To complete my racing for the season I decided to head down to Wanaka for the Motatapu Multisport race. This was the second year this event was run, with last year being a test event with only a few selected people invited to race. The race begins with a 15km kayak down the Matukituki River, a 53km mountain bike over a ridge and through the Motatapu bike course and then a 15km run over the Miners Trail run. 46 people lined up to race this year with many top Coast to Coasters (both 1 day and 2 day) and Multisport Legend Steve Gurney.
The 15km kayak started with a hectic mass start on the river with everyone was lined up on the bank waiting in their kayaks for the start. I had a pretty bad start, with several people around me getting a push off the bank in front of me. Because the Matukituki River was fairly shallow and narrow in places it took me awhile to work my way through the field and pass the slower paddlers (my dad included) that had got in front of me at the start. I knew I had a big day ahead of me so I didn't push the kayak too hard and worked myself up to the top 10 by the time I got to the end of the kayak stage. I was pretty pleased to be finishing the kayak with Mitch Munro who had placed 2nd at Coast to Coast in the 2 day event (I was 16th).
After what felt like a very long transition, it was then on to the mountain bike and pushing up the road towards the ridge. I had been told this section joining the river to the main bike course was very rough and was more of a bike carry than rideable terrain. So I was pretty surprised and happy to be able to ride the technical, loose climbs and have fun on the descent to the main bike course. As I joined the bike course, a very fast Braden Currie came flying past on the bike, I attempted to jump on his wheel but after a couple of k's decided he was going too fast for me to be able to maintain and I slowly drifted off the back of his wheel. I spent most of the ride constantly looking over my shoulder expecting either Mitch or another Multisport competitor to come flying past me as I felt very slow along the course. Heading into the transition I was surprised to see Steve Gurney changing into his running gear. After he had disappeared off the front during the kayak with Gavin Mason I didn't expect to see him at all during the race as I knew he was also a good cyclist.
I had a good transition at this point and went in to the run in front of Gurney. I set off at a good pace and started powering up the hill feeling really good. By now the sun had come out and it was starting to get really hot. The heat and the ride before hand had really started to take it out of my legs and I began to struggle as I went over the top of the hill. As soon as the track turned downhill my legs cramped up and I was forced to a walk down the hill. The cramp slowly started to fade and I was able to pick up into a slow jog for the last 4km along the flat and through the last few river crossings. I heard a runner quickly catching up to me and I was disappointed to see Mitch come flying past me when I had just thought I may have actually held him off until the finish. Lesson learnt again, it's not over until it's over.
In the end I finshed 8th in Open Men and 9th Overall in a time of 6:10:29. Although a hard race (around 88km and 2000m of climbing), I think it was my best race yet, with some very fast people finishing just in front of me and the Legend Steve Gurney finishing just behind me. Another bonus was I also beat my Dad again, this time by 43 minutes compared to the 5 minutes at Coast to Coast.
The 15km kayak started with a hectic mass start on the river with everyone was lined up on the bank waiting in their kayaks for the start. I had a pretty bad start, with several people around me getting a push off the bank in front of me. Because the Matukituki River was fairly shallow and narrow in places it took me awhile to work my way through the field and pass the slower paddlers (my dad included) that had got in front of me at the start. I knew I had a big day ahead of me so I didn't push the kayak too hard and worked myself up to the top 10 by the time I got to the end of the kayak stage. I was pretty pleased to be finishing the kayak with Mitch Munro who had placed 2nd at Coast to Coast in the 2 day event (I was 16th).
After what felt like a very long transition, it was then on to the mountain bike and pushing up the road towards the ridge. I had been told this section joining the river to the main bike course was very rough and was more of a bike carry than rideable terrain. So I was pretty surprised and happy to be able to ride the technical, loose climbs and have fun on the descent to the main bike course. As I joined the bike course, a very fast Braden Currie came flying past on the bike, I attempted to jump on his wheel but after a couple of k's decided he was going too fast for me to be able to maintain and I slowly drifted off the back of his wheel. I spent most of the ride constantly looking over my shoulder expecting either Mitch or another Multisport competitor to come flying past me as I felt very slow along the course. Heading into the transition I was surprised to see Steve Gurney changing into his running gear. After he had disappeared off the front during the kayak with Gavin Mason I didn't expect to see him at all during the race as I knew he was also a good cyclist.
I had a good transition at this point and went in to the run in front of Gurney. I set off at a good pace and started powering up the hill feeling really good. By now the sun had come out and it was starting to get really hot. The heat and the ride before hand had really started to take it out of my legs and I began to struggle as I went over the top of the hill. As soon as the track turned downhill my legs cramped up and I was forced to a walk down the hill. The cramp slowly started to fade and I was able to pick up into a slow jog for the last 4km along the flat and through the last few river crossings. I heard a runner quickly catching up to me and I was disappointed to see Mitch come flying past me when I had just thought I may have actually held him off until the finish. Lesson learnt again, it's not over until it's over.
In the end I finshed 8th in Open Men and 9th Overall in a time of 6:10:29. Although a hard race (around 88km and 2000m of climbing), I think it was my best race yet, with some very fast people finishing just in front of me and the Legend Steve Gurney finishing just behind me. Another bonus was I also beat my Dad again, this time by 43 minutes compared to the 5 minutes at Coast to Coast.
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