Gavin Bonnett tells of the Longest Day event 9th February 2002 - for him a
truly long day!
What is the Coast to Coast?
The Coast to Coast
traverses the South Island of New Zealand from Kumara
Beach on the Tasman Sea to Sumner Beach on the Pacific Ocean. In either two
days or the elite one day event competitors cycle 143kms in three stages,
cross the Southern Alps in a 26km mountain run and kayak 67kms of the grade
two Waimakariri River through the Grand Canyon of New Zealand, the
Waimakariri Gorge.
I often get asked why people attempt the Coast to Coast. It's very simple.
Why wouldn't you want to do it?
The Coast to Coast 2002
The Coast to Coast one-day this year was great! During training and in the
event I have met many people I would never have had the opportunity to meet
if I weren't involved in multi sport.
Build up for the event
My build up for the event started 12 months ago with a running base
followed by my first marathon. Two weeks after the marathon I was in
Europe cycling for a month. On my return home I completed several C grade
cycle races followed by the AMP triathlon. From then the long training
hours started - an average of 22 hours a week over the Christmas break.
Race Day
On race day it was a 3:00am start, carbo-loading with creamed rice, race
registration 5:00am, and the start was 6:00am.
|
On the Deception-Mingha
run section
|
|
River crossing on the
Deception-Mingha section
|
|
Paddling in the Waimakariri Gorge
|
I had a great start. Robin Judkins had made the mistake of catching my eye
with the start horn. I started running, 221 other competitors followed me,
and seconds later the horn was blown. The three km run was easy. I managed
to slot into the first cycle bunch, 65km stage, with the top competitors.
The sunlight flowed through mountains for the run. Normally a remote
feeling, this run turned into a carnival of runners being overseen by a
helicopter. Little groups of runners formed to talk about the day in front
of them and shared experiences. Our route uphill followed the Deception
River. Goat Pass is a welcome sight as the rest of the run beside the
Mingha River is all down hill and remote, with runners spread out as
abilities through tiredness and strength alter running speed. I passed
several runners who had blown or had injuries. It is really a fine balance
running a 26km two-day tramp in under four hours.
Family and friends welcomed me at the finish of the run. A short 18km cycle
to the kayak section gave me time to eat normal food, and the transition to
the kayak went well. As Tony pushed the back of the kayak away from the
bank the feeling of support was broken, for the river is a frightening
place even for the best paddlers. The first section managed to put a hole
in the kayak, and the second section in the fast moving gorge proved hard
due to the exceptional head wind. Kayaks littered the banks - obviously
paddlers from the two day event had given up or were waiting for a jet boat
that patrolled the 67km paddle section.
The end of the paddle, with the pain from sitting for four hours together
with no blood circulation, puts on a great show for the supporters. I
thought I was in good shape, but the video later confirmed why friends were
concerned.
Ten minutes later I was on the bike, the last section 70km, I was going
well at 40km/h, but slowly the speed went down, as the side wind became a
direct head wind of 35km/h. Drinking complex carbohydrates did not live up
to their reputation and bring life to my body. My last Powerbar was given,
number fourteen, and was enough to see me through the low. The last gusty
portion of wind on the Causeway leading into Sumner, made a welcoming
finish to the Longest Day.
I had already competed three times in the team event, and then as a solo
competitor over two days. This was my first entry in the Longest Day
event, undoubtedly the most taxing. I found the experience interesting as
a psychological as well as a physiological test. It is necessary to
overcome the built in barrier against travelling that distance in one
day.
Competitors have to find ways to get under the anaerobic threshold - the
point when the body ceases to supply energy and your muscles start
producing more lactic acid than they can eliminate. To help to achieve
that I followed the example of many of the serious competitors and wore a
heart rate monitor on my wrist with a strap around my chest. This meant
that I could determine how many heartbeats there were in each minute. The
aim is to notice when the body is heading towards shutting down and being
unable to sustain the needed energy levels and lactic acid build-up. By
slowing down you give the body the chance to take in the fuels necessary
for the situation and remove lactic acid. Everyone is different and each
person has to understand his/her own body. The race taught me a lot about
how much my body could take before crossing the anaerobic threshold.
Results and times from the 222 Competitors in the race are on the Coast to Coast website.
Below are the times and placings for comparison between the No.1 Steve
Gurney and me.
| Name |
O/all Place |
Comp # |
First Run Cycle |
Mountain Run Cycle |
Kayak |
Final Cycle |
Overall Time |
| Steve Gurney |
1 |
171 |
01:57:54 |
02:59:28 |
04:41:34 |
02:14:12 |
11:53:08 |
| Gavin Bonnett |
56 |
120 |
02:00:46 |
04:18:17 |
05:25:34 |
02:42:07 |
14:26:44 |
Gavin is happy to be contacted by anyone wanting further information.
Put your email address in the Backchat and Gavin will reply.
