Racing the 15th edition of the Coromandel Classic

What an awesome weekend we have just had. It doesn't get any better than the Coromandel Classic. It doesn't matter who you are or what you are training for, if you enjoy the outdoors and a challenge then this event has something for you. The scenery is unbeatable and the atmosphere is one of support and friendly banter. You can take on the full challenge and enter as an individual, hook up with someone and do a traverse team of two three or four, or you can get a team together and share the load. Teams range from 2 -4 people so there is something for everyone. Doing it in a team means you don't need a dedicated support crew and you only have to do the legs you are good at. This year the organisers added a duathlon option so even if you don't have a kayak or a kayaker you can now do the duathlon. I have done this event twice before as an individual but this year I opted to do the two person traverse option with Emma McCosh. The fact that she currently holds the course record for an individual female had me a little apprehensive but I backed myself to keep up with her and trusted that she would play the team game and keep an eye out for me. The race started at 7am on a particularly brisk morning with a 16km mountain bike up the Kauaeranga Valley. Our hands, ears, noses and feet were frozen for the duration of the ride but the stunning scenery made the gravel bash and numbness worth it. It was great to hear conversations in the bunch as people caught up on each other’s news as they warmed into the first leg. As we wove around the numerous potholes and jostled for position Emma was particularly thankful to CYCO for having got her shocks replaced the previous day. Our tactic was to ease into the day and to use this ride as a warm up for the 27km mountain run. We were fully aware of conserving a bit of lung and leg capacity as the tendency is to go hard at the start and to get into oxygen debt which is almost impossible to recover from on the run. So we put all our efforts into getting into a reasonably quick but not too fast bunch all the way to the road end and the transition to the run. Before we knew it we were off on the run which begins climbing almost immediately following old Kauri logging and packhorse trails past the Pinnacles and onto the summit. Wow, what a blast! This must be one of the best technical off road runs in the North Island. It had everything from a lung burning climb to the summit, technical muddy downhills; to a leg thrashing descent which was topped off with a 9 km gravel grovel. Amongst all this focus and pain were views to die for. It really was stunning looking out over to the Coast. Luckily for us we both felt pretty strong on the run and neither of us entered the hurt box at any stage. This was a huge relief for me as I had been fully expecting to suffer horribly on the gravel as I had done in previous years. I'm guessing that having someone to talk to and making sure we were well fuelled with GU gels and chomps, took the focus on the pain away It was a great feeling running into the kayak transition knowing we would get a chance to sit in the kayak and rest our feet. After a quick bite on a peanut butter sandwich and another squeeze on a GU gel we were on the water paddling our hearts out. The conditions were perfect and it was nice to be sitting in the back of our double kayak safe in the knowledge we weren't going to have to worry about falling out once we hit the open sea after Whitianga. The 17km paddle to Cook’s Beach was stunning with the sun glistening off the sparkling water and the tide not causing too many problems. We thought the tide was going to be against us and had planned to hug the shoreline but then noticed the moored boats were still facing up stream so stayed in the main channel and managed to pass a few boats that were hugging the coast. Once again having someone to chat away to made a huge psychological difference to this leg. However, we were more than happy to catch sight of the beautiful white cliffs indicating the turn into Cook’s Beach and the end of this leg. Whoop whoop! Now it was simply a matter of a short 28km scenic ride over Pumpkin Hill to Tairua. A group of three riders caught us up and we worked with them until the bottom of pumpkin hill where they promptly pulled away from us and left us entertaining ourselves trying to think of words with pumpkin in them to get us up the hill. Pumpkin pie, pumpkin soup, roast pumpkin and on it went…... Once we hit the top it was all downhill with sweeping corners and magnificent vistas through to Tairua. We crossed the line in six and a half hours and in first place in our category feeling pretty pleased with ourselves. What an awesome day we had had. It was now time for a GU brew recovery shake, a rest and some food to prepare for the next day! Day two started with a deep water rolling start in the kayaks. We had to work hard against the outgoing tide for the 15km paddle to Hikuai. We were happy with our choice to paddle in a double kayak, as we found ourselves paddling alongside Rachel Cashin - something neither of us had achieved as individual competitors. It certainly wasn't easy but there was no wind and not a cloud in the sky. The conditions couldn't have been better. We pulled into transition just behind another traverse team the Kauri Coasters feeling pretty happy with ourselves. After a quick feed of apple, oranges and bananas we set off on the next leg which was a 30km road ride to Whangamata. We caught the Kauri Coasters on the up hills but couldn't hold on to them on the descent. This was really frustrating as we could see them just ahead working nicely in a big bunch. However, we couldn’t catch them and ended up doing the last 10 km or so on our own. The next leg was a 21km mountain run past the Wentworth Falls and over to Maratoto. We eased into the five kilometre run up the gravel road making sure we were well fuelled then pushed a bit more once we hit the bush track. This tactic paid off as we managed to pass quite a few people including the Kauri Coasters. Once we hit the clay track above the Wentworth falls I managed to talk Emma in to getting out the towline so she could pull me up the hills and maintain our pace. The downhill into transition was slippery, technical and leg thrashing. We were in our element and put the hammer down, arriving in transition covered in clay but smiling from ear to ear. Our support crew (my Mum and Dad) had a flannel for us to wipe our faces and legs. It was a real unexpected treat and refreshed us for the final leg. All we had to do now was ride 30km through some spectacular farm land to the finish line in Thames. Unfortunately there were no other competitors around us to form a bunch so we worked together sharing the load trying to get to the finish line as fast as we could. Luckily, there was no headwind which is rare for this event and we were able to focus on keeping speed. We crossed the line in five and a half hours muddy but happy. Overall, we took a total time of twelve hours to complete the event. We finished first in the traverse team’s category. What a great weekend Thanks to Sherryl and Graeme Chambers for supporting us, GU for fuelling us, CYCO Ponsonby for keeping our bikes ship shape, and a huge thanks to Tania and Matt for the opportunity to compete at something we love. To all of the other competitors, we hope to see you all again next year. Bring your friends and family, this event shouldn’t be missed. Thanks also to the sponsors of the event – we love the Sunnto watches and can’t wait for the Marmot vests. To find out more about this awesome event, go to www.coromandelclassic.co.nz