minutes to half an hour slower last year because the river was low.”
But he also improved his kayaking skills under the guidance of his coach, two-time Longest Day winner and 2024 America’s Cup New Zealand cyclor Dougal Allan.
Even so, Macpherson’s transition from Poverty Bay representative rugby player to keen runner to driven endurance athlete had its uncertain moments.
“I’d signed up for the 2025 Coast to Coast Longest Day but I had my doubts about whether I was up to it,” Macpherson said.
“Then my brother Damien was lost at sea in June 2024, and that kicked my ‘a’ into ‘g’. I thought, ‘I’ll be doing this for him’. That was how it was for the first and for this one. Every time I cross over, I take a rock from one side to the other and chuck it into the sea.”
For much of the time since he left Gisborne Boys’ High School, his interests had been rugby and farming. He had his last season of rugby, playing on either wing for Ngātapa, in 2017. Then it was travel to Southeast Asia and back to the family farm – 1400ha of rolling to steep country carrying sheep and cattle.
“Mum and Dad moved into town three or four years ago and I manage the farm for the family,” Macpherson said.
“It’s just me, a shepherd, a fencer and the odd casual worker.”
On leaving school, he’d qualified as an electrician and that experience comes in handy.
In 2022, he married Bianca Destounis and she encouraged him to keep active.
Running was his core skill. He entered the Goat Pass 32km section of the Coast to Coast and the day before the big race was recruited for a team ... “a few guys from the Tiniroto area”.
Bianca planted the seed of an idea: “If we are going all the way down there, why not look at doing it yourself in future.”
“I watched people crossing the finish line for the 2023 race,” Macpherson said.
“I thought I’d never be able to do this, the logistics of getting all the gear down there, buying it in the first place ... now I’m doing it.
“I borrowed gear off a few Gisborne multisporters who had done the Motu Challenge and Coast to Coast. I borrowed a kayak off Amy Spence [it has since gone to Gordon McPhail]. Actually, it was being left at her place, and I picked up the wrong one.
“And Henry Gaddum gave me the bike he had ridden in the Coast to Coast the previous year to use in my first shot at it.
“Bianca has been a big part of helping me get into this. She’s in the support crew and I wouldn’t be doing it if it wasn’t for her. And she’s just done her first ultra marathon, a 50km race in Nelson.
“I’d done half-marathons. I didn’t own a kayak. Now I own two kayaks and three bikes. Actually I have four bikes but one of them is for indoor training and sits in the lounge.”
The others are road, mountain and gravel bikes.
Macpherson praised the generosity of the sporting community in Gisborne. Poverty Bay Kayak Club coach Kim Hedley and members had been generous with their help, as had the Gisborne Cycling Club.
“It has opened up a whole new world.”
Macpherson’s coach for his first Coast to Coast, in 2025, was this year’s Longest Day runner-up, former Wairoa athlete Sam Manson.
“I knew a little bit about Sam. The fella that cleans our sheep used to go to school with him. I was on a generic plan.”
It got him through his first Coast to Coast in good shape. Then he heard about Wānaka-based Dougal Allan: 10 Coast to Coast starts, 10 finishes, two of them wins.
“He chooses which athletes he coaches,” Macpherson said.
“I said I wanted to work on my kayak, so I could go down the rapids without getting bucked out. And I upgraded some of my gear.”
In this year’s race, Macpherson thought he should have done better in the first big run, coming off the bikes into 30.5km of mainly off-trail country.
“I started cramping a little in my quads and hammies [quadriceps and hamstrings] and I thought it would be a longer day than I’d thought. But after the 15km bike ride I felt better than expected and had my strongest leg in the kayak [70km on the Waimakariri River].
“On the last [70km bike] leg, I was getting a bit fatigued. Coming into town, through suburbia, it was around dinnertime. I smelled the food from barbecues and was getting hungry. I’d been living off liquids and gels since the start of the race.”
He is already thinking about next year’s race, but hasn’t settled on his exact build-up. The Porirua Grand Traverse on April 12 is a possibility, as are some multisport races “to keep everything ticking over”.
Until then, a rock is waiting on Kumara Beach for its free ride to the other coast.
Gisborne district athletes again trekked to the South Island in significant numbers to take part in the Coast to Coast Longest Day or two-day events.
Ruakituri farmer Karl Macpherson was 12th finisher out of 197 to finish the Longest Day and third in the open 18-39 male division.
His time was 12h 22m 14s. That’s over an hour and a half better than last year, when he was 49th out of 222 Longest Day finishers, 44th male and 20th in the open 18-39 male division, and his time was 13h 54m.
Sam Gemmell improved significantly on his time for last year, covering the distance in 14h 33m 16s. He was 47th open 18-39 male, 78th male and 91st overall. Last year he took almost an hour longer, completing the course in 15h 31m 55s and finishing 141st overall.
Former Wairoa athlete Sam Manson, now based in Christchurch, finished second in the Longest Day in a time of 11h 29m 54m, just under 20 minutes behind winner Hamish Elliott.
Manson last competed in 2024 before taking a year off and being part of the event media crew last year.
He first tackled the Longest Day in 2013, finishing ninth overall, and has consistently finished in the top 10.
Standout performances included runner-up finishes in 2019 and 2021 against Dougal Allan before he won the Longest Day in 2023 in his 11th attempt.
In the two-man division of the two-day event, Hadley Charteris and Marty Bayley (Ze Skyrockets) were 16th of 87 two-person teams overall, placing them second veteran team and eighth male team in the division.
Charteris farms sheep and cattle at Makeretu and was a last-moment ring-in after Bayley’s original partner was injured in a training crash.
Their race time was a creditable 13h 08m 36s.
Among the three-person teams were a trio of Gisborne entries.
Sophie Land, Phill Claffey and Rhys Williams (Storm Troopers) were 42nd of 138 overall in that category, which placed them fourth of 22 in open teams and 11th of 65 in the mixed teams. Their time of 13h 02m 05s was the fastest of these Gisborne crews.
George Williams, Jack Castle and Dan Mark (Fat Boy Slim) were 121st of the138 three-person teams, 24th veteran team and 59th of 61 male teams. Their time was 15h 35m 16s.
The third local three-person team raced in the new one-day three-person team division. Simon, Richard and Marcus Bousfield (Chicken Sandwich) were 33rd in the three-person teams, which put them 19th of 28 male teams. Their time was 14h 27m 41s.
In the individual field of the two-day event, Tim Gardner was 134th of 299 two-day individuals, placing him 20th of 52 in the veteran division and 100th of 208 men. His time was 14h 38m 57s.
In the two-day veteran 40 to 49 division, Gordon McPhail was sixth in 13h 21m 26s, and Steve Webb was 22nd in 14h 45m 52s.