Beer, Bravado and a Handshake!

Well, I am an official entrant in the 2010 Coast to Coast (C2C) race…the one day individual race I must add. Mad? Perhaps. Motivated? You bet!

So how did I get myself into this? Like many good ideas, this one was conceived after a few beers. A group of us were at the 2009 C2C after party and talking about how good it would be to complete the one day race. Fuelled with beer, bravado and the high of completing the two day event, a shake of the hands sealed our fates. I kind of hoped that it would be forgotten about but Chris (one of the shakees) reminded me about it a couple of days later! Oh well. I couldn’t go back on my word so entered I am, and a thousand dollars poorer, to boot!

For those who don’t know what the race involves here is an extract from the official website (http://www.coasttocoast.co.nz/):

‘The Speight's Coast to Coast traverses the South Island of New Zealand from Kumara Beach on the Tasman Sea to Sumner Beach (Christchurch) on the Pacific Ocean. Over either two days (individuals or two person teams) or the one-day event (individuals only), competitors cycle 140 kms (three stages of 55km, 15 km and 70 km), run 36 km (including a 33 km mountain stage that crosses the Southern Alps) and kayak 67kms of the grade two Waimakariri River through the Grand Canyon of New Zealand, the Waimakariri Gorge.’

So that’s what I have let myself in for. Before that though, I have six months of running, cycling and kayaking training just so that I can endure 17 hours of race day pain!

If all goes well, in six months time I can say, ‘I did it!’

P.S. Follow this blog to chart my progress – I plan to write weekly updates!