Both Cox and Baldwin had good paddles down a very shallow Waimakariri after a hot summer, which gave them the momentum to face the Canterbury breeze on the gut-busting final bike leg into the city.
"By all accounts I got the quickest paddle time in the classic division," Baldwin said yesterday. "I was third coming out of the water. Head wind the whole way on the bike, and the river was really shallow. But all in all, it was really good to see my support crew [at the finish line].
"They were bloody awesome, couldn't have done it without them."
Baldwin and his Wanganui Veterinary Services crew mates Dave Barton and Tom Dinwiddie suffered disappointment in 2014 when entering the 243km one-day event, reaching the river just after the official cut-off time to continue.
This time around, Baldwin crossed the line in 16h 5m 40s, around 2h 17m behind the classic winner, Adam Fairmaid.
Baldwin said he is likely to enter his seventh Coast to Coast race in another two years, when he will be in the vintage (60+) division.
"I didn't think so last night [Saturday], but, yes."
Cox also had a very strong paddle, climbing up to seventh place overall for the two-day competitors, before finishing in New Brighton in 13h 47m 57s, just under 1h 29m behind the overall winner Hayden Wilde. His fourth place for the veteran division was 45m 30s behind the winner, Peter Olds, who finished third for all categories.
This year there was also a specialist mountain run section, where Whanganui's Ashley Christie would finish 12th overall and 10th in the open grade, completing the traverse in 4h 26m 25s.
