This year I finally made the trip up to Kaiteriteri for the Kaiteriteri Beach Adventure Race (KBAR) which doubles as the national multisport champs. KBAR is a well organised series of races over 2 days with multisport racing, a duathlon, a mountain bike race and a surf ski race to finish the weekend. The first event I raced in was the National Multisport Champs.
I went into the event fairly confident I would have a good race after the training I had put in for the Coast to Coast and having a relative strength in mountain biking which was a major discipline in this event. The first run was a 2.5km sprint around an estuary and over a small hill with around a 100m of vertical climbing, followed by a relatively technical descent to the beach.
After the descent it was then into the 8km kayak leg, 2x 4km laps of Kaiteriteri Beach to Ngaio Island. I had decided before the event I would use a surf ski as it would save me time in the transitions as I wouldn't have to use a spray deck or a PFD. Unfortunately I thought my kayaking ability was better than it actually is, with Richard Ussher arranging a Flow Kayaks Sharp ski for me to use. Although the day had resulted in a relatively calm sea I still found the swells pretty big for my ability and I wasn't able to paddle very strongly. It was frustrating for me to be passed by so many people in a section that I thought would have gone well for me. Atleast it reinforced the theory of don't try anything new on race day!
I couldn't wait to get off the ski and jump on my mountain bike. The mountain bike course was based in the Kaiteriteri Mountain Bike Park, a really fun 20km loop with plenty of switchbacks and fast descents to keep you smiling the entire way. During the climb to the top of the course I managed to catch a lot of people but didn't manage to gain anytime on the leaders. A fast descent followed with plenty of loose drifty corners and flowing single track back to the centre of town. Coming into the transition, several people were just leaving on to the next section, a 5km run made up of 2 laps of the initial run loop. This was a good sign for me as it meant I had gained a lot of time during the ride and had positioned myself back in the race, albeit further back than I had initially hoped I would be.
I quickly set in to a good pace on the run and started pulling in the people in front of me. I finished the first lap strongly and had just settled into the second lap when I had a medical issue. Fairly concerning as in 50m I went from running strongly to barely able to walk and breath, I still managed to finish though despite my dad telling me to stop. I wasnt giving up that close to the finish! In the end I finished 12th overall but 1st in my age group which meant I can now call myself the national multisport champ for my age group, 18-19 year olds.
Thanks to Richard for arranging a ski for me, Nathan for organising a great race and my dad for supporting me over the weekend.
I went into the event fairly confident I would have a good race after the training I had put in for the Coast to Coast and having a relative strength in mountain biking which was a major discipline in this event. The first run was a 2.5km sprint around an estuary and over a small hill with around a 100m of vertical climbing, followed by a relatively technical descent to the beach.
After the descent it was then into the 8km kayak leg, 2x 4km laps of Kaiteriteri Beach to Ngaio Island. I had decided before the event I would use a surf ski as it would save me time in the transitions as I wouldn't have to use a spray deck or a PFD. Unfortunately I thought my kayaking ability was better than it actually is, with Richard Ussher arranging a Flow Kayaks Sharp ski for me to use. Although the day had resulted in a relatively calm sea I still found the swells pretty big for my ability and I wasn't able to paddle very strongly. It was frustrating for me to be passed by so many people in a section that I thought would have gone well for me. Atleast it reinforced the theory of don't try anything new on race day!
I couldn't wait to get off the ski and jump on my mountain bike. The mountain bike course was based in the Kaiteriteri Mountain Bike Park, a really fun 20km loop with plenty of switchbacks and fast descents to keep you smiling the entire way. During the climb to the top of the course I managed to catch a lot of people but didn't manage to gain anytime on the leaders. A fast descent followed with plenty of loose drifty corners and flowing single track back to the centre of town. Coming into the transition, several people were just leaving on to the next section, a 5km run made up of 2 laps of the initial run loop. This was a good sign for me as it meant I had gained a lot of time during the ride and had positioned myself back in the race, albeit further back than I had initially hoped I would be.
I quickly set in to a good pace on the run and started pulling in the people in front of me. I finished the first lap strongly and had just settled into the second lap when I had a medical issue. Fairly concerning as in 50m I went from running strongly to barely able to walk and breath, I still managed to finish though despite my dad telling me to stop. I wasnt giving up that close to the finish! In the end I finished 12th overall but 1st in my age group which meant I can now call myself the national multisport champ for my age group, 18-19 year olds.
Thanks to Richard for arranging a ski for me, Nathan for organising a great race and my dad for supporting me over the weekend.
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