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Superdune 08 Weather was variable with rain before the race, a mixture of sun and an occisional shower with fresh winds. Individual Results , Team Results
National MarathonCanoe Championships 2008 Day one-singles Around 50 competitors showed up from around the country and the quality of the field looked impressive. Doubling as selection races for the Worlds the racing was sure to be fierce. In the mens k1 open our own Simon McLarin and James Scott were really up against it with the likes of Tomas Pinter, a recent import from Hungary , and Craig Simpkins, originally from South Africa , competing against them. In the womens k1 race the two Wellingtonians, Marion Archer and Bianca Portius, were up against ex-multisporter Rosie Shakespeare from Christchurch . 1st start away was the mens k1 and from the word go two groups formed with Pinter, Simpkins and James in the leading group and Simon, Matt Thompson and Ian Huntsman in the second. The lead group stayed together through 4 laps (6.5kms per lap) until finally James dropped off. A sprint finish ensued at the end with Simpkins holding off Pinter by 1second only. Simon was beaten to the line by Thompson in another sprint finish this time for 3rd place with a tiring James completing the top 5. In the womens k1 Archer cleared away from the start and with strong portages convincingly beat follow Wellingtonian Portius with Shakespeare coming home in third. In the same start the womens multisport was dominated by another Wellingtonian Wendy Riach, but Lou had a good performance for 2nd. The third start comprised k1 masters, multisport and surfskis which made a for real potpourri of skills, particularly at portage time (portaging a ski or multisport boat is not easy!) In the multisport category our own Paul Gillard had a battle royal with Presie Phil Exeter in his k1 holding him off by 50 metres for just about the entire distance with Bart holding on for 2nd. In the masters Phil was 2nd to Mike Mead from Christchurch who held the two leading skis at the finish. In the juniors Chris Butt won the boys with Risharn Poching winning the girls. Day two-doubles A good sized field of 11 made up the one start only. Simon and James paired up to easily win from the Timaru k2 comprising Matt Thompson and Dave Hernandez. The Andrew Newick / Nikolai Gordon pairing had a very good race to get pipped on the line by the Timaru k2. In the masters k2 Couchie and Paul held off Phil Exeter and Mark Struthers by about 100 meters to take the title. All in all a really successful event for both the club and marathon canoeing. Thanks goes to all the clubbies who helped over the weekend and leading up to the event. A special thanks to Terry Newsome for his sponsorship via prizes . Results - Click Here Blair Roskruge
“Wet, wet, wet - but great running conditions” was the reaction of overall winner James Kuegler of Auckland in the 37km Helly Hansen Cape Brett Challenge in the Bay of Islands on Saturday. Kuegler carried on from impressive performances earlier in the year in adventure runs around New Zealand to power away from the field from the start on this highly regarded but very tough event, never to be headed. He won by over 17 minutes from Peter Blair of Auckland and by a further 3 minutes from Simon Walters of Puhoi for a comprehensive win. First woman home was Jaclyn Schaffer (something of a dark horse), followed 8 mins later by Kristina Crane of Auckland with Leigh Ruddock a further 35 minutes back. Crane, with a string of recent strong performances was the pre-race women's favourite and reached the turnaround point first, but was overtaken on the return journey by Schaffer. The weather conditions were certainly challenging. A deep tropical depression with torrential rain and north easterlies gusting over 35 knots at Cape Brett left the organisers little choice but to shorten the course for safety reasons to avoid the notorious “razorback” track leading to the lighthouse. Competitors instead were turned around at Ohututea Bay just short of the final climb to the lighthouse. This was the 4 th year for the Helly Hansen Cape Brett Challenge, the previous 3 in glorious sunny weather! Numbers have grown from 90 entries in the inaugural 2005 event to close to 300 this year (250 turned up in spite of the challenging conditions). It would rate in the top 5 adventure runs in New Zealand and is rapidly becoming an iconic Northland event. NZ has a proud history in the adventure/mountain running arena with a string of both men and women world champions in recent years – Jonathan Wyatt, Melissa Moon and Kate McIlroy. The excellence of our off road runners was recognised by the world body, with New Zealand being awarded the World Mountain Running Championships in 2005. The best known NZ adventure run is probably the 60km Kepler Challenge held in Te Anau in spring each year. A number of the competitors who have raced both, actually rate the Cape Brett Challenge as a tougher run, in spite of the considerably shorter distance, because of the greater amount of climbing (+2500 metres) and the steepness of the climbs – particularly out near the Cape . The Cape Brett Challenge event is actually composed of two runs - the headline 37km run being supported by the 17 km Gearlocker Whangamumu Classic. True to the character of the main event the 17km run is also full of glorious coastal views but is a tough test. The climbs keep coming and the descents – especially in slippery conditions like Saturday's – need real care. Over 200 people (runners and walkers) braved the elements and completed the 17km run – the youngest 8 and the oldest 68! Times were generally slower than last year because of the conditions, but overall winner, veteran man Graham Watts (2 nd in 2007) of Red Beach improved his time by 7 minutes to come home 4 minutes ahead of German cycling tourist Stefan Wagner in 2nd (later relegated to 7 th because of a technical infringement) and junior man Jourdan Harvey of Auckland by 5 minutes in third (who pipped Simon Cochrane of Auckland by 2 seconds!) Open Woman Aimee Finlay of Auckland ran a stupendous race and came home 4 th overall to beat Amy Burke by 12 minutes and veteran Tracey Johnstone of Waiheke. Entries were received from UK , Canada , South Africa and in New Zealand from as far afield as Queenstown, Cromwell and Gore. By Graeme Brown
Back in January Bart had floated the idea of doing an adventure race. We roped in two fellow multisport journey men, Marcel Dauphin and Vaughn Reed, and decided on the Auckland leg of the Arrow series. July was still a very long time away so we all just plugged away training and focused on some multisport events in the meantime. I did the Kaimai Classic as my very first multisport event followed by Montys Revenge (coming 5 th in both races) and Bart competed in the Kathmandu Crazyman, finishing 6 th. After Montys it dawned that this adventure race was only a few weeks away so we shot into overdrive for a lot of last minute training and organising, including arranging transport – we scored the Lactic Turkey bus for the weekend, Thanks Phil and Shaun – and a driver for the bus – Thanks Phil. The course was revealed at 9pm on Friday evening and although there were no real surprises and little route planning involved, we managed to stay up till past midnight still re-packing and organising our colour-coded gear boxes and tinkering with MTB's. Fortunately race start wasn't till 8am Saturday morning. The weather on race day was fantastic, allowing for some stand-out photography from Sue & Angela ( www.adventurepics.co.nz ). OrionHealth –back from coming 3 rd in the adventure racing world championship in Scotland- were quick into their kayaks from the Le Mons start at Okahu Bay and immediately opened up a lead on the following pack. Halfway into the first kayak leg Team Labyrinth (that's us) and Team Pro4/Orca (Fiona McBride and Tim Cochrane) opened up a lead on the remaining field and held it together until Kelly's Beach and our first transition. The second stage was a 17km trek which we did maybe a bit too conservatively, losing 20min on Orion and 8min to Tim and Fiona. After a lightning fast transition back into the kayaks for the stage from Umupuia beach to Kawakawa Bay we worked together well and took a bit of time back off Orion but lost another 2min to Tim and Fiona. Here we said goodbye to our Insomniacs and mounted our mountainbikes for a fast ride on sealed road following East Coast Rd to Kaiaua, then inland for about 10km until a short gravel road lead us into the Hunua Ranges and to the Mangatangi Dam. Having worked well together again on the bikes (Bart & Marcel worked, Vaughn and I enjoyed drafting) we finished the stage in 1hr54min, unbeknown to us 5min faster than Orion who had suffered from a blown tyre. Pro4/Orca were still going very strongly and managed to get within 5min of the leaders. Off into the Hunua's for the last stage which ended up being a 3hr49min trek. After making good progress on the gravel roads we started the climb on Suspension bridge track to the ridge west of the Wairoa dam. Darkness didn't take long to rear it's head in the dense bush and the track along the ridge was rooty and technical making progress slow. Putting aside sore body parts and having sucked our water bladders dry, we made a final push along the more used and better graded track down to the Hunua Falls . We jogged across the timber bridge into the cheering and clapping hands of our support crew – Thanks Mike, Richard, Karen, Kaye and Karen. We finished in 10hr52min, coming second to OrionHealth by only 15min, with Tim and Fiona finishing 6min behind us after taking a wrong turn in the latter part of the trek. Needless to say, we are all over the moon with this result for our first adventure race. None of this would have been possible without the support of our sponsors, so a big thank you to Labyrinth Solutions, Fergs Kayaks and Fouhy Dietitians. By Louise Mark
It was actually “Roald Amundsen” who was the first to make it to the South Pole, by only a month ahead of “Scott”. This dawned upon me as James Scott blasted past me in Antarctic conditions in his iceberg blue “Veda” K1, at the Puhoi River Raid on Sunday the 11 th of June. Possibly because of the conditions and possibly because the namesake in this race was going to beat me! Not by a month but not far off! John and Robyn Sokolich have been running this annual event under the banner of the North Shore Canoe Club with great success, with up to 70 competitors lining up to race the meandering 12 k return course of the Puhoi River. This year's event however disappointed in numbers and in conditions. We arrived, a bit fussed, because of our lateness, at Wenderholm Regional Park to find James Scott, Couchie and John and Robyn Sokolich sheltering from the drizzly bleak, Antarctic cold, windy day that the Met service had accurately predicted, to the suggestion that we should all head home or all have a visit the beckoning Puhoi Pub, purely for research purposes of course! This was not to be, as mid agreement Phil and Sue arrived laden with various forms of paddling equipment and the massive Khan ( Newfoundland ) in the back of their suffering wagon! So we knew there would be no easy option of the pub or home. We had junior paddlers who would paddle and we had missed our opportunity of making any of the excuses about not racing today! Yay for the enthusiastic junior paddlers! A quick pre-start run around by “Soko” (John Sokolich) taking names, giving of start times and the new arrival of a few more paddle craft, looked to be the start of a proper event with the noticeable absence of any paddlers other than the tough, resilient Waitemata members. The Start was off the boat ramp and into the flow of a very fresh tail wind to give the impression of rocket like speed down the stretch of open water to the first shallow mangrove covered left hand turn with a very slight outgoing tide. Once in the shelter of the river valley the work started in earnest till the turn under impossibly small motorway bridge that seems a lot bigger when you drive over it in the flow of traffic when in the car! The return paddle needed some intense concentration to stay focused as the constantly twisting and meandering river has the illusion of the next corner looking just like the last. Until you feel the gentle building breeze on your face, signalling the last shallow mangrove covered turn that enters you head long into the very fresh wind coming over the white caps of the open gulf beyond the Wenderholm spit to the loud cheering of my supportive cheering crowds (My Family) at the finish line, that was clearly marked by the almost luminous white Icelandic style coat worn by Robyn Sokolich. The speedy, informal prize giving was held as soon as the last competitors were off the water; unfortunately this was Lou as she had a broken peddle and had no steering. Bart did the right thing and stayed with her till she made safe landfall. The winners of the chocolate were happy with their winnings and those of us whom missed out consoled ourselves next to the open fire over a beer at Woodies bar in Waiwera. Pleased that we made the effort and didn't stay home in front of the telly watching old episodes of Grey's Anatomy! Big thanks to John and Robyn for organising the race! Congratulations to James Scott whom is going very fast! Congratulations to the tuff juniors who did this event and well done to Phil and Sue for getting them to be there! The WCMC is made of strong stuff! A convincing WCMC victory! There is no such thing as bad weather….just bad clothing! (Billy Connelly)
It was a stunningly glorious day for this year's Cape Brett Challenge! 8.30am saw 67 runners leave Kaiangahoa Marae in Rawhiti and head off on the 37km run round to Whangamumu and out to Cape Brett and back. Due to renovations of the lighthouse DOC forbade anyone to go past the lighthouse and no marshals were allowed to stay at the hut. This was a pity. To make up for this the runners had a compulsory checkpoint down at Deep Water Cove where the drink stop was. The runners could decide to drop into Deep Water Cove either on the way out to the Cape or on the return journey. Just before Te Toroa Bay one of the runners had a suspected broken ankle and was carried down the rest of the hill by other runners. He was later airlifted by helicopter to Kawakawa Hospital along with a girl who had had an asthma attack. There has to be some drama on the day! Colin Earwaker (vet) arrived at the Cape Brett lighthouse about 11am, 6 minutes ahead of the next runner. He extended his lead to 11 minutes by the end. Guy Cory-Wright was another vet who did extremely well by coming in 3 rd overall. It is a pretty tough run with lots of hills, but the scenery at the Cape is spectacular. At 10am 170 runners and walkers began their adventure on the 15km Ultimate Direction. The tide was in which meant that everyone got wet feet for about 50m in the first bay. The first half of the field happily splashed into the water. A number in the second half were not so keen. Shoes and socks came off and about ten minutes were spent getting stones out of toes once out of the water. One girl was heard to mutter, “I didn't sign up to get my feet wet!” It was an adventure run, after all. Sergey Kokorin, the speedy Russian, blitzed the field with a staggering time of 1:36:55, taking off 5 minutes from the course record. Equally staggering was his wife's, Oksana Isavnina's, achievement of coming 3 rd overall in a time of 1:51:16, taking about 15 minutes off the women's course record. Bridget Leonard was the sole WCMC runner and was not too far behind Oksana. Bridget did extremely well in coming in 2 nd woman, 6 th overall. Congratulations, Bridget !!!!
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The King of the Harbour World Cup was held over two days at Takapuna Beach on 24th & 25th March. Day 1 was a 3 person relay. The 7km triangular course had side wind conditions for much of it with a tail wind on the last 3km home. The first paddler in was Oscar Chalupsky, former 11 times World Champ. Simon McLarin did very well and had a time 4 seconds faster than Ben Fouhy. At the end of Day 1 the South African team of Dawid Mocke, Bevan Manson, & Daryl Bartho were in the lead. The New Zealand team of Mike Walker, Ben Fouhy, and Fred Teear were in second place. John Sokolich was the only person to paddle an extra 3km to the wrong buoy. John Land was the oldest paddler and another of his team mates, Duncan Buchanan, 14yrs, was the youngest competitor. Day 2 was an anticlockwise paddle around Rangitoto Island . The outriggers began about 15 minutes ahead of the surfskis. The leading three were Dawid Mocke, Mike Walker, and Oscar Chalupsky. Simon McLarin finished 8th, only 9 minutes behind Dawid. James Scott didn't look too good when he arrived at the beach. The slow run up to the finish line saw him overtaken by another paddler. Congratulations to all the club members who competed in the King of the Harbour! It wasn't an easy time on the water for them. For results go to www.surfski.co.nz
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