Club's athletes set to go 3D

BIG CONTINGENT: Aaron Cox and Sapare Simon will be among 30 of their Whanganui Multisport Club members taking part in the 3D Rotorua Multisport Festival on Sunday.PHOTOS/JONO GRIBBLE 25052015WCSUPSAPARE, 25052015WCSUPAARON1

More than 30 members of the Whanganui Multisport Club will head to Rotorua for this year's 3D multisport event on Sunday.

Club spokeswoman Amie Simpson said the racing, to be held at Lake Tikitapu, aka Blue Lake, and the surrounding hills, had 10 options for individuals and teams, being a mix of running, kayaking, duathlon and full multisport.

"The Wanganui team will be well represented, with a wide variety of ages taking part, ranging from six to 50 plus."

It is the fifth year of the festival.

Many of the club members used the previous weekend's Ron Bisset Memorial multisport and duathlon races as a warm-up for Rotorua.

Aaron Cox was first overall for the multisport race in 1h 23m 26s, while teenager Sapere Simon was the first female home in 1h 45m 26s.

"Both Cox and Simon will be hoping to build on their performance of the Ron Bisset Memorial event, with kayaking being the strength of both athletes," said club member Lisa Chase.

"Simon is a 16-year-old paddler of the future for our club, with a fantastic attitude to sport, and trains hard."

Cox also finished first in the Veteran Men's category of the Wellington Crazyman race this month.

"He is quietly clocking up some solid performances and we are all keen to see how he places against the guns at 3D," said Chase.

"We expect New Zealand's best of [Richard] Ussher and [Braden] Currie-type calibre at 3D."

The multisport race will be a 9km paddle, 30km mountain bike, and 11km run to finish.

As well as the headline race, the mix of events means families can enter, which club member Barry Hurley is doing with daughter Abby.

Chase said the environment for 3D up at the lake was stunning.

"It was, up until this year, where Canoe Racing NZ held [the] kayak nationals.

"As a club, we don't often have the opportunity to travel as such a large group to events other than kayak nationals. So this is great event we have aimed for."

After this weekend, the next big event for the club will be the Whanganui River Challenge on October 31.

Cox, the event's director, said kayak manufacturers will be bringing demonstration craft for people to try out, while there will be a club "dash for cash" and other prizes on offer.