Scenic sights and hard competition

ALL DONE: M2C race director Mark Stoneman (left) with first finishers Bruce Baldwin, Ashley Christie and Josh Payne at Castlecliff Beach on Saturday.PHOTO/SUPPLIED

THERE WERE 75 multisporters getting in a Sunday of relaxation after completing a hard 215km from the slopes of Ohakune to Castlecliff Beach on Saturday afternoon.

The second Mountains to Sea (M2C) challenge was back up to the original numbers which entered the inaugural race in 2014. However, the event was still short of the goal of 100 entries which Wanganui Events Trust has pitched the event at in order to be viable.

Based on the original race from the 1990s, the trust shortened the length from 270km and changed the format from three days to two after they cancelled the 2015 M2C due to low entry numbers. Most of this year's attendees took part in two to five-person teams, rather than as individuals.

Stage 1 started early on Friday with the 18.5km run from Turoa down into Ohakune, which was followed by a 32km mountain bike through Department of Conservation territory out to Ruatiti Rd where there was a transition to road biking the remaining 62km to Pipiriki. Saturday saw another early rise for a 45km kayak to Atene, where competitors transitioned into the 14km trail run through the Atene Skyline.

From there, it was a 34km cycle into Whanganui, followed by running the last 9km to Castlecliff Beach.

It was Whanganui's experienced competitors from the South Island's Coast to Coast in the form of the Christie Contracting team who were first finishers in 12hr 31m 51s.

Veteran Bruce Baldwin helped mentor his son-in-law Ashley Christie and friend Josh Payne for entering the Coast to Coast back in 2014, while Baldwin and Christie also formed a two-person team for the M2C that year.

Of the individuals, the winner was Rick Palmer in 14h 40m 2s, who was followed home just over an hour later by Lower Hutt's Dave Dellabarca.

The two-person winning team was Team Jandals Extreme (13h 25m 47s), followed by Team Pawson 30 minutes later. Chasing the winning Christie Contracting team home in the three-person grade were Lower Hutt's Team A2b and Palmerston North's Active Plus Physiotherapy.

The Whanganui women's team of Chicks with Kicks (Amie Simpson, Beverley Foster and Kylie Gibson), who had won the free scenic flight from the prize draw of early entrants, completed their race in 15h 33m 34s. The four-person team race was won by Team Cobra Worldwide (13h 19m), with second place and first women's group being Team Kia Wharite (14h 21m 21s). Team Winging It was the five-person group and they finished in 13h 26m 10s.

Wanganui Events Trust event administrator Katarina Wade said all the competitors had a fantastic time. "Special thanks to Jasmine Hessell from DOC for creating a spectacular finish line for M2C competitors to cross, and also to Clive Ward from Wanganui Sound for providing the music and sound at Castlecliff Beach."