Manson targeting Motu Challenge

HOPES HIGH: The Motu Challenge is a bike-dominant event, and Wairoa endurance athlete Sam Manson hopes to do well in it again. Pictures by Bruce Belcher

MULTISPORT

by Ryan O’Sullivan, The Wairoa Star

LOCKDOWN has been a time of rest and recovery for Wairoa endurance athlete Sam Manson.

After an agonising second place in the national Coast to Coast 2021 event in February, Manson, son of Peter and Vickie, says he took a long, much-needed break from training.

“Firstly, it was just to rest up and focus on my work as a kayak instructor at Topsport in Christchurch, then to have enforced rest from the start of May.”

Manson says the rest allowed him to have an injury looked at.

“I have had an ongoing injury (a bone spur causing bad inflammation in the Achilles bursa) in my left foot since April 2020 and in May I tried to get it fixed with a corticosteroid injection.”

The injection kept Manson off his feet for a month.

“I then had a very slow and steady rebuild of the surrounding muscles through June and July.”

Manson says that during his recovery, he has not made racing a big priority.

The goal has been to regain his strength and fitness without any mishaps.

“The race I am targeting is the Motu Challenge — a long multisport race that starts and finishes in Opotiki on October 9.

“It’s a challenge that is very bike-dominant, with over half of the event being on a bike.”

Manson won it in 2019.

He will be competing against Coast to Coast 2021 winner Dougal Allan, who also beat Manson in the Motu Challenge last year.

“While I do want to race well there, I am mostly using it as an event to understand where my fitness levels are and to practise nutrition, pacing and transitions,” Manson said.

“It is an excellent way to remind myself what racing is like before beginning my 2022 Coast to Coast training block.”

Manson says the Motu Challenge is one of his favourite events.

“It’s a special place for me as it is close to home and I get to spend time with familiar faces . . . my parents will be my support crew on race day.”

Manson says he has maintained his training during lockdown.

“I have been at my flat in Christchurch doing some good-quality training — cycling on my indoor trainer a lot and running around the block.”

Manson says he was not able to kayak under Alert Level 2, but managed to maintain his fitness through his kayaking school.

His foot injury has not completely healed, but has reached the point where it is not getting worse.

“This time last year I had not done much running as I was unsure if I was making it worse. Now that I know it is not getting worse, I have had a much better running block in the past two months.

“This should mean I’ll be able to run a lot faster in this year’s Motu Challenge than last year’s.

“It should also mean I’ll be less fatigued after the run stage, so I should be stronger on the following bike stages too.”