The best way for me to reflect on a race is to write a race report. I use it as tool for future race preparation (Don’t want to repeat the same mistake twice right?) and a way to help process what happened and why.
As always with my reports, I start with a bit of background. This is especially important this year as I was racing the 2024 event as reigning champ (2023) and in sport, if you’re coming back well you’re expected to to defend the title. My preparation was not great but I wasn’t going to pull out just because I was in less than ideal form, I think that’s a poor excuse, I was healthy and fit enough, so lets give it a go. I raced as best as I could on the day, something I can always guarantee. I was very keen to make sure that if anyone wanted the title they would still have to work bloody hard for it!
If you want to get straight to the story, skip past all the bold writing (I like to write context to my stories!)
To understand my lead-in you need to review my 2023 year (post 2023C2C):
- Feb – In Hawkes Bay helping with flood relief with parents
- March – Kayak instructing for Topsport
- April – A little bit of training, a few adventures in the hills, Kaikoura 12hour AR, mostly kayak instruction.
- May – I attempted to get training consistent but also included 2x kayak races, an epic 50km run adventure, and a bike packing ride that took 2x 10 hour days (Chch to Blenheim)
- June – Flew to Sweden then rode 300km over 2.5 days with my loaded AR pack to Dala Floda. Raced the ‘Are Extreme Challenge’ Multisport race 1 week later.
- July – Mountain adventures in Norway with Rickard including a 4 day packrafting mission (All 9-12hour days), Then flew to Italy and bike packed in 35 degrees for 3 days (4-6 hours of riding each day), tried to run next 3 days and suffered due to heat and fatigue, then rode for 6 hours to the coastline for lower temps. 3 days of ‘training’ then bussed to Chamonix for a week of running adventures and then biked to Geneva to fly back to Stockholm, Sweden.
- August – Taper then competed in the Nordic Islands Adventure Race in the Faroe Islands (2.5 hours sleep over 3.5 days of racing – we won!) Rest week then flew home on 22nd, then a week of recovery exercise and some short speed work.
- Sep – Flew to China, competed in the Wulong Mountain Quest (6 hours per day for 4 days in 30 degrees) – We won! Flew back home, went to a mates Stag do, rest days, then tried to begin easy training from 25th.
- Oct – managed some regular training and some Topsport work (Kayaking and Goat Pass), 26th ended up with weird stomach pain and a fever. 28th ran at Mount Somers 21km run race but kept intensity down.
- Nov – Stomach and fever still bad, just Topsport work for first 2 weeks. Then 1.5 weeks of attempted training. Caught a virus, 24th tried to race day 1 of the Five Passes cycle tour, went terribly, high heart rate, high fatigue, low energy. Rode day 2 in C grade, still too hard. Pulled out. Home early. Sick and tired rest of month.
- Dec – Weak and tired through until 20th Dec, I did manage a little bit of exercise and amongst Topsport work. From 20th Dec I felt healthy again but unfit, managed to begin a consistent training block.
- Jan – Consistent training block.
- Feb – Taper and C2C!
It was a busy year! It was fun but likely a little too much stress on the body due to erratic adventures, travel zone changes and long flights, long days out in the sun, not enough sleep and an obvious lack of any consistent training (until January).
As mentioned at the end of my last report, I also spent most last year considering whether I wanted to return to the Coast to Coast or not, which I found to be a surprisingly hard decision. I have typically come back because I wanted to win (just once) but that was no longer required.
In the end I had 3 reasons to come back:
- I do enjoy racing and I enjoy Multisport
- I spent so long trying to get good at this sport, it seems a waste to just stop now that I’ve got good
- I had a free entry for the first time ever
What was most important to me as the race loomed closer was not to let being off-peak bother me. I wanted to race regardless of my lead in. I would only pull out if it seemed dangerous to my health.
A few days out from the race, the body was fresh, maybe a little too fresh. Mindset was positive and determined. I originally promised myself I didn’t care too much about my result but as the race day got close I did start to feel a bit more pressure to perform well.
Race day:
Stage 1: 2.2km Gravel/Road Run
Heart rate was over 125bpm with a minute to go, very high, must have been nervous! Starting on the road rather than the beach made for a smoother start than usual.
I settle into the 3rd row from the front, 3:14minkm peak pace but settled into 3:23 pace quickly. Once on top flats I was comfortable and tucked in around 7th place.
As we got closer to the roundabout the pace increased to 3:15 and I decided to go no faster. The group pulled away a little so they must have been doing 3:10 or faster pace. As the front guys entered the TA, the speed decreased significantly which meant that I caught back up without surging.
Stage 2: 55km Road Bike
I managed to be the 2nd bike onto the road but I still messed up the foot sliding into my LH shoe plate due to a tangle with the Velcro and had to muck around getting foot in there in the dark. I pushed hard to get up back to the front. It’s always a fun in these early stages, riding and racing around each other in the dark with red lights blinking and adrenaline pumping. I’m rocking the new Julbo Edge sunnies this year with the magnetic changeable lens and had clear lens on this time of the day (of course).
The front group starts to develop, Ben Philips does some hard pulls on the front that scares off a few people and eventually we get into some good rotations. The group must be around 20-23 guys with 5-6 that were hiding at the back. I was stoked to see most of the group work together for a change, but there’s always a few! The ride ended up being over 8mins faster than last year which shows you how slow the 2023 group worked (or didn’t). I felt strong and throughout and looked forward to the run stage.
I chose to use the Trek Speed Concept (Well tuned by HUB cycles!) TT bike this year to keep things simple for my support crew and shoe plates as I believed my running was going well (after a couple of great interval sessions in January) and I thought I’d be able to disappear at the start of the run.
Stage 3: 30km Rock Route Run
A relatively smooth transition here has me out in around 5th place but Hamish and Ben are sending it up front. I’m straight into 3:50minkm pace (faster than 2023) but settled down to 4 minkm pace to keep my HR in check. Sat around 165-166bpm until the first crossing then jumped up to 178 bpm!! Had to slow down a bit and continue to moderate HR and breathing and coordination from here.
By the time I could see Twin slips (around 3km up the river), I could see Hamish, Ben and Alex Hunt climbing over the other side (That’s like 1km ahead!! So around 4-5 mins already!)
For the 4th year in a row I’m rocking the Scott Kinabalu Ultra RC shoes. They’ve always been amazing on this terrain, but unfortunately this year I’m feeling a bit clumsy and losing control of my legs after around 5km in. Then at the river crossing opposite Spray Creek Falls, I trip and bang my knee hard, this really hurt and I walked for a minute or two, from here there are very few occasions that my HR gets above 160bpm, Not sure on the reason for this but I do feel slightly out of the zone. I continue to try stay efficient and smooth. By 10km in I’m getting cramp in my VMO muscles now, and feeling very sore, so a bit frustrated by this.
Around 13km in I catch a few guys who had blown and repassed Markus who had passed me when I banged my knee, but he sticks close behind me. I am missing all my target splits by 5-10mins! Once on top of Goat Pass and on the board walk I realised that my flat terrain muscles are still working well so high hopes for on the other side on the flats.
The downhill was hard with fatigue quite high and very sore muscles and lack of coordination.
I catch Robbie Hunt in the undulating bush track and run behind him for a while. I eventually get past him but he stays close by. At some point I realise I’m not going to shake him and after around 20mins of running together and suffering together I say “Hey Robbie, this is living eh!?” to Robbie agrees with “Sam, this is living” spoken in his thick Tasmanian accent. The descent off Dudley Knob, I’m very very sore in my VMO’s and I wince with every landing waiting for them to burst. On the final single track flats Robbie pulls away and my own pace was not actually that good. Cramp finally arrives in full force on the last few crossings and then I stumble my way up the annoying new entrance chute which is off my own line to the standard entrance. I am a little worried coming into the Klondyke transition, wondering how things are going to go from here.
Stage 4: 15km Road Bike
I used shoe plates again so I have had the same pair of shoes on since the start line. The wind had already picked up and I’m getting a good tailwind straightaway.
Ok legs, not great. I forced down another bar, which went down much better on than during the run. The Nor’ West wind creates a lot of warm dry air and definitely makes you feel thirsty! I finished the whole bottle by end of the 23min ride.
I gained a little bit of time on Robbie but not much. The wind had some powerful gusts but I grew my confidence early to spend most of the ride in the aero bars.
1km run to kayak
Sunblock on, a bit of suffering, not feeling great! Stoked that the kayak stage is still on despite the high winds.
Stage 5: 70km Grade II River Kayak Stage
Transition, all good thanks to the boys Rob and Grant, I mucked up by smudging the Julbo SHIELD sunnies with my oily sunblock finger so had to take off helmet and sunnies again to wipe :). Minor cramp hopping into the kayak. Everything else is great.
I dug it in straight away, focused possibly a too much on Robbie and my brain was a bit foggy and made some bad line choices, Robbie got beached and so did I! Clearly the braids had changed a little since my last trip down and I was a little complacent. I managed to squeeze past Robbie around 5 km in, Caught Brad around 8 km in, at 10km I missed the RH split (which was faster) as I had tunnel vision from watching the back of a team paddler and was convinced it was the next split. Re-joined the main flow at 13 km, still in front of Robbie but did lose time. The wind is gusting strong and I tell myself that I will gain time on anyone one who is less confident in these conditions.
Brain was fuzzy but forced food down. The new PURE Performance + drink was nice and kept energy stable which is nice for change, no deep lows all day thanks to it but it was hard to measure how much I was having, I will work on that next time… Got into a good rhythm of digging a bit deeper and sustainable breathe work. I am on the hunt! The Sharp is absolutely flying today with the tailwind and thanks to some fine tuning from Len and Caleb in the Topsport workshop.
I caught and passed Ryan Kiesanowski around Halfway hut and normally he is very hard to pass but he must have been hurting a bit more than usual.
At Deer Print Cove around 5km from Woodstock (20km from end of stage) I see Len floating down the river sideways (he was tail-end Charlie for the 2-day competitors) and he’s been looking out for me. Once we both realise who each other are, he starts screaming “Gooo Sammy!!’ and I start paddling extra hard. I yell “Len, I had a shit run but I’m having a great paddle!”, Len keeps cheering and tells me Ben’s just around the corner. Its always such a boost to see a mate out when your suffering and especially seeing Len since he’s played a big part in my multisport kayaking development. This surge however does cost me a little with a energy lull just 2 mins later but thankfully recovered fine.
I catch Ben Phillips 2kms later and he asks me if I’ve had any splits. I say all I keep hearing from the riverside safety crew is 15mins to the front. Which is a long way back. I take off, now in 3rd place. I know its unlikely I’ll catch Hamish or Alex but if I want 3rd I need to put as much time onto Ben and Ryan as possible in the final hour of the kayak stage as I know my cycling isn’t going to be as strong as theirs this year. The Woodstock braids require a few choices and I’m stoked to have my paddling glasses on to help read the water much clearer. You can’t beat good sunnies on the water, I use either the Julbo Shield or the Julbo Ultimate Cover, both have side shields and are polarised to minimise glare, they help me see through the water to read the depth and lines.
I end up with the fastest time of the day across the individual events, a time I can only attribute to my time at Topsport, book a course and we’ll teach you the secrets!
At the Gorge Bridge take-out I finish strong enough, Rob rips me out of the boat with his huge arms and shoves me forward. My legs are not prepared and I hobble my way forward, clearly I had damaged a few muscles today! I struggle to get up the hill but the boys tell me it was fast enough.
Stage 6: 70km Road Bike
The first 2km is always a grind as you start to figure out if the legs are going to be any help today or not. Around 4km in I think they are in fact improving, the media car comes past for some filming and I let them know I’m just warming up! Unfortunately I didn’t get any stronger from there and the legs became weaker as the ride progressed.
The wind is still very strong and gusty but I start to get very comfortable in the aerobars and still move nice and quick. The NorWest wind is very warm and dry and once again I have a very dry mouth and an increased thirst!
Once on South Eyre Road it was pretty much all tailwind, I spent a lot of it over 50kmph and occasionally over 60! I knew Ben and Ryan would be hunting me down and but it seemed impossible to go any faster than what I was already doing.
Around 45km into the ride, Ben Phillips surges past. Once around 100m ahead I try my best to match his speed to see if he slows down. Unfortunately not and he slowly disappears. At 20km to go I am really hurting and so happy that the tailwind means I’ll be at the finish line quicker. Finally I arrive on the last 1km on Beach Road, then roll up to the bike racks. I am so happy it’s over! I try to run the final 50m to the finish line but it’s really just a hobble. I still get a great cheers from the crow with plenty of family and friends there in support! I limp up the sand hill, feeling defeated, I have finished 4th, I have a mixture of feelings about the day but am most interested in who won!?
Turns out it was Hamish Elliot, managing to hold of Alex Hunt by a few minutes, it looked like it was some very intense and fast racing at their end. Stoked for Hamish, gutted for Alex. I’ve been in many finishing scenario’s, especially ‘losing’ the race many times and know how it feels. The Kathmandu Coast to Coast 1-day event is a brutal race, you only get one shot per year and its full of endless dynamics and challenges.
I spent most the day fighting within my head about why I was there and trying come up with reasons, why I felt so much pain and fatigue (more than usual), why I was back so far in the field as reigning champ. I did my best to explain it to myself throughout the day that this was expected and that miracles don’t happen. I’s still grateful that I can race this fast with the training block I had. This is an incredibly competitive race, if I had managed to win this year, it would have been disappointing too because I shouldn’t be able to beat athletes of that calibre with the training I’d done. It’s exciting to have great quality racing in the sport I love and hope it long continues. I want to stay in it, to help keep it alive and to keep the fire burning in the younger ones that aspire to win this event one day too. My days are far from over, I will race this event again, but likely will have next year off the individual event to focus on Topsport and a racing mental break. One cool moment from the day was seeing Callum Sutherland in the front bunch on the 1st bike stage. He is a young fella who won the 2-day individual event in 2023. “Callum!” I yelled, he looks over and I say “Welcome to the 1-day event mate”.
Thank you to all that support me in my racing:
- Topsport – Len and Kate, relentless support all year round, believing in me to stay at the top of the sport we all love. For ensuring kayaking stays my strength and always keeping the boats fast!
- Julbo NZ and Scott Running NZ – Grant you’re a legend, thanks for bringing in great gear!! Also a great Support crew member!
- Rob Lord – My other support crew member, cheers mate!!
- McIntosh Group – Thanks Tesh and John for your support and for helping me with last minute accommodation!
- Lisa, (My now Wife!) for all your support, my family and friends for endless support.
- Hub Cycles – Andrew and Colin and the crew for always helping provide great gear and making my bikes fast.
- To all my athletes I coach who continue to inspire me with their own training, time management and motivation to improve.
SAM MANSON 