A broken rudder bolt on his kayak dashed Caleb Hill’s hopes of a breakthrough top 10 finish in the Coast to Coast last year. It also made him even more determined going into this month’s multisport race – his fifth. The 74kg Lower Moutere endurance athlete recaps the Longest Day in his own words – or debrief, as he terms it.
It is a surreal feeling, standing on Kumara Beach at 6am with the music blaring and countdown on to the Longest Day.
My heart rate is through the roof and I haven’t moved a step. Bang. The gun goes off and the next seven minutes is close to a 2.2 kilometre sprint up the sand and on to the State Highway 73 for the first bike ride.
The goal is to make the front cycle bunch as small as possible so you get an advantage heading into the mountain run.
Push too hard though, and you will blow yourself up. My legs are feeling good and I take opportunity to look around and embrace the moment.
It is raining, with clouds smothering the hills and sending fog into the valleys – a classic C2C West Coast start.
I’m slightly disappointed with my mountain run as it is four minutes slower than I have done in the past and 14 minutes down on what I was hoping for. No time to dwell on it though as I am not even half-way through the race.
On the next stage, a 15km ride that takes you to the river, I just can’t hold my food down and start to power chuck.
I stop taking food and another athlete passes me. One of my support crew, Marty, comes to my rescue with banana and roasted potatoes.
On to the 70km kayak leg where it all came unstuck last year, but today I feel I have good connection with my paddle stroke and the water.
But the Waimakariri River flow is very low and this makes for slow going and sometimes tricky lines avoiding rocks.
As I come around the final bend, I hear my mum cheering on the riverbank. It brings a smile to my face and a little whoop whoop. The boys drag me out of my boat, but then I am not allowed any physical assistance. It doesn’t take me long to find my legs but I still feel like a baby calf taking its first steps.
The final bike ride goes down one hell of a straight and time stands still. It is as boring as hell but the thought of the finish line carries you home. I hang on to seventh place and am happy I don’t get caught by any athletes behind me.
The last 1.5km ride is down the New Brighton Esplanade and it is a good opportunity to soak it all in before I run up the shoot to the finish line.
The Longest Day takes 12hours20minutes19seconds and is my best result thanks to the fifth fastest paddle and third quickest cycle.
It is a wild ride of emotions. Sometimes I was having an awesome day. Sometimes I questioned why I put myself through it. Was I good enough?
But nothing beats the feeling of knocking it off. It is a brutal race and it was awesome to be able to share that with my wife Elena, two kids, and my support crew Buschy, Marty and Brian. Local community support was amazing too as was the coaching of Ben Fouhy (three-time Olympic canoeist). I have just turned 38 and will be back next year.
