Cole-Baker ready for Coast to Coast

Bruce Cole-Baker is gearing up for the Kathmandu Coast to Coast, which takes place in Greymouth next weekend. Photo/John Stone

Northland's Bruce Cole-Baker has been training hard and it is about to pay off when he races the Kathmandu Coast to Coast.

The ranger has been hard at work preparing for one of the toughest events New Zealand has to offer, traversing 243km and combining the disciplines of running, cycling and kayaking.

Cole-Baker said he was reaching the final stages of his preparations for the iconic event.

"Preparations have been going really well. Now I'm well into the training taper and practising the race day details. There's still a lot of gear to check over and check again," he said.

"Living in Northland means you're a long way from the rivers which means the paddle is hard to prepare for."

"Training has involved some big weeks over the last four months, and my work as a ranger for the Bream Head Conservation Trust and DOC have put some extra miles in the legs."

Cole-Baker is an accomplished athlete, taking out the inaugural Wild Kiwi event in April 2016.

Having the local knowledge of the area really aided his performance in what is essentially a Coast to Coast style event on a smaller scale.

Cole-Baker said he needed to make sure he had a great time in his run.

"My race day goal is to get off the run without giving away too much time to the lead and try not to lose too much time in the paddle, which has been the toughest to train," he said.

Cole-Baker is competing in the one-day event, which adds another layer of difficulty. On top of that, there are other high-quality athletes.

The Northlander said the depth of the division was one of the toughest the event has seen.

"It's shaping up to be the most competitive one-day race in years. Having Braden Currie and Courtney Alexander of Team Red Bull, plus defending champion Sam Clark and a strong international field there will make this a real challenge for me," Cole-Baker said.

Cole-Baker is heading down to Greymouth on Tuesday, but the Coast to Coast is one on a list of multisport events he is competing in.

"I will follow up the Coast to Coast with a couple of great local events, the Avoca Kai Iwi triathlon in February and the Wild Kiwi multisport race in April."