Local entrants both finish in top ten of divisions

Coast to Coast competitor Bruce Baldwin

Whanganui's competitors in the Coast to Coast both finished in the top 10 of their respective two-day race divisions on Saturday.

Aaron Cox would finish ninth overall for the two-day individual race while coming fourth in the veteran (40-49) grade, while Bruce Baldwin completed his unfinished business from 2014 and came sixth in the classic (50-59) grade.

The two-day event starts on Friday with the 3km run from Kumara Beach up to the bikes for a 55km cycle to the foot of the Goat Pass in the Arthur's Pass national park.

After conquering the 32km run across Doreen Creek and vertical climb over Goat Pass, competitors run a further 55.5km down the valley to the overnight base camp at Klondyke Corner.

Saturday sees an early start for a 15km bike ride to the banks of the Waimakariri River for an approximate 137km kayak race down into Canterbury, followed by the final 120km bike ride into Christchurch and the finish line on the Pier at New Brighton Beach.

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.