新西蘭英語 247 The Coast-to-Coast Race
Yesterday was the famous Coast-to-Coast multi-sport race, from the Tasman Sea on the West Coast, across mountains, down a river, then on the road to the Pacific Ocean on the East Coast. It is called ‘multi-sport’ because competitors have to be good at three sports: running, cycling and kayaking.
The one day race started at 6am yesterday morning on the beach near Greymouth in the South Island. It ended 243km away on Sumner Beach in Christchurch. Competitors had a short run of 3km first to their bikes then they cycled 55km before starting a 33km run over a high mountain pass. However, yesterday the weather was terrible. There was heavy rain and strong winds so it was too dangerous to run on the mountain over slippery rocks. Instead, the competitors ran on the road. This was not easy as it was steep, and the rain and wind continued.
After the run, there is a 15km cycle to the Waimakariri River for a 67km kayak; however, yesterday the heavy rain in the mountains meant that the river was in flood and too dangerous for kayaking so the competitors had to continue by bike to Christchurch where they kayaked 17km on the peaceful Avon River. When the competitors had crossed the mountain, they left the rain behind. Instead, it was sunny and warm on the east coast.
Usually the race takes nearly 11 hours for men and 12 hours for women but because it was a different course yesterday, it was a shorter time. However, it was still an exhausting race. The winner of the men’s race, 37-year old Gordon Walker from Auckland, had won it twice before. He is known to be very good at the kayak part of the race so he was probably disappointed that he couldn’t kayak on the Waimakariri River.
The winner of the women’s race was Elina Ussher from Nelson. She had run this race five times before. Four years ago, she was second.
Some competitors take part in the two-day race, starting on Friday and finishing yesterday. There is also a team’s race where two people can share the running, cycling and kayaking.
Questions to think about
Why do people compete in such exhausting races?
How do people train for such a race?
How do they manage to fit this training into their daily life?
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