Multisport: Camaraderie as bitter cold adds bite to gruelling Coast to Coast

Tauranga's Dwarne Farley heads up the Otira Viaduct during the 31km run leg of the 2010 Coast to Coast. Photo / APN

New Zealand's famed multisport event, the Coast to Coast, is more than two months away and a group of 14 like-minded athletes are getting ready their own way.

Last weekend they staged their own three-day endurance event of multisport covering 445km across the central North Island, and their mettle was further tested by inclement weather.

It was the fourth running of the event that they call the Sea to Sea, which is more social than competitive and "a great adventure for all who are up for it".

The Sea to Sea, which you can attempt as a team or individual, begins at Urenui in North Taranaki to the Clive Estuary between Napier and Hastings, taking in some of the best scenery the North Island has to offer.

It is a hard enough distance to complete when the weather is fine but the cold conditions last weekend made it a war of attrition.

"We had to battle with some terrible weather conditions on Sunday and Monday [days two and three of the event], the worst we have ever had," said event organiser Craig Cook.

Cook said the temperatures were about 5C but riding at more than 1000m altitude, soaked to the skin and going downhill at 40km/h, the wind chill factor made it much colder.

"This is not a race or an official event; just a bunch of like-minded people going out and having what we call fun."

Roger Nightingale completed the whole course as an individual and Tim Jardine battled to the finish.

Alison Russel and her daughter, Tui, worked as a team last year and last weekend Alison attempted the event as an individual.

"I was feeling pretty nervous ahead of doing it solo," said the 54 year old, who won a bronze medal in her age group at the Coast to Coast this year.

"But the best thing about this event is it is an event not a race and there is no pressure to perform, so you can really just go out and enjoy it."

It wasn't so enjoyable for Alison, who was forced to miss a couple of stages because of becoming almost hypothermic at Taihape Rd, the top of the Napier.

But come rain or shine it is the mates you make along the way that makes the Sea to Sea so enjoyable.

"At the start of the three days you don't even know many of the guys, but by the end of it you are pretty tight," says Cook.

"It is that camaraderie that makes this a special time."

"Everyone is pretty social; we enjoy a few beers during the night and then the next morning we get back into it."

John Reumer, who completed the individual in 2008 and last year, alongside Gus Berghan, did not compete last weekend because of an injury to the sciatic nerve in his back.

"I was gutted to miss it," said Reumer, 51. "Out of all the events I have done, the Sea to Sea is the most enjoyable.

"It is an exercise in self challenge, really, and when you finish it is a great achievement to think you have crossed the country."

In the interests of safety, the group of 14 athletes and support crew meet up at the end of every stage. Safety is an even more pressing concern in the cold snap.

The athletes bypassed the Ruapehu run due to shocking weather on Sunday and cycled from National park to Waiouru to link up with the normal course.