Hannah Lund crossing a river on her way to second place in the Coast to Coast's Longest Day. Photo / Chris Skelton
Hannah Lund crossing a river on her way to second place in the Coast to Coast's Longest Day. Photo / Chris Skelton
“So close but so far.”
That’s how former Dannevirke woman Hannah Lund summed up placing second in the gruelling women’s Kathmandu Coast to Coast Challenge for a second time on Saturday.
Lund, aged 32, finished the Longest Day race in 13h 58s.
The race includes 243km of running, biking andkayaking from the West Coast of the South Island and starts at Kumara Beach.
Athletes are required to make their way across the mountainous spine of the South Island to the finish line at New Brighton Beach in Christchurch.
Lund has completed the challenge a total of six times and also placed second in 2024.
“I thought I would just do one and be done, but unfortunately, I got the bug.”
She said her favourite part was the run, while her least favourite was the kayak.
“I love trail running, mountain running, running is a bit of a loose term, you are literally running up a river bed, over a pass ... most of it is boulders and river.”
Hannah Lund said the challenge rotated between running, biking and kayaking. Photo / Chris Skelton
Lund now lives in Methven, but credits her love for multisport events to the Ākitio Challenge in her childhood.
She said this started at the Dannevirke Rugby Club, with athletes making their way out to Weber and then to Ākitio.
“As a kid, that was my intro into multisport, watching Mum and Dad and Mum and Dad’s friends compete in that, and then getting big enough to take part.
Dannevirke High School acknowledged Lund’s achievement on social media.
“Amazing result from ex-DHS head student Hannah Lund, who placed second in the women’s individual event at the Kathmandu Coast to Coast.
“Well done Hannah, we’re so proud of you.”
Lund, who works as a vet, said her dedication to training meant she only worked a four-day work week before the event, using the extra day to train.
She said she trained for eight months and in the last three months trained 15 to 20 hours a week.
“It’s a nice way to switch off at the end of the day, and go from vet mode to athlete mode.
“The journey is what makes it, it’s really nice having this other goal on the side rather than just career, mortgage and life.”
In preparation for the kayak, Lund said she paddled upstream, rather than down, as done in the challenge.
“It’s a good way to still be on moving water, but get more training done in less time.”
As for future challenges and aiming for first place, Lund said she wasn’t sure just yet.
“We will see, it’s too soon to say.”
Michaela Gower joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2023 and is based out of the Hastings newsroom. She covers Dannevirke and Hawke’s Bay news and loves sharing stories about farming and rural communities.
