Coast-to-Coast Longest day (C2C). The goal was simple – to finish, to travel 243km from the West Coast to the East Coast. Really, I was travelling home by foot, bicycle and kayak. Having done well in the two day it was time to tackle ‘The Longest Day’, which was something I had always had in mind to do.

The team

I had a challenging build up balancing full time work, wedding planning, training and just life. Having raced Red Bull Defiance a couple of weeks before gave me some confidence that I would be able to complete the day. However this meant it was important to recover well between the two events. I have done bigger days, the challenge for me is that C2C is a fast race; you have to work on keeping going at a good pace. It was also different that I would be doing this race as an individual rather than in a team.

Attending race briefing the atmosphere felt somehow different to the two-day race. I started feeling like I had joined the big kids club. We splashed out this year and stayed in some accommodation, which was amazing and made life easy when the alarm went off at 4am, as there were no tents to deal with. I mostly slept well the night before, but woke up in the middle of the night with a sick stomach, was it nerves? I’m not really sure.

I wasn’t sure how I was feeling heading to the start but I knew I was looking forward to getting to my kayak, there was cycle, and a mountain pass to run over first. It was still dark as we stood on the beach ready to go. We headed off on the first 2.2km run, I was pushing hard to get into a good bunch, however this year I wasn’t super quick in my run. I made it to the bike for a reasonable smooth transition. It was raining through the start of the ride but it didn’t really bother me, I’ll ride my bike in most conditions. I managed to get into a bunch, there were a few guys in the first section rotating through at the front but otherwise it didn’t seem to be quite working as many people didn’t want to share the work at the front. The biggest thing I noticed was the ride was less hectic and fewer surges compared to the two day. Everyone wanted to get through the rain without an accident. On the second half I ended up at the front and helping rotating through; but again it seemed there were a lot of people behind us who never did any work at the front.

Off the ride it was onto the run. I had chosen to use clips on the first ride, which meant I had slightly slower transition, as I had to change my shoes. My support team was great and helped shove banana into my mouth. Unfortunately this food did not last long; as about 500m out of the transition I threw up my breakfast. I slowly eased back into running. I wasn’t feeling too bad on the first section, however for most of the run I battled with stomach issues. I still worked on getting nutrition in but in the form of gels. It would take me a long time to take one gel but at least I was managing something. I focused on breaking the run down into smaller segments. When I made it to Doreen Creek, I was 5mins behind the timing I was hoping for but was excited to make it onto the boulder section. This section flew by quickly to Goat Pass Hut, which was nice. A guy worked hard to catch up to me and we enjoyed some good conversation, that was a nice distraction from my stomach.

I was excited to get to the downhill and tried to pick up the pace. I just kept focusing on picking off points, Mingha Bivvy, Dudley’s Knob, the Bealey River and then was running the last section along the rocks; keen to make it to the transition.

There were lots of yells of support as I ran into the transition. My run to bike transition was smooth but not super quick. It felt good to be on the bike. My aim here was to try to get some solid food in. I had a selection of food to choose from in my bike bento box. I thoroughly enjoyed chomping down on some sausage rolls. I managed to get a good amount of food in without upsetting my stomach again. After not long I was heading up the last hill climb to the run/kayak transition. I saw James, racked my bike, changed into my running shoes and slowly jogged down the hill. James helped here and fed me some baby food that went down a treat. A good tip Richard gave me here was its okay to slow down or walk parts of this section to keep my food down. That exactly what happened, I had to walk small sections to make sure I didn’t throw up again.

I was really happy to see my kayak. Again it was a nice smooth transition onto the kayak, my support crew were really nailing it. As asked before the race, James gave me specific directions on the line I needed to take to leave the transition without getting beached. It worked well and I felt like sticking left was the way to go, I managed to successfully get down to Gooseberry without having to get out of my kayak. I was a bit slow getting going on the paddle but slowly managed to pick the pace up.  It was exciting catching up and passing lots of guys who had passed me on the run.

I applied the same technique of just focusing on ticking off locations throughout the paddle.  It was exciting to reach the start of the gorge; I had never paddled the Waimakariri River when it had been this low before. I got my heart rate up early in the gorge when we were directed to paddle right of a rock. I did not partially want to take this line but followed the instructions. I was not happy when I went around the rock and then found myself paddling over another rock and through a wave chain. They kept saying paddle left to get out of it but this is easier said than done….. after getting through that, I was really on my game for what was to come in the gorge. Along the way I enjoyed sipping on smoothie and ‘Tailwind’, which kept my energy levels up. I made through the gorge in one piece without any major mishaps and enjoyed most of the paddle. I planned to pick up the pace at Woodstock, which I definitely tried to do, but I did not really manage to increase the pace much. I was glad when I finally went around the last corner and was at Gorge Bridge.

It was now just the home straight to go; just a 70km flat cycle…I hobbled out of my kayak and started striping my gear off while walking up the hill. A quick bathroom stop and then I was headed out on the bike. My support crew had tried to feed me and I accidently yelled at them “no more food, I’m full!” as I was super full from my yummy berry smoothie. It was a little bit funny.

Once on my bike I just worked on getting the legs spinning and up the small hill. It didn’t seem too bad and then at roughly 65km to go everything seemed to hurt. Earlier in the day my feet had started to hurt but luckily this wasn’t a problem in the kayak. However it was like a burning sensation every time I pushed my feet down on the peddles. I’ve had it before when racing GODZone but had never expected it during C2C. Then my back also started hurting, I found myself shifting around in different positions on the bike that felt like I was riding a brick on the rough road. All I could do was keep pushing forward. I appreciated the tailwind for the first part of the ride. I had to dig deep to keep pushing forward but often that’s what racing is all about – giving it everything and seeing how much you can push yourself. I started singing songs as a distraction from the discomfort. It was entertaining, as I would run out of breath when I tried signing aloud.

I was glad when I finally made it to the highway bridge and was counting down how far to go. Closer to the finish there were people yelling support along the way, someone yelled 8km to go. I had no idea if they were telling the truth or not but I decided this was the point to dig really deep and empty the tank. I tried to pick the pace up and pushed hard to the finish. Finally it was there, I left my bike and ran for the finish. It was the most amazing feeling running down the finishing chute, there was so much cheering and support. Then I was there, greeted by Steve Gurney with a hug and an “aww Rach” I had made it from the West Coast to the East Coast. There is nothing else quite like the feeling of crossing the Coast-to-Coast Longest Day finish line.

I don’t really know how to sum the whole race up. It was definitely an adventure filled with highs and lows. My support crew were amazing, I felt like I almost had a professional support crew. Mum and my now husband James did a fantastic job; they have supported me for so many years through my training and racing. We have learnt a lot together along the way. They have even started thinking about what they want to do better and how the transition were smooth but that we want them faster. TeamCP has also supported me over the last four years that I have been in Christchurch. The group sessions make training fun and social as well as a good workout. Richard puts together my training program that really helps me to balance training with work and train effectively.

Now the big question I keep being asked – what’s next? I’m really unsure on the answers to this, I have a few ideas brewing but am not sure what I will be able to make possible. However that is okay, I’ll take some time off training and just enjoy some fun adventures. I even went whitewater kayaking this last weekend, which was fun.

What event are your training for and what is your goal?
Oparara Wildnerness Trail Run , Podium over 50’s

What it is your motivation for wanting to achieve this?
I like training hard, staying healthy and winning

Red Bull Defiance (RBD) has been on my bucket list for as long as the race has been around (this was the fifth year). When the opportunity came up to race with my good friend Kathryn Bunckenburg again, I couldn’t resist giving it a go. The race is in Wanaka and involves two days of kayaking, trail running, mountain biking, an abseil and a mystery activity. The course also involves a large amount of elevation (roughly 4,000m). You complete the whole event in a pair which means teamwork is important. We had both had challenging build-ups to RBD with life and work impacting on our training. We decided our main aim was to have fun and race hard.

Day 1

Stage 1 – Minaret Burn Mountain Bike – 42km Alt gain 1020m

It was still dark when we arrived at the Edgewater Resort (race HQ), ready to jump onto the bus to get to the start line. The bus trip was longer than expected and it was hot and stuffy in the back of the bus. We were feeling a bit sick from the windy road, which ended badly with Kathryn throwing up her breakfast into my pack liner. We were both glad to get off the bus into the fresh air and onto a barge to get across the lake. Not long after, we were on the start line ready to go.

Then we were off. It was a nice four-wheel drive track to start; the pace was quick as it was mostly flat with some ups. Kathryn was not feeling great and struggling with energy after losing her breakfast. I tried to support her, so we stuck at her pace and she worked on eating some food. She felt better after 45min and started to charge along well. Alas, then I started to feel sick on one of the hill climbs and struggled with this throughout the rest of the ride. I tried to keep eating and drinking. There were some steep hills, we managed to ride some and walked our bikes on others. When I wasn’t feeling well, Kathryn and I swapped bikes walking up the hill as her bike is lighter than mine. This worked well.

Stage 2 – Rocky Mountain Run – 10km Alt gain 550m

 We got off the bikes and had a reasonable smooth transition, leaving the transition while stuffing our packs with more food and water. We started the run with a steady pace along some undulating single track before hitting the steep climb. I was pleased to have my poles for the climb. As I still wasn’t feeling great and Kathryn was feeling good she offered the tow me for some sections. I was glad when we got up the climb and onto some nice running sections, then before we knew it we were at the abseil.

We took this opportunity to eat some food and chat to people. We didn’t realise that we would be waiting for 45min – 1hr and we ended up getting cold (it also started raining). It was good when we finally make it onto the abseil. While getting the brief, I looked over saw that Kathryn was already gone, so I tried to chase her down the abseil. It was a fun abseil with a cool view.

Running to that kayak

We set off again on the run and got a lovely surprise as my Mum and James (Husband) had found a spot where they could cheer as on. We chipped away at the last section of the run, working hard as we knew we wouldn’t need out legs anymore. I was excited to see the TA and so was my stomach which decided to empty it’s contents onto the ground. That sucked and I’m still not sure why this happened.

Once at the TA it turned out we still had a bit more running to go, so we picked up our lifejackets/helmets and shuffled our way along an estuary to the kayaks.

Stage 3 – Lake Wanaka Kayak – 16km

We were excited to make it to the kayaks and were looking forward to this stage. Off we went on the nice flat lake for a solid paddle to the finish. We were working hard in the kayak, steadily chipping off the distance. After a while we paddled around a point and hit rough/wavy water. This was one of my favorite parts of the day as we had lots of fun surfing the waves. Then we were at the finish and stoked to have competed day one.

At the end of day we turned our focus to recovery and prepping for the next day. This involved packing our food and gear into transition bags and dropping them at Edgewater Resort for the next day. This also meant ensuring we were eating food to help over bodies recover. We also discussed a race plan for the next day, and how we were going to approach the day it, as it would be a big one.

Kathryn and Rachel, day one done

Day 2

Stage 1 – Clutha River Kayak – 20km

Kathryn and I were on the water at 6:15am in the kayak ready to tackle day two. Then we were off! The pace was fast and there were kayaks everywhere. It was wavy, windy, and people were bumping into each other everywhere. Kathryn and I were working hard. We made it across the lake, headed down the Clutha River while keeping the pace up. We accidently paddled through a big wave, which was fun. Beforewe knew it we were at the take out. Then we ran to the mystery activity which was knife throwing into a hay bale. My throw was dismal. Kathryn saw this and promptly nailed it, saving us a penalty run. Then we were off to transition onto the bike.

Stage 2 – Criffel Peak Mountain Bike – 31km Alt gain 1030m

We had a smooth transition onto the bike, but were not sure if we were riding in the right direction when we left. Luckily we were, however my bike was not going well as the top gear was slipping. It turned out I didn’t need that gear anyway as we soon got into the hill climb that went up, up and up. The gears on both of our bikes did not sound good and we wished we had packed some bike lube in our transition box . I was feeling much better today and was enjoying the climb on the bike. We settled into a steady pace for the ride knowing it would be a long climb and that we didn’t want to blow ourselves up for the run. We finally made it to the top and got to enjoy some downhill. We made it to the transition in one piece ready to tackle to run.

Finishing the bike

Starting the run

Stage 3 – Skyline Traverse Run – 28km Alt gain 1480m

We eased into the run at a steady pace while getting some nutrition in. It started with an undulating track followed by a big hill climb that went up, up and up. I used my poles on the climb to help drive me forward. We also used the tow on some sections, which helped to keep the pace up. My main nutrition on this run was gels and water as it was challenging to eat solid food. When we hit the ridge, we ran what we could and moved along it steadily. We were stoked to make it to Mt Roy and onto the downhill.

The downhill

It was a super long downhill (7km!). When we made it to the bottom, my feet were sore and we knew it was time to finish the race off. Kathryn put me on the tow, we eased into the final 5km and built the pace up. We saw some teams not far ahead and chased them down. The pace got faster with us pushing the final run section hard to make it to the finish line. Then were done and happy to have completed RBD, it was a challenging course.

Kathryn and I worked well supporting each, through the highs and lows, to finish the race. We placed sixth overall in the female category in a strong women’s field. We raced well on the second day and felt it was a bummer things didn’t go as well on the first day, but we made it through the challenges we were presented. I am now recovering and getting ready to tackle my next challenge – Coast to Coast Longest Day!

What event are your training for and what is your goal?
I’m in training for life actually, but hoping to learn to ride a MTB properly and get some events in next year to keep me focused. This is officially a code change for me, form IM and 1/2IM triathlon to MTB. A significant hammy injury has meant that after 12 months I am still not running pain free.

What is your background and how did you get into your sport? 
I took up multi-sport in 2000 and loved it. I kept however wrecking my ankles, so was told to try swimming. This then saw me convert to triathlon – IM2004 (a life time ago) and numerous other tris and 1/2IM’s. I have also done a lot of endurance stuff – i.e K2 (never again), Coastal Challenge Full Monty etc. It was a life time ago! I am a sucker for anything off road like the Rotorua ½, Xterra etc. We live in such an amazing country, and when you go off road, you get to see and experience places you might otherwise not.

What is your favourite event/or training mission so far?
Favourite event was IM2004 – I had the perfect day and race. My then coach Jon Ackland, was just wonderful and set me up so well mentally for the event. I didn’t hit the wall and achieved all my goals for the day. Was just incredible.

What is your favourite training ride/run/kayak/swim etc?
Running – anything off-road! In Wellington I love the skyline trace, and the Xterra locations – especially around the Meridian wind farm, and around the coast. Can’t beat a good ocean swim – love the Wellington ocean swim around the lighthouse. Riding – anything out in the country. Not a huge fan of riding around cities….

Who is your inspiration?
It will sound corny – but it has to be Cameron Brown. I first met Cam at a training weekend in 2003 – that he and Scott Molina were running. Have kept in touch ever since. He is an incredible guy – he is so humble, kind and approachable….and has on numerous occasions gone out of his way to help me. And, all the people that cross the IM finish line after 16hrs, they are incredibly inspiring too!

Who is your biggest fan?
My kids – Casey and Noah (5 y/o twin boys) and my 12-year old daughter Cameron.

Do you have an inspirational quote that you would like to share?
‘To uncover your true potential you must first find your own limited, and then you have to have the courage to blow past them!’ (Pacablo Street)

What is your favourite recovery food?
Wine – that is a food group eh?

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