> photos by Michael Jacques
Both 2004 champions are returning to this year's edition of the Speights Coast to Coast mulitsport race, and both look to be the hot favorites to defend their titles as the race starts Saturday.
In last year’s storm conditions Kristina Anglem (then Strode-Penny) illustrated why she is considered one of the world’s best female multisporters. The adventure race specialist was one of only two people who appeared to shrug off the conditions, the other being men’s winner George Christison. In a race where two-thirds of the field failed to finish, she not only dominated the women’s race, but also finished 13th overall. With weather patterns this summer being anything but settled, the 2005 Speights Coast to Coast could quite likely turn into another survival of the fittest. So it’s hard to see Anglem being beaten. But this is a race where anything can happen: People have bad days, punctures and falls every year, and training at this level can sometimes be a tightrope act during which one workout too many can leave you jaded or ill on race day.
Anglem knows this from experience back in the mid-1990s. And she also knows that if she isn’t 100 percent, there have never been more women ready to take her place than this year. Alexandra’s Sally Fahey put her hand up recently with a record-breaking win in the prestigious Motu Challenge. Christchurch’s Jeanette Wright and Canadian Emily Miazga were second and third in the 2004 Speights Coast to Coast and Miazga in particular has shown good form of late, with a fourth place in the prestigious Outdoor Quest as part of a Swedish team. Others to have shown out in the past 12 months include Rachel Cashin, Bridget Leonard, Sia Svendsen, Kat Lawton, Jan Hales, surf lifesaving star-turned multisporter Pam Hewlett and twice third place-getter Andrea Koorey.
One who won’t be showing up—on the start line, anyway—is nine-time winner Steve Gurney. Gurney will still be filling his mascot-like role at the event, this time as a television comments man; a major ankle re-construction earlier this year means that for the first time since 1986, Gurney won’t be racing.
In many ways, Gurney’s absence heralds something of a change of the guard. In 2004, he was soundly beaten by Hawke’s Bay’s George Christison and only just managed to salvage second place from Queenstown’s ever-improving Richard Ussher. Both Christison and Ussher are returning in 2005, with Ussher hoping to move up to the top step of the podium while Christison perhaps is looking to show that he’s as fast as he is strong.
Even Christison himself admitted that last year’s stormy conditions played into his hands. More settled conditions in 2005 might see speedsters such as Ussher and Auckland’s Gordon Walker—who failed to finish in 2004—come to the fore. Another to watch could be Aussie surf lifesaving legend Guy Andrews, who has improved from tenth and fourth in the last two years.
Christison, however, has gone from strength to strength since winning the Speights Coast to Coast last year. Wins in the Motu Challenge and Southern Traverse prove that he has both speed and strength in hand. What’s more, for the first time, the North Islander has invested some time doing course recon—and a George Christison who actually knows where he’s going might just be unbeatable.
Christison will also lead New Zealand in the newly introduced world team challenge, which will feature teams of three that must include one woman. The world team concept came from Australia’s three-time winner John Jacoby, and Race Organizer Robin Judkins has spent three years trying to make it a reality. "Right now, it looks like we’ll have entries from Hong Kong, Japan, Scotland, Sweden, South Africa, France, Canada, Australia and of course New Zealand," he says.
The world team category is Judkins' latest attempt to establish the Speights Coast to Coast as a major international event. For the second year in a row the event will receive live television coverage in New Zealand, with a highlights package distributed through 32 countries. Judkins is determined to make the live coverage work better than last year’s first attempt, when stormy weather meant camera helicopters were unable to get into the key mountain and river areas or beam out the live images.
Judkins is also determined to tighten up on safety measures in the 2005 event. More than two-thirds of the field failed to finish the feature One Day World Championship event in 2004. Judkins believes many of them were simply not equipped for the conditions: "Our biggest problem last year," he says, "was competitors—especially top competitors—either not having enough warm gear or refusing to put on what they did have until it was too late.
"This year, we are making them carry more gear, and there will be compulsory gear checks prior to the race. They must use backpacks—no bumbags will be allowed—and if they are told to put warm gear on by an event official, then they must do that immediately."
Judkins points out that the Speights Coast to Coast has always been at the forefront of event safety. In 2005, more than 350 officials will make this race tick, and Judkins has a full-time employee working on traffic management, volunteer co-ordination and safety management alone. But he also points out that nothing about the challenge that attracts people to this race has changed.
In New Zealand, Sky television plans eight hours of live coverage of the world championship event. For more details, see the host website. Sportzhub.com also offers video coverage on its website.