To Motu and back ... in 24 hours

KEEN: Chris Townley has accomplished a multisport feat, completing the Motu Challenge twice. PHOTO/ANDREW WARNER A - 150611AW8

It has been a week of recovery for Chris Townley, who conquered the Motu Challenge twice in 24 hours.

The Motu Challenge is one of the toughest multisport events in New Zealand, with the winner from last weekend's event finishing in a time of 7h 7m 30s.

Rotorua multisport athlete Townley set out last Friday evening to go around the Opotiki course twice, totalling 344km.

He said completing the challenge was a good feeling, especially after falling short in 2011. "It feels quite good. It was a fair bit of relief," he said. "I didn't really want to go back and try a third time."

He said the first lap took him about 13 hours and the second lap, in better conditions, took him about 10-and-a-half hours.

"From what I heard, it was bad weather here [in Rotorua] but it was even worse over there. The toughest part was probably biking 60-odd km into a headwind during the first lap."

Townley planned to finish his first lap in time to join the start line for the official race on Saturday morning. He made it with 40 minutes to spare.

"I got back to the van and had 40 minutes of sleep, which was good."

He said to his knowledge he was the only person to attempt the feat in the 20-year history of the event.

The Motu Challenge included a 65km mountain bike, 17km run, 52km road cycle, 27km kayak, 8km road cycle and 3km run to the finish. The official men's race was won by Richard Ussher and the women's race by wife Elina Ussher.

Townley said his next big adventure would be a 24-hour race in Rotorua later this year.