Portage paddlers face pain, pleasure

The portage race in the Marlborough Sounds takes place amid splendid scenery.

Kayak queen has hugely rewarding experience of introducing athletes of all abilities to the Sounds.

Jane Martin and her team have been counting down to next weekend's Marlborough Sounds portage kayak race for some time.

The event manager from Nelson, who has an extensive background in multisport, has been mentoring a group of 14 women in the sport of paddling as they prepare for the event.

The race covers a total of 27km of kayaking and 5km of portaging (two portages) and has paddlers kayaking in two of the separate waterways in the Marlborough Sounds (in three legs) and portaging over an original route taken by early Maori with their waka.

Every Friday morning the women have come together for training sessions on the water and on Sunday mornings they head out for longer paddles.

"Encouraging and motivating has been the main key," she said.

Martin knows what she is doing. Over the past 20 years she has competed in most of the multisport events around New Zealand. Kayak-ing has always been her main sport and she was the first individual woman to complete the Crater to Lake multisport event.

She is married to Andrew Martin - a well-regarded kayak maker and world whitewater champion. They have a special connection with this event.

"We hold the portage race record for a mixed double competing in the race," she said proudly. "Andrew has also won the race numerous times and holds the record for the fastest men's doubles."

Jane said it has been a hugely rewarding experience introducing athletes of all abilities to paddling.

"Most of the other women have never done the race before and it will be a challenge for them, especially with the two portages. They are brutal."

She expected the top paddlers would finish in under three hours and the slower paddlers four hours.

Martin said the intermediate paddlers had done well to gain the endurance that they need to finish the race. In total, they have eight women's doubles and one mixed double competing in the race.

"The girls are excited and nervous," she said. "Some are not used to the open waters of the sea and the distance - 25km is a long way in a kayak, it takes a lot of upper-body strength to get through. All of the women apart from Sophie and one other are over the age of 40. We are not spring chickens but we still get out there and push our bodies."

Martin is talking about Sophie Hart, an international adventure world champion in Nathan Fa'avae's team, who she is paddling with.

Martin thinks their main competition in the race will be Lynley Coventry (nee Hannen) who won a bronze medal in the women's coxless pair at the Seoul Olympics, and Suzie Le Cren a former NZ basketball rep.

"[Sophie, Lynley, Suzie and I] train together most sessions and push and push each other."

All of the girls have been training hard - the preparation has been paddling and more paddling. The long sessions have been up to 2.5 hours long and they have practised "carrying the beast of kayaks over hills".

Andrea Koorey, who competed in the portage race 12 times between 1997 and 2008, has been the organiser since 2001.

"It is the only event like it in New Zealand," she said.

Around 50 competitors are expected next weekend for the 26th portage race with more than 20 women among them.

The 10km kayak race from Picton to Torea Bay will also be resurrected this year and a complementary race for waka ama craft to run alongside the Portage Race in Queen Charlotte Sound will also be staged.

"We forgot to celebrate 25 years last year so we're doing so this year," she said.

Koorey believed the combination of the long portaging sections, the use of two different waterways and the beauty of the Marlborough Sounds set it apart.

"It has a sense of adventure yet achievability and the camaraderie of the contestants makes it special," she said.

Martin will be happy when they all finish because she knows it will be challenge. "When you are out there paddling flat out then trying to run up a hill carrying a 25kg double kayak, your legs and lungs are screaming stop, the rest of life seems so easy. They will all say 'never again' and then hopefully turn up next year to improve their times once the pain memory has disappeared."