In February, Will Dawson, a Stanwell Park father of three, took on the world’s biggest multi-sport event, the Kathmandu Coast to Coast.
“It is a 246km multi-sport event, combining running, riding and kayaking to traverse the width of New Zealand from Greymouth to Christchurch,” he said.
Will – who moved south from Sydney five years ago and discovered the perfect training ground on his doorstep – told us more about the challenge.
What does the race involve?
The Coast to Coast starts in Kumara with a 2.2km run, to a 55km ride, straight in to a 33km mountain run over Arthurs Pass, back on to the bike for 15km to the start of the river, for a 70km kayak down the Waimakariri River, then back on to the bike for a final 70km cycle to New Brighton in Christchurch. You start on the beach in Kumara on the West Coast of NZ, and finish on the beach at New Brighton, Christchurch.
Why did you take on this challenge?
Since moving to Helensburgh and discovering all of the cycling tracks, I rediscovered my teenage love of mountain biking, which was my first step to getting fit.
Then due to either Covid or floods, a lot of events that I had signed up for were cancelled, which left me at a loss and trying to find a physical test. A Kiwi friend of mine had been posting about the Kathmandu Coast to Coast, and the more research I did, the more I realised this would be the biggest physical challenge I could imagine, so I just had to sign up.
Covid again got in the way in 2022, but in April 2022 I was able to secure a starting position for the 2023 race.
Where did you train and what did that involve?
Living in the Illawarra has been perfect – with trail runs and great cycling right out of the front door,
it was just a matter of waking up early and getting in a lot of rides and runs. It was really important to start combining the two, to get used to running straight after a ride.
The kayaking was the most difficult to train for – with a borrowed old heavy kayak, I was only able to get a few sessions – often the swell at Stanwell Park was too rough.
How did you go in the race?
I ended up completing the approx. 246km course in 15hrs 55min. This was 126th overall, however, almost every competitor’s goal is to simply finish. About 30% of the field failed to finish.
