Internationals Attack Speight’s Coast to Coast

While the 29th edition of the famous Speight’s Coast to Coast has been dubbed “the year of the veteran”, it could be international entrants who steal the lime light.

With the 2011 Speight’s Coast to Coast just a week away, Race Director Robin Judkins has once again attracted a strong international entry for the world championship event.

The 243k cycle, mountain run and kayaking race across the South Island starts on February 11 and Judkins says, “At the moment we have 121 international entries from 19 countries!”

Entries this year have come from as far afield as the USA, England, Canada, Scotland, Hong Kong, Wales, Denmark, Australia, Sweden, Brazil, South Africa, Japan, Czech Republic, and even the Turk and Caicos Islands.

“The really impressive thing,” says Judkins, “is that among New Zealand regions only Canterbury has more entries than the international numbers.”

Fittingly, in the “Year of the Veteran” more that 30 percent of internationals are aged over 40. The eldest is 60 year old Englishman Bruce Mannering, an experienced endurance junkie who has completed Ironman triathlons, the Race to the North Pole and has climbed Lhotse, the world’s fourth highest peak. The eldest female international is 50 year old Canadian Barb Campbell, who is one of her country’s top female multisport veterans.

Judkins has been most impressed with entries from Australia, commenting, “Despite the terrible storms and flooding that have affected so many Australians we still have 45 Aussies coming across.”

Internationals could have a big impact on the race for line honours in 2011. The world’s most prestigious multisport race has been won by overseas athletes on four occasions since the event was established in 1983. Race record holder Keith Murray (10:34:37, 1994) hailed from Scotland, but was living in New Zealand when he won. The same can be said of Murray’s wife Andrea, who hails from the USA but was living in Christchurch when she set the women’s race record (12:09:26, 1997).

More recently, 2011 champion Elina Ussher from Finland now lives in Nelson. And Canadian-born Emily Miazga has won the Speight’s Coast to Coast three out of the last five years, but lives now on the South Island’s West Coast and even has a successful New Zealand-wide business called Em’s Power Cookies.

Indeed, the only true internationals to triumph at the Speight’s Coast to Coast were inaugural winner Dr Joe Sherriff (1983) from the UK, South African Rockley Montgomery (1992) and Australian John Jacoby, a former kayak marathon world champion who won the Speight’s Coast to Coast three times in six years (1988, 89, 93).

Robin Judkins points to an Australian, a Canadian and a Brazilian as potential surprises this year. In the men’s race favourites such as Richard Ussher and Dougal Allan will need to watch out for Australia’s Chad Meek and Canadian Jakob Van Dorp. The 27 year old Ontario native won the Canadian multisport championship in 2009 and 2010 and placed 12th last year in his debut Speight’s Coast to Coast. Chad Meek, however, is a Speight’s Coast to Coast rookie with a big reputation.

The 36 year old Victorian is a three-time kayak marathon world champion who has several podium places in Australia’s prestigious Anaconda Series. The last Australian with three world kayak marathon titles was John Jacoby, who went on to win the Speight’s Coast to Coast three times (1988, 89, 93).

In the women’s race favourites Elina Ussher and Emily Miazga have international passports, as does Christchurch-based-Dane Sia Svendsen who has won the team race twice and this time steps up to challenge the One Day World Championship event. But they will need to watch Australian Skye Taylor and Brazilian Camila Nicolau. Taylor has been a podium regular in Australia’s Anaconda Series while Nicolau has dominated the multisport scene in her country in the last two years.

“I don’t think we’ve ever had a deeper international challenge for the podium,” says Robin Judkins. “For me it’s very gratifying because it confirms the Speight’s Coast to Coast’s prestige worldwide.”

ENDS

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