Ultra-endurance races in N.Z.

[srl...@grv.grace.cri.nz]

Yeah there are quit a few of these adventure type
multi-sports events in New Zealand, the most famous
being the 'Coast to Coast' which only takes 12 hours
or so for the winners. It includes biking, mountain
running and kayaking. These "multisport" events as
they are known are very popular in NZ which has a
particularly rugged landscape. Another big one is
the Southern Traverse which covers the most rugged
part of the South Island and involves climbing, running
mtbing kayaking/or rafting and some of them I think use
horses. These are team events (everyone does everthing)
and can last up to 5 days. I think they are all
mixed sex. The biggest individual one was in 1990, called
the Xerox Challenge. It went the length of NZ, from Cape
Reinga to Bluff. Running, Cycling, MTBing and Kayaking
in about 22 days and covering the two main islands
(I think about 1600kms tip to tip). The idea was to kayak
between the Islands but the weather got too rough so they
had go via the Cook strait ferry.
They stopped at the end of every day to rest and recover
and probably averaged between 10-14 hours a day. Incredibly
most of the athletes got fitter as the event went on and
in each of the four main cities there was another tri
open to allcomers. None of the outsiders got close to beating
the guys who were doing the whole race and they were fresh.
The winner was a guy called Steve Gurney and a woman called
Kathy Lynch made the top ten. She has represented NZ in the
MTB and Cycling Worlds and also in canoeing (I think).
And if you think Ive been raving up til now. Kathy came third
in the World Vets women MTB champs last year when her seat fell
off its rails after the first lap!
The good news is that there is a rumour that the Xerox challenge
is on again this November.

Jeff Lyall
Lower Hutt
New Zealand