Fearless 40 face The Longest Day

Press, 5 February 1987, Page 10

Fearless 40 face The Longest Day

It is no coincidence that the first one-day Steinlager Coast-to-Coast endurance race bears the same title — The Longest Day — as the classic film that recounts the landing of the allied troops on the Normandy beaches in 1944.

The sturdy contestants who finish the 240 km (150 mile) running, cycling and kayaking marathon at Sumner Beach on Saturday evening will have some idea of the trauma and fatigue felt by the troops on that famous day.

Forty competitors will line out on Kumara Beach at 5 a.m. on Saturday morning with the Tasman Sea breaking at their heels.

Approximately 13 hours later one of the 40 will be dipping his tired, and most probably blistered, feet in the cool water of the South Pacific Ocean at Sumner Beach. When the Coast-to-Coast race started as a two-day event four years ago, it was considered a difficult assignment for the competitors. But such has been the advance in endurance racing that the one day crossing of the South Island is well within

the capabilities of the 40 starters. The event has attracted the maximum entry again this year — 310. These are divided into 40 individuals in the one-day race; 150 individuals in the twoday event; and 60 twoperson teams also in the two-day event. * Robin Judkins, the indefatigable race director said he is restricted in the number of entries he can accept. The New Zealand Forest Service will allow only 250 runners on the Mingha-Deception track — part of the 26km mountain run and probably the most strenuous section of the course.

Planning for this weekend’s race started 12 months ago, as soon as the fourth Coast-to-Coast was completed. The logistics for the event are staggering.

Take the Red Cross group of 14 who will be responsible for first aid on the mountain running section. They have been training for four months for their part in the race. The eight policing the most difficult sections on the course will be dropped in by helicopter this evening, will camp out tonight and tomorrow night, and then walk out when the last one-day competitor passes on Saturday. Three sections of the St John Ambulance Brigade will be pressed into service at various times during the two days, and 16 jet boats belonging to members of the Canterbury branch of the New Zealand Jet Boat Association will be patrolling the Waimakariri River during the 67km kayaking section on Saturday.

There will be 80 race officials directing competitors and spectators; 17 traffic officers will control spectators and smooth the way for competitors; and six members of a white-water canoeing club will act as “tail-end Charlies” on the kayak course. There will be one heli-

copter at the disposal of the organisers, and two doctors and two physiotherapists available for the competitors.

In addition there will be a couple of hundred crew for the entrants. They will be at the change-over points offering advice, support, food, and ensuring that cycles, canoes and all other gear is in perfect operating condition.

Media representatives from throughout New Zealand will witness this extraordinary event and it will be recorded on film for later showing on TVNZ.

Mr Judkins said the Channel 10 network in Australia and the ABC in the United States have shown interest, and the film is also being offered to Japanese and English networks.