With 6 days to go to race day, our thoughts are turning to transitions.  After a early morning service at a nearby Anglican church, we were off to the storage unit to get things ready for the day, and then to Woodstock. Jack and Ula went for a short run while the crew got the boats ready for a paddle transition. They came through and were sent off down the last 12 km of the course to the Waimak bridge, while the crew loaded the van and headed for the bridge to make ready for the bikes. Coming down the river,  they met up with 2 other paddlers and tried out some different route choices to determine optimal routes through the braided river channel for race day.

Jack practiced a few rolls in the kayak (feeling pretty confident now) before being helped ashore and heading up the hill to the bridge where Luke waited with the bikes, and it was off towards Christchurch.

This was the first true foray outdoors for the P3, and it did not disappoint; Doug really did a great job of getting the fit just right, as it feels great to rocket off down the road (even into the headwind!).

The crew picked us up and, after a trip back to the storage unit, we were back on the road to Kaikoura to drop jody off and relax for a couple of days before we head west to Greymouth to start setting up for the race.

We headed back up to Klondyke Corner Friday night for a campout, with plans to meet Rob and Kellee (Ironman triathletes from Auckland) there in the morning to run through goat pass again with them saturday morning. Another stellar day as they pulled up and we piled in the van for the trip over the pass. Carrie, Luke, Rachel, and Jody dropped us at the start (see you in 5 hours!) and headed back up the pass to hike at New Zealand’s  “Devil’s Punchbowl” waterfall and then the Waimakiriri River Park before meeting up with us at the bottom of the trail. Training  on the Bruce Trial has really paid off because this course requires agility!

We scooted back to Christchurch for chinese food and camping in a suburban holiday park.

We have arrived and are getting set up nicely. A huge shout out to Andrew and the crew at paddlerzone for helping us get pretty much everything in order for the boat.

After landing Tuesday we were off to pick up our rental van (with roof racks) then to paddlerzone, the grocery store, lunch and a run in the park, the storage unit place (much better than hauling all our kit around with us for a month!) and then off to Roger’s Pass. Camped out next to the visitor centre and got an early start hiking up to Goat Pass, which is stunning and beautiful and some of the toughest “trail” I have ever encountered. 17 river crossings, just on the way up! We stayed in a clean and comfortable hut perched on the edge of the peak with some other hikers, and headed down thursday morning, picked up the van, and headed back to Christchurch to meet up with Rachel (another crew member) and also with Ursula’s boat sourse. Ula and I headed to the lower Waimakariri to get some experience in our boats before heading down the river (guided tour through paddlerzone) today.

we met up with some other racers and plan to go over a bunch of the run course again with them tomorrow.

Cheers!

We’re en route to New Zealand, and just wanted to put up some additional links for the race.

Check out The official race website

and the New Zealand racing site Sportzhub.com

both of these sites will have live coverage on the day of the event, February 12 at 12:00 pm EST (top finishers coming in around midnight!)

Cheers!

Jack

Come to the Rocky Raccoon Cafe Friday, January 22nd for a great meal, beer and wine tasting, & a chance to hear more about next month’s Coast to Coast World Multisport Championship in New Zealand from Jack & the support crew.

The Rocky Raccoon is on the coveted “Top 123 Places to Eat in Canada” list & features a menu that showcases local producers. Hockley Valley Brewing Company & Frog Pond Organic Winery reps will also be there with beverages to sample.

Can’t make it for dinner? check out the amazing lunch buffet!

Proceeds from the day go support our efforts in New Zealand. Reserve today at (519) 374-0500

We had 3 objectives for this “race”:
- Get experience with activity of this intensity / duration
- Promote physical activity
- Raise funds to race in New Zealand.

First of all, a huge thank you to the volunteers: Carrie, Andrew, Jill, and Luke, for keeping me fed and watered, talking to people, and getting the word out there on Facebook, YouTube, and the website. Thank you Sportmakers for the bikes and rowing machines, Sears for the treadmill, and Heritage Place for the space.

Thank you to the friends (and passerby) who rowed and rode beside me to keep me going (especially on those long stages towards the end of the day).

Thank you to the sponsors who generously provided gift certificates that we could give to donors, and to the donors who gave so generously.

I consider this event a success on all three levels.

Event Statistics: Read More

Friday December 11 2009, Heritage Place Mall

Join us for a fundraiser as we challenge the distance of the 2010 world championship course!

Check the video from the Heritage Place Training Race