Coast to Coast race will be memorial for athlete

Mourners at the funeral of Mike Corser were asked to wear running gear. Picture / Paul Estcourt

When the Speights Coast to Coast starts on Kumara Beach tomorrow, one competitor will be missing.

Auckland's Mike Corser, 58, died in his sleep of a heart attack last week while in Christchurch training for his first Coast to Coast.

Yesterday his friends, colleagues from McKays Shipping where he was general manager, and sporting colleagues gathered for his North Shore funeral.

His Coast to Coast kayak, paddle and running shoes were placed at the stone fountain behind the coffin.

While he may be missing, his friends will carry his racing bib and his wife and support crew member Raewyn, and daughters Suzie and Kate, will be there to watch it come in to the finish.

As one friend put it, Mr Corser "was a competitive bugger right from the start" and managed to fit a lot of sport into his life - from athletics to croquet. His daughters also learned quickly about that competitiveness.

"I've been trying my whole life to beat him at something. Anything," said Suzie.

"Whereas most fathers slow down so their kids can win, dad used to slow down till we got close and then speed off. 'You'll have to run a lot faster than that to beat your dad,' he'd say."

A bout of pneumonia that left him unable to walk to the letterbox without stopping for breath was Mr Corser's reason to try endurance sport in 2000. He saw an Ironman event on television and, never one to start small, decided that was to be his first mission.

After doing an Ironman in 2001 and 2003 his plans for the 2005 Coast to Coast were put off by a heart attack in December 2004.

He decided to try again this year, and went to Christchurch in January to fine-tune his training, his wife Raewyn said.

"He wanted to be near the Coast to Coast course, and he had never been happier. His love of the mountain and rivers in the South Island is beyond words.

"Though he was robbed of competing this weekend, he'd already done the Coast to Coast. He biked, ran and kayaked it all over the past weeks."

His coach for the 2003 Ironman, Mark Watson, remembered Mr Corser's unusual swimming ability.

"He was the only guy I know who when you gave him a kickboard and he started kicking, he'd actually go backward. We'd put him in a yellow cap, put him in the sea and use him as a swim buoy. That way he'd have a workout and we'd have a workout."

He said although Mr Corser grew up in England he had the "she'll be right attitude" of a New Zealander.


The event

* More than 1000 competitors will be at Kumara Beach for the 24th Speights Coast to Coast.
* They will cycle 140km, run 36km and kayak 67km to get to the finish at Sumner Beach, Christchurch.
* The two-day event begins tomorrow and the one-day event on Saturday.