Gisborne contingent tackles Coast to Coast multisport challenge

Connor Shivnan (left) and his father Sean meet Coast to Coast founder Robin Judkins after their crossing of the South Island from west to east on Friday and Saturday last week. They are holding the racing top they passed to each other in transitions, and are wearing personalised cycling tops organised by Connor in Christchurch and given to Sean as a Christmas gift.

• Gisborne athletes participated in the Coast to Coast race, with strong performances in various categories.
• Sean and Connor Shivnan emphasised completion over competition, finishing as a family team.
• Gisborne athletes also competed in Southland’s MAGNIficent Adventure Race, testing endurance and navigation skills.

A strong Gisborne contingent tackled the Coast to Coast multisport endurance race at the weekend, some of them in the longest-day version.

Karl Macpherson, Sam Gemmell, James Gaddum and Greta Porter contested the individual one-day event, while Hayley Anderson and Michele Frey tackled the two-day race. Christchurch structural engineer Emily St John, who grew up in Gisborne, also completed the two-day event.

In the teams' divisions, father and son Sean and Connor Shivnan aimed for “completion not competition”. Paul Gemmell and brothers Tim and Andrew Gardner made their Coast to Coast debut as a team, while the Hansen brothers, formerly of Gisborne, formed a trio. Willie Hansen, related to both the Gardners and the Hansens, paired with a Taranaki mate for the two-day two-man race. The East Coast Cowboys competed as a three-person mixed team.

Macpherson, a Ruakituri farmer, placed 49th out of 222 finishers to complete the longest-day version of the 243km run/cycle/kayak race across the South Island. His time of 13 hours 54 minutes ranked him 44th male and 20th in the open 18-39 male division.

Sam Gemmell finished in 15h 31m 55s, placing 141st overall and 64th in his division.

Gaddum, now living in Melbourne and working in IT, tackled his first Coast to Coast as a longest-day effort, finishing 207th in 16h 44m 34s.

Porter was 182nd overall, 14th in her division, and 29th female with a time of 16h 16m 34s. Another open 18-39 female athlete, Anna Robertson, is listed as being in 183rd place.

In the two-day race, Anderson finished in 16h 46m 30s, placing seventh of 16 veteran women, 44th of 93 women, and 151st of 317 overall. Frey (18h 16m 28s) was the 12th veteran woman, 67th woman, and 229th overall. St John (16h 41m 51s) was 21st open 18-39 woman and 40th woman overall.

For Sean Shivnan, 62, this was his first Coast to Coast. His son Connor, a Certified Practising Accountant (CPA) and a lawyer with Deloitte in Christchurch, had hoped to contest the longest-day event again after finishing 47th last year in 13h 16m 58s but didn’t make it past the ballot stage. As a backup, he’d also applied for a team entry and called his father last May to join him.

“Shivvy & Son” finished 28th 14h 46m 26s, ranking 10th family team. Family teams are nothing new for Sean, who, in 1971 at age 8, completed a 20-mile charity walk with his father Brian and brothers Brendan and Eugene.

Sean Shivnan tackled the opening 3km run and 55km cycle legs, and Connor completed the 33km mountain run to Klondyke Corner, where they camped overnight.

On day two, Sean did the 15km cycle, 1500m run and 67km Waimakariri River kayak leg, and Connor rode the final cycle leg of just under 70km. Sean’s wife, Fiona, and Connor’s girlfriend, Amy Rice, were their support crew.

“I’d said to Connor, ‘It’s completion, not competition’,” Sean Shivnan said.

“The plan was to complete the course and feel good at the end, then reward ourselves with a beer at the finish line. That’s what we did, and we got to meet (race founder) Robin Judkins.”

“East Coast Cowboys” Paddy Allen, now in Masterton, Selwyn August and Claire Bayliss finished second in the open mixed category and were the fourth mixed three-person team overall, in a time of 13h 51m 17s.

Simon, Matt, and Chris Hansen, competing as Team Cloudyards, finished in 13h 36m 33s, placing eighth among three-person teams and seventh among male teams.

Former Gisborne athlete Willie Hansen, now based in Taranaki, and Eli Smith, competing in the male veteran teams’ division as The Purple Goannas, finished 44th of 107 two-person teams, 11th in the veteran male category, and 23rd among male pairs in 15h 31m 10s.

Paul Gemmell, Tim, and Andrew Gardner formed Fat Boy Slim, finishing 62nd among three-person teams, 18th in their division, and 30th among male teams.

After knee surgery in late 2023, Tim Gardner fixed his sights on the Lake Taupō Cycle Challenge last November as a spur to regain his fitness.

“I was training for that, and a couple of mates put an entry into the Coast to Coast, and I jumped on the back of that,” he said.

Gardner, a Gisborne livestock agent, raced alongside Paul, a builder in Hawke’s Bay, and his younger brother Andrew. Tim completed the 55km cycle on day one and two cycle legs on day two (15km and 70km).

The knee injury that started it all occurred when Tim, a former Poverty Bay representative rugby player, jumped to head the ball while playing football for Ngatapa Silkies and landed awkwardly, tearing a bursa and damaging cartilage. The operation “cleaned it out”.

He doesn’t plan on returning to the football pitch any time soon. This year, he is helping Sione Ngatu with the coaching of the Ngatapa premier rugby team.

Gisborne athletes also competed in Southland’s inaugural MAGNIficent Adventure Race, an Adventure Racing World Series qualifier running from January 22 to February 2.

The 460km course, limited to 50 teams, tested participants across seven days of non-stop expedition racing that included trekking, mountain biking, pack rafting and navigation.

New Zealand team Sardine Racing won in 101h 45m. Gisborne’s Kelly Woods finished eighth with the NZ Packraft team, while other locals formed their own teams.

Gissy Gully Runners (20th) were George Williams, Pete Blake, Guy Thompson and Caroline Maclaurin.

Also taking part were Gizzy Gold, who comprised Amy Spence, Nicki Davies and Jamie Foxley.

Spence likened the event to the Godzone Adventure Race, an eight-day teams multisport event last held in 2023.

Pure Adventure Charitable Trust, led by former All Black captain Richie McCaw, last week announced its intention to have the Godzone race back in the next 12 months.